Digital mentoring at JWT

When I joined JWT Toronto, digital knowledge was all over the map; many people had no experience in the medium. As an ACD with responsibility for things interactive, I immediately set about changing that.

Every week I sent out an agency-wide email entitled “Digital Possibilities” to reveal new examples of digital advertising, from banners to mobile apps, QR codes to augmented reality. And each email was archived as a post in a newly-created blog called “Digital Discussions.”

The idea was to communicate not just what was possible, but to show everyone they already had the skills to create great interactive concepts, even if they didn’t know it yet. And really, don’t we all want to work at an agency with just such a culture of mentoring and discovery?

I knew I’d been successful when account people started forwarding the emails and blog link to our clients. And creative teams started dropping by to bounce around digital ideas.