The MediaShop empowers from within

South Africa’s top rated media agency, The MediaShop, is committed to the development of young media practitioners within the advertising space. The agency has been running an effective internship programme for a number of years and also tries to employ all of them on a permanent basis once they have completed the programme. On 1 March they had a new intake of ten interns across their JHB, Cape Town and Durban office.

Ayanda Mda, Park Advertising’s HR Manager, says that the graduates were selected from various institutions of higher learning before going through a stringent ‘Dragon’s Den’ style immersion workshop. Here they’re given a brief to create marketing and media plan which was presented to members of the management team. “From this workshop the top ten candidates were selected to join our programme,” she explains.

“The programme is 18 months long with the first twelve months dedicated to providing training on Media Buying and Planning, Strategy, Intelligence, OOH, Campaign Management and Digital Planning. Coupled with the training there is practical on-the-job exposure in the various business units where they will get to implement what they have learnt.”

Kgaugelo Maphai, Managing Director of The MediaShop Johannesburg adds: “I’m very proud of our intern programme and the fact that our organisation invests in it. Most companies run internship programmes for 6 to 12 months just to tick the box, but we go beyond by running a full 18 month programme to ensure these graduates get the grounding they need to succeed. We also give them a stipend of R7500 which is double what is expected of us. We are proud that our programme has over the years produced many black strategists, planners and buyers in the industry who were initially trained at The MediaShop and we are happy to see them succeed in the respective agencies they now work for.

We also have many interns that have subsequently returned to us because of the great working environment we have created over the years. Our interns are also mentored by our senior staff who take great care of them and their progress, ensuring our new team members are learning and developing and have everything they need to succeed.”

The agency has several success stories on the back of its internship programme with former interns now permanently employed excelling on client portfolios like Tiger Brands, Nedbank, Multichoice, Famous Brands & Shoprite Checkers.

“Some of our media owner partners will also participate in this programme by providing them with exposure into their operations which will assist them in getting a better understanding of this ecosystem we work in,” says Ayanda.

Kgaugelo adds: “At the end of the first 12 months, successful interns we be placed in various roles within the business, based on their performance and their areas of strength, where they will work for the remaining six months of the programme. We believe we have amassed an amazing group of graduates with various competencies and capabilities and believe we can give them the foundation to develop their career paths by supporting them and giving them as much access to knowledge and tools so they can build sustainable careers within our company and industry.

“The MediaShop is committed to growing and nurturing young talent in the South African media industry and this programme provides a vehicle for us to do that. Implementing an internship is not about ticking a box for us, we are training for the future,” says Ayanda. “We live in a country with a high rate of unemployment and we believe that in our own small way, this programme creates a solution for youth unemployment in the country and contributes to the upliftment of our people.”

The MediaShop Cape Town’s Bonita Bachmann, echoes Kgaugelo and Ayanda’s sentiments: “The MediaShop’s internship programme is an excellent learnership platform – I have found that as early as three months in, interns are refining their communication and business skills, professionalism, reasoning ability and teamwork. The early exposure to professional mentors and line managers provide career exploration and advancement opportunity with constructive feedback and support,” she says.

From the mouths of Interns:

Sinazo Jayiya: Accuracy is very important when dealing with client information, especially money. As well as treating media owners in the way you treat clients.

Nolukholo Ceza: an eye opening experience for me. I have learnt about so many different aspects of media, schedules and chaselists. And sticking to the budget!

Mbali Jonas: I have learnt about sticking to client brief, producing accurate chase lists that correspond with schedules.

Ongiwe Sibahle Mboxela: from the interview with Bonita I have learnt that not everything is about formality, it is more about being ethical and professional, these are some of the values of The MediaShop and with that attitude I have already learnt so much this past week.

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