After two-plus years of operating in the states, the One School is making moves across the pond.
The free, online 16-week portfolio school—created by Oriel Davis-Lyons, head of creative for podcast and talk at Spotify, and The One Club with the aim of lowering barriers to entry for Black creatives in advertising—will begin classes in the UK starting in March.
WPP will be the school’s launch partner as part of its Racial Equity Programme, in which it’s committed to spending $30 million over three years on internal inclusion programs and external organizations. While WPP has also donated to the One School US in the past, Global Chief Creative Officer Rob Reilly told Marketing Brew that its work with the UK school is “a real partnership versus a financial commitment.”
WPP confirmed it will provide lecturers and mentors to students, as well as a six-week mentorship program involving two WPP-provided briefs for any students not admitted into the One School UK.
Ez Blaine, founding creative partner at Uncommon Creative Studio, who previously headed up the One School West Coast, will lead the One School UK as head tutor. He said he’s been working with Lyons on how to make it “feel like the One School brand,” but with a “new, international vibe to it.”
Some of the curriculum will derive from what’s being taught in the US, though Blaine said he hopes to bring in speakers from eclectic spaces and “pepper in” lessons on things like building self-confidence.
“You really have to stand up and just project yourselves, and I think getting to understand that confidence and to get past the anxiety is a really, really key skill in progressing in a creative environment,” he said.
While his training doesn’t come from a portfolio school, Blaine told Marketing Brew there’s value in the training they provide—particularly for those coming to advertising from another industry. With applications now open, Blaine said he’s been doing outreach to Black creatives with no prior advertising experience, encouraging them to apply for one of the 15 spots available.
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“There’s so many instances of copywriters in our industry having an idea to go and start a pizza brand or a taco stand,” he said. “I wanted to reverse that. I want to go and get someone that’s in a shop that’s been making candles.”
Similar to what Lyons told us earlier this year, Blaine noted the “closed-off” nature of the advertising industry, which often relies on personal connections. In addition to aiming for a 100% post-grad placement rate, Lyons said he also hopes to facilitate a family-like network for graduates to help one another in their careers down the line.
Currently the One School US has an 80% agency hire rate with 128 graduates to date. This fall, 30 students enrolled across its Atlanta and Chicago locations and will graduate in February 2023.
Reilly told us he’d also love to see all UK graduates get hired but clarified that the program isn’t “an entryway into WPP.” Rather, he said he wants to see graduates enter and succeed in the industry, “whether at WPP companies, or on a brand side, or a tech company, or any other advertising agency or design company.”
Reilly said that WPP also hopes to set an example for the industry and encourages other agencies and brands to help expand the program to countries beyond the US and UK to help Black creatives. “We want some other people to join in and get [the program] out because I think they’ll find a very fulfilling experience,” he said.