Leo Burnett’s Master Class Sri Lanka’s First Marketing Communications Internship

Leo Burnett’s Master Class 

Sri Lanka’s First Marketing Communications Internship

 

Leo Burnett Solutions Inc. (LBSI) continues to be at the forefront of advertising in Sri Lanka with yet another accolade to their credit. Leo Burnett widely known as the University in the advertising industry scored another ‘first’ in the industry with the 5 week Leo Burnett Master Class programme. This internship programme was a one-of-a-kind five week programme that provided exposure and learning to aspiring under graduates who wished to join the marketing communications industry.

 

The first batch of 14 interns had opportunities to pursue their interests in the advertising industry not just within the various departments within the agency itself but also within the industry at large. The Leo Burnett Master Class enabled these 14 interns to gain knowledge and exposure from other stakeholders within the industry which included the marketing teams within companies, research agencies, TV production houses, TV stations, newspaper houses, digital production agencies and recording studios etc.

 

Commenting on the Master Class, Ranil de Silva, Managing Director of Leo Burnett Solutions Inc. stated: “We at Leo Burnett are honored to have had such an energetic and well educated group of 14 young adults that participated in this initial Master Class Internship programme; they were both eager to learn and were willing to give what it takes to achieve their goals. They actually added life to the agency over the past five weeks. We at Leo Burnett truly believe in developing the future talent for our industry and the Leo Burnett Master Class is a new and very important initiative in this regard. It was our first attempt at a multi-disciplinary internship programme. The overwhelming number of applicants who wanted to join the programme and the support of all our partners who provided internships to these 14 young interns have been very gratifying. I strongly believe that the younger generation is who would determine the future of the marketing communications industry, therefore it is our responsibility to mentor them to ensure the progress of the industry.”

 

Out of a total of 140 applicants, 14 outstanding candidates aged between 18-26, from various colleges from both Sri Lanka and abroad were selected for the five week industry internship programme. The selection process included a viva where the applicants were asked to indicate their interests of specialization in the industry, to enable the agency to tailor make the internship programme to suit each ones individual interests. Each intern’s programme was mapped out with care and they were assigned a mentor and buddy to help them with the programme and to monitor their progress. At the end of the five week programme the interns were divided into teams and asked to showcase their learning through an assignment which was briefed to them. This required the interns too put their learning into practice and to collaborate within their teams as well as to make a presentation. The Master Class programme closed with a graduation ceremony where each intern was awarded a certificate on the successful completion of the programme.

Kumudini Gomes, Director People and Culture at Leo Burnett Colombo stated “We are very pleased with the results from the first ever Master Class Programme. Every intern had very positive feedback to share and we know that they continuously learnt throughout the programme. In fact I have seen them grow within the five weeks. This is the first time we have done a programme of this nature, but we will definitely continue with it annually and improve the programme with all the learning we have acquired through this inaugural Master Class. I do hope that the Leo Burnett Master Class would help develop the industry by producing fresh and talented young professionals to take the industry forward.”