According to a recent study, only 5% of ad agency employees across the globe are over the age of 50, with the media age sitting at 38, and to combat this, one forward-facing agency is challenging the status quo with a new internship program called Thrive@55. Thinkerbell, the public relations, advertising, and media brand in Australia, recently launched the boomer-specific eight-week, fully-paid creative internship, exclusively available to individuals over the age of 55.
Emma O’Leary, the agency C.O.P. (Culture, Operations and People), commented on the new Thrive@55 program, stating: "We’ve created this internship program because our older generation are massively underrepresented in the advertising industry, and have a lifetime of experience to bring to our agency, and our industry. We want our staff and clients to benefit from people with years of life experience, and vice versa."
"You could be a retired hotel concierge that’s interested in running our front of house, a detective who wants to do some insights work, or a newspaper cartoonist who’s looking for the next creative challenge. We don’t mind where your experience comes from, as long as you think you have something to give to our industry."
Boomer-Specific Creative Interships
Thrive@55 is an 8-Week Fully-Paid Internship at Thinkerbell
Trend Themes
1. Boomer-specific Internships - Boomer-specific internships provide opportunities for individuals over the age of 55 to bring their lifetime of experience to the advertising industry.
2. Age Diversity in Advertising - Promoting age diversity in advertising can benefit agencies and industries by tapping into the wealth of knowledge and experience of older generations.
3. Inclusive Hiring Practices - Inclusive hiring practices, such as offering boomer-specific internships, can challenge the status quo and address the underrepresentation of older individuals in the advertising industry.
Industry Implications
1. Advertising - The advertising industry can embrace boomer-specific internships to leverage the unique perspectives and experiences of older individuals in creating impactful campaigns.
2. Hospitality - The hospitality industry can explore disruptive innovation opportunities by tapping into retired professionals with extensive customer service experience through boomer-specific internships.
3. Media - The media industry can benefit from diverse perspectives and storytelling techniques by offering boomer-specific internships to individuals with backgrounds in journalism or creative arts.