The Independent

Linda Loose, DM Hall of Fame honouree, is a failed New York cabaret singer who found her truer calling in direct/digital marketing. One-time GM JWT Direct NY and Australia, she now dishes out independent advice, creative and training to marketers looking for better measurable results. You can contact her via linda@lindaloose.com

Jonathan Pratt, marketing director of StudyLink, a service provider to the international education sector, already knew a bit about higher education qualifications before he decided to further his own. This UK import and former international marketing manager at Monash University says he didn’t have to think too hard about which qualification he’d pursue.

“I completed the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) Professional Diploma in the UK and really enjoyed it,” Pratt explains. “It was more rigorous and challenging than most academic work I’ve done. The networks I developed from it have been exceptionally valuable. And there’s nothing else that’s recognised around the world like this is.”

So when Pratt decided to pursue his next educational milestone here in Australia, he went to the Australian College of Marketing (ACM) – the only CIM accredited study centre in this country. He’s currently working toward his next CIM qualification – the Chartered Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing. And he says he’s finding the experience here just as challenging, and rewarding.

Pratt is just one of the ACM students and graduates I’ve been chatting with about their educational experiences. As a sometimes teacher, and perpetual student, I was intrigued when I heard that this globally recognised qualification had finally come to our shores. And I thought I’d dig a bit deeper into just what CIM and this ‘chartered marketer’ stuff was all about.

World’s oldest and largest body for professional marketers

When Carmen Sederino, bathroom field marketing manager at Reece, decided she needed further marketing qualifications to advance in her career, she did some serious homework into the CIM. And from an international colleague who she called on to investigate – a respected trainer from the UK – she got an enthusiastic thumbs-up. Which is just what a lot of overseas marketers would expect.

Established almost 100 years ago, the UK-based CIM now has 300 study centres worldwide, supporting over 50,000 marketers each year. Mention ‘chartered marketer’ in London or Hong Kong or any of 55 countries where CIM has a presence, and it’s instantly acknowledged, commonly understood and well-respected.

Here in Australia, the Australian College of Marketing, established in 2009, offers four CIM professional marketing qualifications on a pathway to chartered marketer status. Included is a world first – a dual award offered in conjunction with Charles Sturt University that leads to a combined Master of Management (Chartered Marketer) and CIM Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing.

Though the CIM chartered marketer status isn’t as widely recognised here yet, it’s well-known among a cadre of cluey marketers who’ve come across it elsewhere in the world – and among its growing stable of Australian students and graduates and their employers.

Here’s what they say makes it a cut above. (Upfront admission: I’m talking with the converted here! These marketers are dead keen on ACM, the CIM, the coursework and what it’s done for them professionally and personally. And, after talking with them, I’m feeling the love myself.)

That ‘chartered marketer’ status

Australian marketers have been banging on about it forever. Marketing, the profession, needs and deserves more consistent, concrete and recognisable standards – and greater profile and status within the business and boardroom. But I’ve always questioned whether ‘accreditation’ is part of the answer. Could our yin/yang, right brain/left brain discipline really be shoehorned into the same kind of standardised assessment that’s applied to more black and white fields like accounting and engineering?

Well, these folks are winning me over. The rigour of the CIM approach to marketing education is well-honed. So is the consistency in content and assessment. And, importantly, those with chartered credentials or working toward them say it makes a real difference to how they’re perceived in the workplace.

Kate Liscombe, marketing adviser at consulting engineers Golder Associates, is currently studying for the CIM Professional Diploma. “Around here, it’s instantly understood,” she says. “It’s not about the status of one university or another. Especially among the chartered engineers and scientists I work with, it conveys immediate credibility, and helps me explain where marketing fits and what we’re doing.” Liscombe’s boss, Corey Simpson, takes that a step further. Simpson says that, as a result of her professional development at ACM, “Kate has played a key part in building the credibility of the marketing function at Golder.”

Of course, that’s not just because ‘chartered’ is in the name. What seems to be impressing both students and their employers is the quality of the work resulting from their learning.

Bloody hard – and so it should be

One thing with which everyone I speak with concurs is the rigour and depth of the coursework. Every module is exhaustive, every assessment demanding, with some downright daunting. (Emma Blackburn, ACM’s principal, is not shy about reporting that one of the most challenging modules has sometimes had just a 50 percent first-time pass rate worldwide.)

