Taylor's School of Media and Communication (SOMAC) hosted a team from Dentsu led by the Adjunct Professor Mr. Dheeraj Raina, CEO, Media Brands for Dentsu Malaysia. Dentsu Malaysia is one of the leading media and advertising agencies in the world, currently ranked #13 in the top 50 most loved brands in the world according to a report by Talkwalker and ranked #331 in Fortune’s Global 500 Companies.
The Dentsu team organized a “Dentsu Day,” which was a combination of sharing sessions and some assessments and interviews of the final year Advertising and Brand Management students for potential internship positions. Twenty-seven (27) students from Advertising and Brand Management Collaborative Project and Professional Media Workshop (Advertising) module attended the event, which lasted the entire afternoon.
The sixteen-person team from Dentsu included some of their young up-and-coming leaders the “Passion Pioneers” as well as some of the top members of Dentsu Media’s EXCO, such as Mr. Dheeraj Raina, CEO of Media Brands; Ms. Asha Nair, Managing Director of Media Brands; Ms. Winnie Chen-Head, Head of Product & Growth; Ms. Vanitha Selvathurai, Head of Carat; Mr. Hemanth Jayamaran, Head of Dentsu X; Mr. Paul Low, General Manager of Posterscope and Mr. Ikhwan Tharwan, Human Resources Partner. The Dentsu Group Chief Creative Officer, Mr. Andrew Low, was also in attendance.
The session commenced with a short keynote from Mr. Dheeraj Raina and a brief word from our Programme Director of Bachelor of Mass Communication (Hons), Mr. Philip Gan. It was followed by a sharing from the Passion Pioneers on what their working life is like in the different sectors of Dentsu Media. Ms. Winnie Chen-Head then shared on the latest media trends at Dentsu. Students were divided into groups for some simple games which served as opportunities for the Dentsu team to observe their interpersonal, communication, and teamwork skills. The last game was a case study presentation. The students were provided the brief the day before and had to work in assigned teams to develop the presentation.
Based on those activities, the team shortlisted ten (10) students for immediate interview, and named several more who would be contacted for online interviews in the coming weeks. While the EXCO were conducting the interviews, the other students were encouraged to mingle with the rest of the Dentsu team and ask them questions. Those who stayed behind did manage to talk to the team, and they were all very friendly and willing to share their experiences and thoughts.
At the end of the event, Mr. Dheeraj Raina announced that six (6) out of the ten (10) were chosen for the internship positions with Dentsu Media, with three more pending another interview or feedback from Dentsu’s Creative departments. Initial feedback from the students shows that they thought it was an interesting way to learn more about the industry, and they enjoyed having the opportunity to interact directly with the Dentsu team. The Dentsu team has expressed the hope to run similar events again in the future, perhaps more than once a year.
