July 6, 2010
Marketing communications
School of thought
Originally published in NZ Marketing March-April 2010, page 91
Professional development more important than ever
Having 2009 behind us is like a breath of fresh air. It will be remembered as one of the most challenging years in our industry’s history. The good news is that New Zealanders are a resilient bunch.
My experience of this country thus far would suggest that through the global economic crisis we will find a new and better way of working—it’s not an option to continue operating the way we have in the past.
We’ve done all the cost cutting we can do within the business and still produce good work that gets great results for our clients. We now need to concentrate on growth and development.
There is no better place to stimulate that growth than through continuing education and industry training. It is more important than ever to invest in our people and raise the bar.
There is no better place to stimulate growth than through continuing education and industry training. It is more important than ever to invest in our people and raise the bar
Over the previous decade, I chaired the Professional Training Board of the Advertising Federation of Australia with AdSchool as our primary training platform. From 2003–2008, AdSchool grew from approximately 300 students per year to well over 1,000. A lot of that growth came from the communications industry, but far more came from clients—a trend that surprised us when we analysed the student data.
Today, clients represent more than 40 percent of all AdSchool students and it continues to grow.
I was thrilled to see clients and agencies embracing training and participating together in the same curriculum. The most popular courses for both groups were integrated communications, strategic planning and media planning/buying. There were also one-off day or half-day courses that appealed to agencies and clients on very specific topics like production management, among others.
In New Zealand, I don’t believe that marketers have participated in the CAANZ /AUT Communications School to the extent that I’ve seen in other markets. I hope this changes, as I see massive benefits for everyone when both clients and agency train together:
- It creates a greater respect between marketing and agency teams.
- It creates a better appreciation and understanding of the work and the difficulties and challenges in producing great work.
- It provides a common foundation of understanding so the work is developed more efficiently and more effectively.
I hope we experience a huge increase in training participation in 2010 for both client and agency staff. The more knowledgeable we are together, the better the work.
The better the work, the better the results for our clients. The better the results for clients, the better the financial outcomes for agencies and, ultimately, the better the New Zealand economy.