Bartle Bogle Hegarty has been running an Unsigned showcase every year since 2018, giving new and diverse talent a chance to get some exposure to people in the industry.
This year, it’s got together with some of London’s best agencies — Wieden+Kennedy, Lucky Generals, Mother, New Commercial Arts and Leo Burnett — to form a collective called the Unsigned Union. The agencies will meet on a monthly basis to put together and host an ongoing series of initiatives, events and exhibitions.
BBH has had plenty of success, with Unsigned alumni finding themselves signed by the likes of RSA, and getting commercial commissions from brands such as Nike, Chanel and L’Oreal. Artists from the 2020 showcase have had their work featured in publications including Vogue, Dazed, the Guardian, The New Yorker, The New York Times and Vice.
Stephen Ledger-Lomas, head of production at BBH, said: “We started Unsigned with the singular ambition of putting diverse talent on the radar. We wanted to look outside of the traditional channels and bring the most exciting emerging talent into the spotlight. Unsigned has now expanded its reach with the formation of a broader Unsigned Union, which aims to dismantle some of the barriers which have prevented us from moving forward collectively as an industry.”
This year’s event takes place in the BBH offices this Thursday, 25th November.
