Last week 1,500 people visited agencies in eight cities; London, Manchester, Bristol, Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Birmingham and Newcastle. The schedule of events varied from agency to agency, but included talks, breakout sessions and live pitches.
Rick Hirst, chief executive of Carat UK, said: "I got involved in Advertising Unlocked because I'm passionate about the future of our business. I'm passionate about wanting to ensure that we stay relevant.
"I would love to just have one person who's been to Dentsu Aegis and has made a decision that they would love to pursue a career in our business and have made a connection that we can then follow up and maybe we sit and see where that goes. Even if it's just one, if it's 10 – amazing, but just one would be enough."
Sarah Golding, chief executive of CHI & Partners and president of the IPA, said the industry should do more to widen the talent pool and that diversity was a huge issue.
"You know, great ideas, great minds, bright minds, bright creative minds can come from anywhere, they live anywhere. We need them in this industry," Golding said. "We want an unfair share of the best creative minds working here. So Advertising Unlocked is a brilliant way of encouragng all that talent that exists up and down the country from different backgrounds, to come in have a look and see if they like it."
