The four successful graduates were amongst 98 students who registered for the programme from carefully selected partnering tertiary institutions in both the Gauteng and Western Cape regions. All were tasked with coming up with a unique and creative treatment of a ubiquitous digital communication medium — the blog.

Group marketing director at O&M SA, Lauren Woolf, says with the exponential growth of digital media, it made sense that those looking to embark on a career in the industry start to understand what successful digital communication looks like. “We’re constantly looking for those who are able to create a brand for themselves – ultimately something we do for our clients every day,” says Woolf. “These four took the blog and elevated it to a new level, using social media to promote their posts by engaging and seeking advice from O&M employees. Some went as far as to expanding their personal brand into the offline space — such as radio and press — and we’re looking forward to seeing what these four millenials will bring to our teams.”

Although O&M SA’s unique approach to finding young talent in the country is in line with the company’s worldwide notion of ‘hiring giants’, the programme aims to go beyond that. “The programme also allows us to train and up-skill numerous graduates; while they won’t all be employed by O&M SA, many of them will finish the challenge with digital portfolios that they can use to find work in the industry,” adds Woolf.

The four selected graduates for 2014 - Claire Brayshay, Alexandra Perry, Marcus Von Geyso and Cathleen Makheta - are excited to begin working at the agency and believe that through the recruitment process they received critical skills that will help them excel in the early stages of their career. Brayshay and Perry will be based at Ogilvy & Mather Cape Town, while Von Geyso and Makheta will start their O&M journeys in the Johannesburg office. Each will be put through a dynamic six-month rotation programme, exposing them to multiple disciplines, before being permanantly placed into positions across the O&M SA group; in addition to having their final year tuition fees paid back to them.

For more information on the programme, click here.