Haris Trnjanin Is TBWA\NEBOKO's New Talent Coach

Creative Agency TBWA\NEBOKO has contracted Haris Trnjanin as its new talent coach. He will focus mainly on attracting new talent to the agency as well as researching and advocating for themes such as diversity and inclusion within the organisation. 

Haris’ journey

For the last fourteen years, Haris Trnjanin has been a talent coach and youth worker in Hengelo and Almelo in the Netherlands. As a musician, he used his love of music to empower young people to use their talent to create opportunities for themselves. His passion for this work drove him to set up Studio 15 in Almelo, a platform and studio that offers young people (12-30) the opportunity to develop professionally in the fields of music, performance, film and photography, amongst others. The studio is among the top five biggest youth incubator hubs in the Netherlands with a total of 10 different studios/stages, including recording studios, dance halls, a photo studio and a large performance stage. 

Haris' passion for music started at a young age. “Originally from Bosnia, I was born in Croatia and fled with my family to the Netherlands when I was just two years old”, says Haris. “In the early '90s, the war in Yugoslavia was at its peak and we were able to escape the violence and lived for three years in an asylum seeker’s centre in the Netherlands”. 

Continues Haris, “I've been making music since I could walk and have been involved in it professionally since I was 13. At first, it was mainly for myself when I lived in Enschede, but I followed this up by helping others to do something with it too. Thus, since the age of 18 I have been working to help young people push their imagination through music”. 

The experience Haris gained at Studio 15 hasn’t gone unnoticed. Darre van Dijk, CCO at TBWA\NEBOKO, has known Haris for 14 years and has always closely followed his development in both music and his work as a talent coach. Haris explains, “Darre approached me at one point asking how I could interpret my experience as a youth worker and talent coach to TBWA\NEBOKO. In a nutshell, he asked how a creative agency can ensure that they bring in more creative talent through a better approach towards diversity and inclusion.”

Darre van Dijk states: “In advertising, we have the ability to attract people with different sets of skills from all over the world. However, we feel that there is so much more talent out there that has not been reached yet. Several factors can be the cause of this, for example the lack of education, lack of connections or simply the environment they grew up in. Haris will be the bridge to these hidden talents with his help and expertise.”

Diversity & inclusion at TBWA\NEBOKO

Over the last few years, diversity and inclusion has become a major theme that plays an important role within TBWA\NEBOKO. "For the agency to make a real sustainable impact, we need to find and build a talent pool of young people from various backgrounds, unable to find their way to the big players such as TBWA\NEBOKO”, Haris says. “This isn't something that will happen overnight, but it will be a rewarding challenge to see where this could lead. What we are aiming for is to become a complete and accurate reflection of the society that we live in; not only in terms of personnel or talent, but also in the content we create. We are definitely on the right track, and although you may never solve it a 100%, every step is a step in the right direction and will leave the right kind of legacy for all parties concerned.” 

Rik Ledder, CEO TBWA\NEBOKO adds, “Haris is an important asset to our growing agency and its growing culture of inclusion. Darre already knows him, of course, but after a few conversations in which we exchanged thoughts on how to make our talent pool not only bigger, but also more diverse, it was clear that we needed someone like him at TBWA\NEBOKO to lead the important initiative. We are one of the first, if not the first, in the Netherlands to work with a talent coach in our capacity as a creative agency and that is something we are very proud of.”