LAUNCH Programme winners announced: TBWA’s Isobelle McGrath and Mads Catanese win $10k + Creative LIAisons placement; Leilani Horthy Banks and Nick Warrand win jobs at DDB Sydney

The winners of this year’s LAUNCH Programme have been announced. DDB Australia and the London International Awards (LIA) partnered with FBI Talent Co. for the 2nd edition of the initiative.

Winning $10,000 in prize money and places in this year’s global Creative LIAisons virtual coaching program, TBWA Melbourne’s Isobelle McGrath and Mads Catanese’s entry, titled ‘Silent Treatment’ for McDonald’s, was selected as the overall winner for the under 30 professional brief.

Speaking about their win, McGrath (below left) and Catanese (below right) said: “The LAUNCH competition is an important initiative. Not only is it homegrown, but it gives young talent what they need to succeed in this industry. The global competitions we’ve entered are fun, but all you gain is clout. LAUNCH is different—it offers something tangible, like a first job, or in our case, mentorship (and some extra dosh, which is very welcome in this economy). So yeah, it means a lot to us and to all the young creatives ready to hard launch their career.”

LIA’s ongoing partnership with LAUNCH will see McGrath and Catanese gain invaluable global mentorship.

Says Laurissa Levy, director, Creative LIAisons: “Since its inception, LIA has put careful thought into offering mentees the opportunity to be matched with the best mentors that suit their particular interests for their one-to-one coaching sessions. Annually, there are over 200 mentees and coaches in the program. And each mentee gets the undivided attention of not just one, but three different mentors. No other training program offers this unique experience. Many of the past mentees have said this has been the best experience of their career as they have gained insights that they will take with them for the rest of their career.”

The winners of the Student brief for Volkswagen, titled ‘Gone Golf’ were Leilani Horthy Banks (below middle) and Nick Warrand (below left). Their prize sees them join DDB Sydney as a full-time creative team.

The winning team expressed their enthusiasm saying: “We’re both completely thrilled to be starting at DDB – the opportunity to hit the ground running at such an incredible agency is unparalleled, and something we’d laughed off as a bit of pipe dream a few months back.”

On Banks and Warrand joining his team, DDB Sydney CCO Matt Chandler (above far right) says: “I couldn’t be happier that Leilani and Nick won the Launch competition. Nurturing ambitious and exciting young talent into our industry has never been more important, so it’s been a privilege to get to do this with FBI Talent Co.”

Speaking to the importance of the programme, FBI Talent Co’s CEO Michael Kean adds: “Ultimately, LAUNCH was established to address the ever-present industry issue of getting young creative talent into agencies. Whilst a lot of existing courses do many great things, students finish those courses as individuals. The reality of the current climate is that in most cases, agencies can only consider bringing in creative ‘teams’ who have a rhythm of working together. Encouraging young talent to find a partner, work on briefs together and enter as a team is what sets the LAUNCH programme apart.”

LAUNCH is a talent programme developed by leading recruitment firm FBI TALENT CO. providing both student and emerging creative teams in Sydney and Melbourne the opportunity to further showcase their thinking, as well as obtain invaluable education, training and coaching.

For more information on LAUNCH, visit: launch.fbitalent.co