ADMA and DeakinDigital partner up on bridging the practical marketing skills gap

The Association for Data-driven Marketing and Advertising (ADMA) has partnered with Deakin University’s DeakinDigital division to launch new Professional Marketing Credentials for the marketing industry.

The collaboration sees the pair developing a new marketing capabilities framework as well as credential model, which ADMA claims are a world-first in terms of independently verified, evidence-based marketing certifications that recognise a person’s skills, experience and capabilities gained on the job.

The new credentials will allow businesses and individuals to recognise their capabilities against global academic and industry standards. They will be offered initially in the areas of data-driven marketing, digital marketing and content marketing. More credentials are expected to debut by the end of the year.

ADMA CEO, Jodie Sangster, announced the new initiative today at the association’s Global Forum, saying that the credentials will be an essential tool for organisations in their quest to get and retain the best modern marketing talent. They’ll also bridge the gap between formal education and practical knowledge.

“Marketing continues to change at a rapid pace. For businesses to be successful, they must ensure they have the optimal marketing skills and capabilities of the future,” she said. “Most organisations struggle to know what capability they currently have and how to build a team for the future. Our new programs solve those problems.

“The capabilities framework defines the required skills and companies can use our new Skills Assessment tool to identify current capabilities and skills gaps.”

The credentials follow the launch of an overhauled education curriculum by ADMA earlier this year, aimed at helping build the skills marketers need to cope in a digital age.

“Issued by DeakinDigital and ADMA, the credentials create that pathway, enable identification of industry specific capability and provide recognition of skills that are important for businesses and individuals who wish to secure their future success,” added DeakinDigital CEO, Simon Hann.

The credentials program is one of five pillars to ADMA's 'IQ Facts' training and education framework and is about providing an end-to-end benchmark for marketing knowledge, Sangster said. She noted more than 40 leaders have come together to contribute their thoughts on the skills needed in the industry today in order to build out the initiative.