Page 41 - AdNews May-June 2020

The usual free yoga classes are now virtual. WPP AUNZ is offering daily virtual guided meditation classes and Mindshare is also running weekly pilates classes.
Supporting humans
“I always say we are a human capital technology company, and the thing that is most important is our humans,” says Lollback.
“Across our agencies, we have a number of initiatives running that are helping our teams pivot and hustle, and connect with brands and clients to develop new product and service ideas, drive innovation and find alternate ways of working.”
Training and education is always a priority and it’s no different now – it’s just finding new ways to deliver it. WPP AUNZ has launched a series of virtual sessions called The New Hustle, which focus on how to adapt the business approach to reimagine client challenges. These sessions are cou- pled with an idea generation workshop delivered by WPP AUNZ’s The
Academy, using real client case studies to unlock practical, innova- tive ideas for a changing world.
While Cannes Lions isn’t going ahead, agencies had put in a lot of work to make submissions. So for the second year in a row, NCo is hosting GroupM’s Young Lions Competition – this time virtually. Young Lions con- tenders each have five minutes to pitch their entry to a panel of judges, including agency CEOs Katie Rigg Smith, Peter Vogel and Willie Pang.
Mindshare client Hackathons Australia also began on day one of remote work to understand how COVID-19 has impacted clients’ business and their audience. Teams generate ideas and solutions to solve issues, and it has been adopted across GroupM globally and WPP AUNZ.
The company worked with Mindshare client and partner Foxtel to launch a series of weekly virtual sessions hosted by Foxtel’s on-air talent for staff and clients, offering insight into how catego- ries such as sport, real estate, news and politics had been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Following a recent survey from GroupM’s Gender Equality Committee as part of its All Means All Diversity & Inclusion program, it has developed a number of initi- atives that support parents, kick- ing off with a short, fun video to celebrate all our WFH parents and their unique situations with kids at home, featuring photos and videos submitted by each agency.
GroupM recognises that its people are currently facing worry from many angles, including their family. To support employees whose families may run small local businesses, Wavemaker Adelaide began a noticeboard to share their details and encourage people to support each other.
It has since rolled out further across GroupM agencies to show everyone is part of a community that goes beyond the business.
“We know that as a business we need to be flexible, and long-term, one of the benefits is that this cur- rent environment will accelerate flexibility for everyone within our workforce, which is good for all our people and good for the business,” says Lollback.
Working from home has comprised many different guises for GroupM employees in recent months,
and staying connected via video communication tools is an essential component of this new world.
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