[Marketing week] Bob Koigi: Bridging advertising skills gap

With the urgent need for highly skilled and diverse talent in the advertising industry and the growing role of technology in redefining modern day advertising, companies and brands are looking at innovative ways of bridging the skills gap.

In a recent LinkedIn poll, Adam Potashnick, Chief Operating Officer at MediaCom U.S., found that "applying and never hearing back" was the most frustrating part of the application process for 59% of job seekers. As a result, MediaCom is addressing the frustration head-on and initiated a program of interviews and offers on the same day. The agency's unique approach to hiring new talent streamlines a traditionally longer interview process, which often includes multiple interviews and assignments.

Now global advertising technology company Quantcast has announced a first-of-its-kind partnership with GroupM's MediaCom, whereby MediaCom guarantees qualified applicants who earn a Quantcast Academy certification an interview for open roles at MediaCom.

The Quantcast Academy is part of a larger effort by Quantcast to nurture and train a new generation of talent for the advertising ecosystem. It is a free certification program that provides online learning modules and a full certification program for individuals to understand the language, tools, and processes of the digital advertising ecosystem, including concepts such as data privacy, identity and how artificial intelligence works and its increasingly integral role in marketing strategy.

The academy also arms individuals with the training and skills needed to become certified experts in the Quantcast Platform.

Still on advertisement, Hivestack, the world’s, independent programmatic digital out of home (DOOH) ad tech company, has announced a partnership with Billups, a privately held global OOH technology and managed services company.

The partnership will see the first programmatic DOOH campaign launch in The Netherlands for fashionable DTC eyewear brand, Ace & Tate, across JCDecaux screens via the VIOOH platform.

Elsewhere, MediaCom has merged operations with Essence to become EssenceMediacom. The new EssenceMediacom infuses the digital and data-driven DNA of Essence with MediaCom’s scaled multichannel, audience planning and strategic media expertise, designed to power client growth globally with an agile response to a rapidly evolving media landscape.

Clients will be able to leverage an expanded global organization founded by two agencies that are strategic complements.

Hearst UK's luxury media brands, ELLE and Esquire UK, have partnered with Audi for a multi-platform campaign titled ‘Style with Meaning’. The campaign combines both magazines for the first time with a special 16-page flip print supplement, alongside bespoke digital and video content.

On appointments, WPP has announced the appointment of Kyoko Matsushita as CEO in Japan. In this new role, Kyoko will be responsible for WPP’s business in Japan, strengthening its collective capabilities and bringing together people and resources on behalf of clients.

Kyoko is currently Chief Executive Officer for Essence Global, WPP’s global data and measurement-driven full-service media agency, with 23 offices in 12 countries. Kyoko joined Essence in 2014 as the first CEO of the APAC region. This appointment will see her return to Asia, based in Tokyo, after a transition period as the merged EssenceMediacom business – also announced today – prepares for its launch.

And on sustainability, Henkel Australia has begun using electricity generated fully from renewable energy sources at its Adhesive Technologies plants in Seven Hills, New South Wales, and Kilsyth, Victoria.

The plants serve a wide range of industries, such as flexible packaging, engineered wood, food and beverage, steel, paper, mining, and maintenance, repair and overhaul. Thanks to more than 2,000 solar panels on their rooftops and renewable energy contracts, the sites are expected to realise more than 50 percent savings in carbon emissions in 2022, compared to last year.

Bob Koigi is an editor at Marketing Report EU

www.marketingreport.eu

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