This may not appeal to the student who wants creds on the business card without putting in the hard yards. But for those who want learning that actually makes them demonstrably better at their job – and more promotable to the next one – it’s a large part of the appeal.

Pratt, who is no stranger to higher level academic qualifications, goes so far as to say, “The level of analysis and interpretation, the assessments, the depth of learning and degree of difficulty is greater on the CIM Postgraduate Diploma I’m taking now than for any Masters in Marketing.”

To him, this is a very good thing.

Appealing too is the fact that the standards established for each unit and qualification level are consistent across CIM study centres worldwide – providing a sort of shorthand ‘skill and knowledge’ meter for any employer anywhere in the world looking at an Australian CV.

But perhaps the most enthusiastic praise I hear from everyone involved is for the actual course content and teaching – how different and productive their ACM studies are compared to their other academic or industry education experiences.

A dose of vocational reality

A core principle underpinning the CIM approach is that all qualifications are developed in consultation with business and taught by practising marketers. ACM may have lofty academic standards, but it’s also firmly grounded in the real business world: the current trends, the daily demands on working marketers, and the ever-changing knowledge and skills requirements of their employers.

Each course also involves the students in work-based assignments, so they’re applying the tools and disciplines they’re mastering to live issues and data from their own organisations. And each module builds directly on the previous one, carrying those work-based assignments forward to successive levels of analysis and interpretation.

OK, I know, this sounds whizzy on paper. But what does it really mean?

Every student or grad I hear from says some version of the same thing: they have been given tools, skills and real work they have taken directly into their workplaces and used to further their companies’ fortunes – and their own.

Now, I’m never happy with generalities. So I ask, “What exactly did you use back at work, give me an example?” and “What specific difference did it make?” I get some very specific answers (see sidebar).

Flexibility of study

ACM courses are structured as a combination of intensive face-to-face study days and ongoing distance learning – ideal for those who want to do the highest level learning, but have work and other commitments that make full-time, scheduled university study impractical. And they benefit from small class sizes, lots of interaction during and after the intensive face-to-faces and extensive personal support from the tutor. Students tell me that this flexible format worked a treat for them.

And, of course, the network

ACM graduates, like any students, value highly the cadre of marketing peers and friends they connect with during their study. What sets the CIM network apart is its wide global embrace. Graduates have affiliation with all CIM graduates worldwide, as well as permanent access to the organisation’s substantial online tools and resources, and entrée to ongoing networking and education events in Australia.

The best testimonial

For all the enthusiasm of students and graduates, perhaps the best advertisement for ACM and the CIM qualifications comes from the people they work for. For CIM Professional Diploma student Fiona Coles, a marketing executive at Shoal Bay Resort and Spa, one direct result of her study was particularly sweet. She used her coursework to prepare the submission that won her employer a New South Wales Tourism Award. But even sweeter is hearing what her boss, marketing manager Rebecca Smith, has to say: “Fiona’s CIM study has definitely contributed to her success. It has pushed her to challenge processes and policies, encouraged her to look for best practice and provided her with a solid overall business perspective, which allows her to operate effectively within the broader business team.”

And that, I’d venture, is what serious marketing education is all about.

The Educator/Practitioner

Frank Chamberlin is a part-time lecturer in the Master of Marketing at Monash University and runs the 12-year-old writing consultancy, Action Words – www.actionwords.com.au.

Do postgrad studies bridge the gap between academic theory and practical, real-world knowledge? Can postgrad study turbo charge your career in marketing?

To get a feel for these questions, I speak with academics, recruiters and graduates from postgrad courses.

We begin with a view from the US. The Golden Gate University in San Francisco has been educating adult learners since 1910. It currently offers a Master of Science in Marketing and a Master of Science in Integrated Marketing Communications. As the associate professor and chair of Marketing and Public Relations at Golden Gate, Dr Blodwen Tarter suggests that there are a number of reasons to consider postgrad education in marketing.

“For recent graduates with little or no work experience, postgrad training can help jump-start their careers with first-time jobs at a higher level of professional challenge,” she says. “In addition, some practising marketers want to deepen their understanding of specific aspects of marketing and broaden their skill set, while others are seeking formal education to help them transition from one professional discipline to another.”

