Western Sydney Ad School is partnering with Cummins&Partners and oOh!media to promote diversity in the media industry via a new campaign launching this week.
The goal of the initiative is to boost opportunities for students from diverse backgrounds that represent all of Australia, including the indigenous community.
Creative and media agency Cummins&Partners worked closely with the Western Sydney Ad School team to shape the messaging for the campaign, which is being supported by oOh! as Australia and New Zealand’s leading Out of Home advertising company.
oOh! is showcasing the campaign across key digital road and retail assets near the school, in order to reach the target audience and raise awareness.
Now in its second year of operation in Parramatta, the Western Sydney Ad School is gaining recognition as a stepping stone for future media professionals in Sydney and beyond, offering an affordable and accessible advertising course to creative students, along with First Australians Scholarships.
Western Sydney Ad School creative director and head of school Rocky Ranallo said the generosity shown by Cummins&Partners and oOh! was much appreciated at a time when the issue of media industry diversity was moving up the agenda.
“Sometimes people think the advertising industry isn’t for them because they don’t come from the same background as a lot of current professionals, and that’s an issue we want to address via the Western Sydney Ad School’s offering and enrolment approach,” he said.
“The support from Cummins&Partners and oOh! enables us to promote the industry as a career choice, and the school at the same time, which we could never have afforded otherwise.
“We’ve also had real success with internships for our students at various agencies over the last year, and the continued involvement shows just how much the industry wants the school to be a success.”
Cummins&Partners managing director Kirsty Muddle said: “ Western Sydney Ad school encourages a pipeline of people from cultural and socially diverse backgrounds into the Advertising industry by making it accessible both financially and practically. Anything that paves the way for a diverse, bright, connected pool of talent, we support. Diversity breeds original thinking and we find that exciting.”
oOh!’s chief people & culture officer Steve Reid said: “Diversifying the media industry to bring in new ideas and ways of thinking is an ongoing challenge, which is why we’re very proud to support Western Sydney Ad School. Its work reflects our values as a company, and this campaign is a great initiative that really draws attention to the opportunities on offer to people from all backgrounds.”
