Introducing: The Pipe

Following our move to Sea Containers earlier this year, Ogilvy & Mather Group UK is launching a unique group-wide creative internship scheme named ‘The Pipe’.

The six-month internship is aimed at anyone who considers themselves a creative person. And it’s open to anyone, regardless of education, age, or experience. From 18-year-olds who can’t afford to go to university, to 65-year-old retirees looking for a new challenge. It’s a wide net. And one designed to bring in fresh thinking from many different perspectives. 

The 14 successful applicants will be paid the London Living Wage and uniquely, the interns will tackle briefs big and small from across the Ogilvy group. Including Ogilvy & Mather, OgilvyOne, OgilvyPR , Ogilvy Healthworld, Coley Porter Bell, social@Ogilvy, and even behavioural economics practice, OgilvyChange.

Each intern will also be ‘buddied’ with a mid-weight creative already working in the building. This isn’t just so the interns have someone to turn to, it’s also Creative Director training school for the creatives. Helping them learn how to manage people, how to get the best out of them, and most importantly, how to guide the creative direction of the work.

Earning a place in The Pipe will not be easy. Applicants first have to prove themselves by sending just one piece of creative work. Anything creative goes. Could be an ad, a piece of art, a website, a photo series, song lyrics, an interesting business idea, an Instagram post, a comic book, a film, a soundtrack, anything. So long as its creative. 

The 200 most interesting applicants will be given two weeks to answer a simple brief. And those answers will be displayed publicly inside Sea Containers, where every Ogilvy & Mather Group UK employee will be invited to choose their favourites. 

The top 50 applicants will then be invited to Sea Containers for face-to-face interviews, before being whittled down to the final 14.

The Pipe launched on 16 May 2016 and anyone can apply at ogilvypipe.co.uk

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David Ogilvy said, “Talent, I believe, is most likely to be found among nonconformists, dissenters, and rebels”.

Annette King, CEO, Ogilvy & Mather Group UK, said, “I think that David Ogilvy would have been incredibly proud of Johnny and Angus for coming up with this. We exist to produce the best creative work we can. Bringing fresh, new, diverse talent in in this way is bound to help us do that.” 

Emma De La Foss, CCO, Ogilvy & Mather Group UK, said: “The reason we're paying the London Living Wage is not just because it's the right thing to do, but also because we want to bring in more than just the rich kids. We want the ones who wouldn't normally apply for this sort of thing. Who couldn't afford the time off work. Who can't rely on mum and dad to help them out.”