Tarter sees the question of why people take on postgrad study as quite clear cut. “It’s simple,” she says, “people seek graduate marketing education to get better jobs, faster, and to be more attractive to employers.”

The largest marketing faculty within an Australian university is at Monash University. The director of teaching and learning at Monash, Irene Powell, suggests that the providers of marketing education need to listen to the marketplace.

“It’s important to listen and to ensure that what is taught is relevant, not just for today, but more importantly for the future,” she says. “This is particularly important in dynamic areas such as digital and social media.”

From her years at Monash, Powell suggests that the future of postgrad marketing education is healthy.

“The need for smart, well-disciplined and capable marketing graduates is strong. But the links between industry and academia need to be nurtured. Both parties will benefit from working closer together in the future, for example, on joint research initiatives.”

Mount Eliza Executive Education has been offering management education for 50 years. The director of marketing there, Alex Christou, puts the focus more directly on course content. He sees the role of postgrad education “as equipping marketers not only with the traditional domains of marketing such as brand management, promotional strategies, channel relationships and product positioning, but to also address a number of other competencies that are required by all marketers. These include the ability to manage and lead teams, communicate effectively in the language of economics, finance and organisational change, and to understand the implications of business decisions.”

Christou stresses the need for marketers “to understand and speak the language of our peers around the executive table, such as the chief financial officer and the HR director”.

With almost 300,000 employees around the world and a rich tradition going back to 1890, GE is renowned for the professional development opportunities it offers.

GE obviously recruits people at all levels, but where people join the company with postgrad education, GE is likely to build on that no matter what the content of the course.

As the recruitment manager in Melbourne, Rebecca Dakin explains, “One of our internal leadership courses, called the Experienced Commercial Leadership Program, is particularly developed with postgrad qualified candidates in mind. This program is rotation-based with sales and marketing streams and gives participants the opportunity to undertake formal training in the US before completing rotations within the Australian and New Zealand businesses. The benefit for people who have completed postgrad studies is that this program provides access to senior leaders and commercial projects from their very first day at GE.”

For potential postgrad students, the views of recruiters may be the most valued. Sarah Cockell Consulting is a recruiting firm with offices in Sydney and Melbourne that specialises in direct marketing and online recruitment. Managing director, Louise McCallum says that experience will always outweigh any sort of qualifications. “If there is a choice between a highly qualified candidate with no experience versus a candidate with substantial experience, the experienced candidate would definitely be the first choice,” she says.

McCallum adds, however, “Qualifications certainly do enhance a CV. They add credibility and show a high level of commitment and ambition, which is very desirable to employers.”

Erin Devlin, founding director at the boutique recruitment firm, Devlin Alliance, tends to agree. “Candidates who pursue postgrad qualifications in marketing will gain a greater understanding of the complexities of marketing strategy and implementation,” she explains.

“If candidates are seeking speedier career progression through postgrad marketing qualifications, I don’t believe this is the right vehicle. If, however, they are genuinely interested in gaining a deeper understanding of marketing theory and strategy, and have a long-term view of their careers, then postgrad qualifications can be a worthwhile investment.”

But Devlin stresses that the content needs to be extremely current. “Marketing innovation moves at such lightning speed, that there must be an emphasis on current trends, information and communication methods,” she says.

Perhaps the final word should go to the following four marketers, who are all satisfied that their postgrad course helped them achieve what they wanted.

The Boss

Adam Joseph is readership director at HWT (News Limited), a Victorian councillor with the AMI, a certified practising marketer (CPM), a past graduate of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and a lover of three-letter acronyms. 

Being European and multilingual (and, more to the point, having access to Wikipedia), I can reliably inform you, dear readers, that the word ‘charter’ comes from the Latin word meaning ‘little paper’. In other words, a charter started out as just a humble piece of dead wood. And a charter is a bit like a brand – a highly symbolic thing that carries a value equation in the eye of the holder/beholder.

So what exactly is the point of having a charter system? Well, as with brands, a charter is a simple shorthand to represent an assortment of collective perceptions for customers. Numerous professions offer some form of chartered status that is often pitched to their membership base as a badge of pride and prestige, exclusivity and excellence. To the outside world, being ‘chartered’ is supposed to identify a member of a profession who possesses specific credentials and has gained a certain level of competence in their chosen field.

