ADMA is overhauling its training and education programme with a new set of courses designed to reflect the skills the industry needs from advertising, content and creativity though to data science and technology and across every marketing channel.
It is also pledging to provide one course for free for every one sold, to small businesses, startups and people unable to afford the courses as a way to ‘give back’. Five client-side sponsors have pledged to sign off to fund it initially, and offer opportunities for follow-up internships.
The courses range from entry level courses through to exec level, and include online modules, in-person and in-house courses spanning from $100 to several thousand dollars depending on the level. They will be provided by industry practitioners,
The newly designed courses aim to address the skills gap that plagues the industry, and help organisations upskill.
Sangster told AdNews that the ‘buy one give one’ move was inspired by Toms Shoes, which since it formed in 2006 has given 35 million pairs of shoes to children in need in developing nations – one for every pair of Toms shoes bought globally. It does the same for eyewear, water and bags which fund health equipment for pregnant women in developing countries.
The one-for-one mechanic is also used by other organisations such as Procter & Gamble, which works with UNICEF to deliver vaccinations for babies in developing countries for every pack of its Pampers nappies sold in the UK, resulting in the eradication of tetanus in babies in around 15 countries since its inception.
Here, Sangster hopes it will enable more people from more diverse backgrounds enter into a career in marketing and bring more people into the industry that otherwise might not have had the opportunity.
Sangster launched the programme at the AC&E Awards last week. "We literally need more people in this industry," she said.
"We're doing it so we can get more people into the industry and create more great work.
"For every one bought, we'll give one away for one to people who would love a career in marketing. The ADMA one-for-one programme will help solve the skills problem but also give back."
It is also working with Telstra to launch an education programme that will help people in rural areas upskill in the industry and get into careers in advertising, media and marketing.
The initiative was driven by Telstra director of marketing enablement Nick Adams who is passionate about making opportunities available to marketers and people in the industry that work outside of the metro cities in rural areas.
Telstra has provided funding for five scholarships for rural marketers to take up training in Sydney as well as short secondment placements within Telstra to learn from its marketing teams, and take those learnings and skills back to their post and raise the quality of marketing in rural organisations that often don’t get exposed to the opportunities that marketers in metro cities do.
“This is just the first step,” said Sangster. “If it’s successful, we’ll roll it out and do more.”
For more on what the industry is doing in terms of training and education, read our Focus: on Training and Education feature in the Oct 30 Issue of AdNews in print. Subscribe to AdNews in Print, or get it now on iPad.
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