Become the Most Hated Creative in China

As part of its global talent initiative, TBWA\Greater China is kicking off the Year of the Horse with its first Young Bloods programme.

Young Bloods is a fully immersive creative competition whereby successful candidates work alongside members of the agency’s creative department on client briefs, with the ultimate reward of one candidate being offered a permanent role within the agency.

“I had the fortunate opportunity to launch the Young Bloods programme in Vietnam before relocating to Shanghai and it was extremely successful in developing talent,” said Patrick Tom, Group Creative Director at TBWA\Shanghai. “I can’t think of a better on-the-job training experience for young creatives.”

The programme was first introduced at TBWA\Chiat\Day in 2001, and is the brainchild of TBWA’s Worldwide Creative Director, John Hunt. “The programme is special because it’s not an internship,” said Hunt. “The idea is so bloody simple – we just drown the talent with creative opportunity to do real work. It’s the only way to inspire and nurture the best young talent available.”

“The Young Bloods release a lot of energy throughout the agency as well as offer a fresh perspective on our client’s brands. Often we learn as much from them, as they learn from us,” Hunt added.

TBWA\Shanghai’s Young Bloods (left to right): Niu Xu Jia, Li Jing and Guo Qiang.

The agency began the recruiting process at the end of 2013 and worked closely with The One Club in China to review potential candidates. To introduce the programme, TBWA partnered with P.I.G. China to create an online film and enlisted Oscar nominated Director of Photography, Gary Waller.

Submissions to the programme were received from all over China and resulted in the final selection of three talented young creatives: Jing Li, Xujia Niu and Guo Giang.

The next round of submissions will begin in September 2014. To find out more, please visit: tbwa.com.cn/young-bloods

FULL CREDITS:

Title: Jiang Wei

Creative Agency: TBWA\Shanghai

Client: TBWA’s Young Bloods Programme

Group Creative Director: Patrick Tom

Creative Director: Kate McMullen

Copywriter: Kate McMullen

Art Director(s): Kate McMullen, Patrick Tom

Production Company: P.I.G. China

Director: Kate McMullen

DOP: Garry Waller

Executive Producer: Nick Dodet

Producer: Zoe Xu

Editor: Tolis Michailidis / Framecut

Music: Diederik Van Middlekoop / Massive Music

Colourist: Nicholas Barton / ZuZu