Australia's leading marcomms industry bodies have issued pleas for the sector to take digital education more seriously, in the wake of a report that indicated gravely low levels of digital skill sets across the agency, media and marketing landscapes.
The outcry has come after a report issued by Digital Chameleon which indicated low digital skill levels in the Australian marcomms sector, with only 28% of respondents saying they possessed the digital skills necessary for their role.
Interactive Advertising Bureau chief executive Paul Fisher told AdNews: “There is a major gap when it comes to digital education and skills. We’ve built an industry based on silos. This has started to break down but a lot still needs to be done. There is also a lack of proper education at an industry as well as a tertiary and secondary level.
“We need to encourage more cohesive training and education, which might involve state and federal government bodies as well as industry bodies and a range of other stakeholders.”
The Communications Council chief executive Margaret Zabel sang a similar tune. “Of course digital skills vary from business to business, but it’s an issue,” she said. “At the moment with economic pressures it’s hard to convince companies to invest in training. Also, it’s such a rapidly changing area, so it’s hard for people to keep up.”
The Association for Data-driven Marketing and Advertising chief executive Jodie Sangster said the problem was not a lack of digital skills, but a divide between ‘marketing skills’ and ‘technology skills’.
“We are seeing two types of individual enter the marketing profession: those that have been trained in marketing and communications, and those that are technology-savvy. As we know, today’s marketer needs to be both,” she said.
However, Media Federation of Australia president Henry Tajer had a slightly different take, arguing the local market did not have an issue with regards to digital resources. However, he did say the industry needed to unite to figure out the digital agenda for the future – particularly in the mobile space – so it was not left behind.
Most of the industry bodies pointed towards existing education or training programs, but said these were not being adequately adopted.
This article first appeared in the 2 November 2012 edition of AdNews, in print and on iPad. Click here to subscribe for more news, features and opinion.
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