IPG Mediabrands launches employee-focused technology start-up program with BlueChilli
IPG Mediabrands is offering its 500-plus national staff first-hand experience in technology innovation in the start up space via a new partnership with Australia’s leading start-up accelerator company BlueChilli.
Believed to be a first for the Australian media industry on such a large scale, the new partnership offers Mediabrands’ 500-plus people an opportunity to engage directly with leading edges of the technology start-up space and to develop ideas for the benefit of Mediabrands and its clients.
Says Danny Bass (above, right), CEO of IPG Mediabrands Australia: “We believe Mediabrands has the best talent attraction and retention program in the Australian industry. The partnership with BlueChilli brings a new dimension to the opportunities we can offer our people. BlueChilli is the leading startup accelerator in Australia and has clearly defined methodologies to identify, develop and propel great innovation ideas among our people that we can use to accelerate our capabilities and bring new advantages to clients.”
The new BlueChilli project at Mediabrands is called Dynamic Tomorrow. The program will move through a series of formal steps, starting with an Innovation Challenge for all employees to put forward their tech ideas for potential on-going development
The program will culminate in October with a formal presentation to an independent judging panel including clients and also a People’s Choice Award for Mediabrands people to vote on their favourite start-up tech ideas. Ultimately the objective is for winning ideas to advance and be fully commercialised in partnership with BlueChilli for use by Mediabrands and/or clients.
Says Bass: “This is an important future influence across our national group and taps into the entrepreneurialism among people in many media disciplines. Ultimately from our experiences with the Dynamic Tomorrow program, we will be facilitating access for our clients to engage with BlueChilli to bring forward potential leaps in technology development for their specific businesses.”
Says Chris Ball (above, left), head of partnerships, BlueChilli: “From our perspective, it’s tremendously exciting to see a big player like Mediabrands walk the innovation talk. There’s so much value sitting in the minds of staff who, at the coalface of customer problems, can deliver customer solutions of exponential value. This partnership is designed to unlock that value for Mediabrands as an entity, its staff and its clients.”