Leo Burnett successfully completes third Masterclass programme for industry interns

Leo Burnett Solutions Managing Director Ranil de Silva, Leo Burnett Solutions COO Arosha Perera, Leo Burnett Solutions Director People and Culture Kumudini Gomes along with Masterclass 2015 graduates

Leo Burnett Solutions Inc., (LBSI) the local office of the global advertising network Leo Burnett Worldwide, recently completed its third Masterclass program for 13 industry interns. The intensive five-week internship which is heralded as the only program of its kind in the industry, culminated with a graduation ceremony which was attended by the agency’s senior management and several partners of the program. 

Present at the graduation ceremony were Ranil de Silva, Managing Director, Leo Burnett Solutions Inc., Kumudini Gomes, Director People and Culture, Leo Burnett Solutions Inc., the Executive Committee of the company, and the interns’ buddies and mentors from the agency team. 

The marketing communications industry in Sri Lanka struggles to attract fresh talent into the diverse roles that are available in the industry. Although the next generation of young professionals are aware of advertising as a career, they don’t have an understanding of the various opportunities that exist within the industry, and therefore they don’t consider pursuing a career in advertising. The Leo Burnett Masterclass program, was created to provide the upcoming generation of professionals with valuable exposure into the marketing communications industry. It is hoped that this exposure will pave the way for the next generation of communications professionals to enter the industry. 

This year, 13 young people from varied backgrounds and different concentrations of study, were selected for the program. This group of interns are mostly undergraduates who are pursuing degree programs at prestigious institutions such as Lingham University - Hong Kong, ACBT, Royal Institute (affiliated with the University of London), the Chartered Institute of Marketing, the National School of Business Management and the Sri Lanka Institute of Technology. This internship program was also strengthened this year by the participation of a variety of industry partners, which includes TV stations, digital design companies, research agencies as well as production and event companies.  The interns also had the opportunity to work in a cross-section of departments at the agency ranging from creative and media, to brand management, brand planning and public relations to digital, activations and events. To support them through the learning process, each intern was provided with a mentor and buddy who guided them throughout their internship. 

The carefully mapped out program enabled each intern to obtain a better understanding of the industry and its diversity. During the final week of the program, the 14 interns were divided into four teams and were assigned a project brief, to which they had to respond within 48 hours. The final presentations were judged by senior agency members. 

Commenting on the success of the third Masterclass program, Ranil de Silva, Managing Director, Leo Burnett Solutions Inc. stated, “Today we are challenged with recruitment. It is difficult to attract bright young talent to pursue a career in marketing communications. As an industry leader and a trailblazer, we at Leo Burnett took it upon ourselves to champion this cause. The Leo Burnett Masterclass was designed to attract the brightest young talent interested in our industry and to spark a passion within them to consider a career in marketing communications.” 

Kumudini Gomes, Director People and Culture, LBSI stated, “Since its inception three years ago, the Masterclass program has been very active and has been an important part of the People and Culture program at Leo Burnett. This program is completely tailor-made to suit each individual intern’s interests in our industry and we believe that it will bring fresh and new talent into the agency in particularly, and to the industry at large.  I would like to thank the several partners who readily joined us in our efforts to provide these interns with a holistic learning experience.”