Our industry is filled with talk about purpose, whether that’s how creativity can improve the world, raise money for charities, or improve peoples’ lives. But what does purpose actually look like, when you ask the people who work in your agency?
In late 2024, Publicis Pro ran a series of internal workshops to help us find the ‘purpose’ we could all get behind, with every single employee sharing thoughts on how we could make a meaningful difference.
The result of that is Turning Pro, our partnership with social mobility charity, The Talent Foundry. Turning Pro sees our people host day-long workshops in under-served schools, aiming to help young people build skills while broadening awareness about careers in our industry.
Today, 70.1% of 3000 marketers surveyed said they come from a middle class background. And only 7.1% of young people from lower working class backgrounds are in higher professional occupations.
The Talent Foundry aims to spark ambition and unlock opportunity for young people in under-served communities, helping them build their skills and confidence by connecting them to leading UK employers.
Each Turning Pro session takes students into the world of marketing, seeing them strategise, ideate and ultimately pitch their own creative marketing campaign.
Along with helping students plan and pitch a campaign, each workshop involves Publicis Pro experts giving accessible, informed overviews of our work with examples that bring it to life. The goal is to show young people that these careers exist, and what steps they might take to access them.
Over half of all students who took part are now more interested in a career in marketing:
82%
82%
“I am now able to confidently navigate my career path and fully understand the roles of each and every person in the industry.”
Jasim, Student, Plumstead Manor
One of the key aims of Turning Pro is to raise students’ awareness of the industry. As a result of the workshops, many students have a far better understanding of the kinds of jobs available and the skills needed in them.
73%
“I originally thought that the marketing industry would be about boring presentations and [working] individually. But I have learned that you have to work in a team.”
Reuben, student, Southfields Academy
Not every student will feel that a career in marketing is for them. So it’s vital that our workshops also build key skills that are essential in every workplace – like presenting with confidence.
Percentage of students who felt more confident in these essential skills as a result of taking part in Turning Pro:
| Speaking – 66% | |
| Creativity – 73% | |
| Teamwork – 78% | |
| Aiming high – 78% | |
| Leadership – 78% |
“It has helped me face my fears of public speaking.”
Ibrahim, student, Ark Walworth Academy
Hubert is a sixth form student from Southfields Academy. Initially unsure, he found himself drawn to the creative aspect of the work, and is now actively exploring the industry after excelling in the group task. This is his story, in his own words…
“At first I was a bit hesitant. I think I signed up just to skip lessons because it was a whole day workshop, but over time I got more and more interested. I thought marketing, it’s not for me, but I realised it’s actually pretty interesting, and I was pretty engaged! What I enjoyed was the creative bit… in school we don’t really have much room for creativity. I thought, wow, I can express myself… and that struck me!”
“What stood out to me is the positiveness from the Publicis Pro team. The feeling of winning, I don’t know how to describe that feeling. It was like wow, people from the industry actually said that my idea is good…it was actually quite special. I was thinking, maybe this is for me. Not the financial sector, not anything like that but actually, marketing!”
Everyone at Publicis Pro is thrilled with the impact of Turning Pro and determined to build on the successful partnership we have created with The Talent Foundry. This initiative is important to us not only because it is addressing a clear issue about representation in our industry, but because it is active in the community we live and work in, with real, visible results.
Turning Pro is now a core part of who we are as an agency – and we can’t wait to see what the next year brings.
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