Media Agencies Have ‘Perception Problem' With Young Staffers

‘Rising stars' at 4A's panel say that industry should foster development with young talent

By Lindsay Rubino -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/15/2013 3:58:09 PM

A number of young media agency staffers believe the industry has a perception problem when it comes to them, according to Ad Age.

A panel of seven "rising media stars" participated on the final panel at the 4A's Transformation conference in New Orleans, who continued to say that the agencies need to foster, not hinder, talent development among young agency staff, the report said.

Jennifer Hoffman, a senior digital associate at WPP's MEC, said that "we want to try different things. The only way to do that is if you let us,"  the story said. Her suggestion was to have agencies rotate staffers among roles and departments to teach and allow growth, the report said.

Lauren Johnson, associate director at Publicis Groupe's MediaVest, added that agencies should also be training those staffers to pay attention outside of the media industry and to Wall Street, according to the story.

But the millennial staffers know that there is an aspect of the industry with which they have an edge: technology.

"Nobody understands that there's a whole other section of media," said Trevor Guthrie, director of OMD's Ignition Factory East, in the report. "We're at the epicenter of digital and technology and we manage investments for clients. We're doing hackathons and start-up incubators."

The panel agreed that the younger media agency staffers have an insight into the industry that benefits the clients with their fresher perspective, acording to the article.