Hungry Talks - Diversity in the advertising industry

The latest episode of student-run advertising talk show Hungry Talks looked at the importance of diverse perspectives in the creative industry and in the media.  

The show looked to the people paving the way for young creatives from diverse backgrounds to succeed.  

This week’s guest, who spoke on cultural and linguistic diversity, were Belle Kwan, account director and multicultural story-teller at CultureVerse (ThinkHQ Group); John Burgess, CEO and director of strategy, and Kelsey Dubar, marketing & events manager at Little Rocket; as well as Valeria Mejia and Amber McLindin, final year RMIT Advertising students and RMIT 2023 Pitch Night coordinators. 

Episode four began with an Acknowledgment of Country by John Burgess. 

Kwan at CultureVerse spoke about the importance of linguistic diversity in the creative industry. She is an experienced marketing & media strategist, and recently held a talk to Master of Marketing students at RMIT University about why communicating to a multicultural audience must no longer be just a secondary thought, but an essential part of every Australian communications campaign. 

Kwan strives to help other creatives invest in successfully communicating to a diverse nation, and respecting the different experiences and values that everybody proudly carries with them. 

Burgess and Dubar at Little Rocket, First Nations owned and operated creative agency based in Naarm/Melbourne, also joined the show to discuss the importance of cultural diversity in the creative industry.  

Little Rocket is a full-service agency that specialises in communication, marketing, videography, photography, PR, event management, and graphic design.  

The agency also provided this week’s Quick Brief – a WOW Outdoor Media campaign for the Vote Yes to a Voice in Australia campaign. The winning student response will receive a 1-week Internship. 

Next week, Hungry Talks will be looking at ‘Oh the places you’ll go!’. 

Joining the studio will be Liam Jenkins, art director, and Annie Little, strategy director, at The Royals.   

Jacob Yallouz, Swinburne Advertising student working in the music industry, will also be featuring in an interview, as well as two recent RMIT Advertising graduates, Shani Moon and Alanna Caluya to discuss their network initiative for young creatives. 

The episode will look at the broad spectrum of roles, careers and people within the advertising industry. It will focus on the diversity of roles and opportunities that the industry has to offer with mention of full time, freelance, working-from-home arrangements. 

If you’d like to be part of Hungry Talks, email creative producer, Chelsea, at s3898812@student.rmit.edu.au 

Book here. Or, watch the show live every Wednesday at 5.30pm here.