And so we have chartered accountants, chartered engineers and chartered surveyors. In the UK we also have chartered marketers, through the CIM.

In Australia, accountants can become a CPA through CPA Australia and marketers can become a CPM through the AMI.

What’s in it for me?

As with all pieces of paper, the trick is to ask what having it ultimately does for your career. What is the Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI) of being ‘chartered’ or being certified through CPM?! In other words, as an AMI member what do I get back from my $70 CPM application fee? (Or, if I’m a non-member, what do I get back from my combined $370 joining and CPM application fee?)

From a personal branding perspective, you’d hope a key deliverable is improved brand equity for the individual: by which I mean a higher and better profile with regard to awareness and positive associations.

But sticking a meaningful marketing metric on this can be tricky. How to measure the extent to which a marketer feels a warm and fuzzy glow from belonging to an elite group?

It would be so much easier if we had a more direct metric for ROMI. Wouldn’t it be nice, for example, if we could say that being chartered or certified leads to an instant five percent rise in base salary?!

I think some MBA schools have grasped this way of thinking when justifying MBA fees. They do a simple ‘before’ and ‘after’ comparison, that shows an MBA helps you to earn more money. I appreciate this is highly idealistic thinking. But a charter or certification needs a simple yet compelling hook, a proposition hard to argue against. I’m using a five percent pay rise as just one example!

You had me at ‘hello’

OK, so let’s assume that you’re a marketer and you like the idea of being certified or chartered. After all, it sends out a signal that you are a peak professional and not just a mere mortal member.

It’s one thing to be a member of a professional body, but another to be in the elite ranks. Being a master builder simply means you’re part of a paying club, not a stonemason extraordinaire. If you decide to apply for the AMI’s CPM program, you need to be committed to Continuing Professional Development (CPD). The AMI advises that all CPMs should undertake a minimum of 100 hours of professional development over a three-year period to foster their continued learning and development. That’s around 33 hours a year committed to your personal professional development, covering a diverse range of activities including training, workshops and conferences.

What role for educators? 

To become certified or chartered, a marketer must usually have a combination of credentials and then undergo a formal assessment of some sort. Desired credentials are usually several years’ marketing experience (often at management level) and, in addition, relevant (marketing) qualifications from an accredited educational organisation.

Educators can obviously help here with the qualifications component. They can also help with work placements, building strong ties with companies that employ freshly graduated marketing folk. Like all good leaders, I think these educators should lead by example by themselves being chartered or certified by their peak industry body (and perhaps earning five percent more as a result!)

What role for industry bodies? 

I think the key challenge for marketing industry bodies like the AMI and the CIM is ultimately one of brand building – they need to build the brand equity of chartered/certified programs.

And there are multiple target audiences here. It’s all very well for marketers to feel warm and fuzzy about their freshly minted piece of paper, but that’s unlikely to get them five percent more salary. One core focus should be on the employers of marketers – and their trusted advisers in recruitment consultancies and executive search firms. They are the ones we most need to be true believers.

The C-Suite wouldn’t dream of employing a finance person without a CPA or a legal counsel who hasn’t passed the Bar, so why would they hire a marketer without an equivalent standing?

Being certified or chartered should send a clear signal to the C-Suite: this person is a commercially-minded marketer who will strive to create sustainable growth for your organisation.

What role for recruiters? 

Senior marketers charged with hiring marketing professionals can help the chartered/certified cause. First of all, they can get certified themselves and in doing so lead by example.

If an aspiring marketer ultimately covets the boss’s job, knowing that the large fromage has chartered status or a CPM clearly sets them apart from the garden variety marketing boss.

In Australia, I’d like to see more job ads with ‘CPM candidates preferred’ on them. And I’d like to see recruiters screen for CPM as a matter of due diligence.

I think the ultimate marketing challenge is one of demand creation. There needs to be demand for certified marketers from those people charged with hiring marketers.

Demand and supply should settle in equilibrium.

Too much demand and not enough supply could result in asking prices (i.e. wages) being inflated for certified marketers. Although, as a CPM, I for one will not be one of those complaining.

Oversupply and under demand will devalue the whole process of being certified – after all, if nobody charged with hiring marketers really cares about CPM, then why should the marketers themselves?

The AMI has got a major role to play here in demand generation for CPM certification. It’s time to supersize the marketing efforts for marketing maestros.