Digital Marketing Solutions Summit | Forum Events Digital Marketing Solutions Summit | Forum Events Digital Marketing Solutions Summit | Forum Events Digital Marketing Solutions Summit | Forum Events Digital Marketing Solutions Summit | Forum Events

Posts By :

Stuart O'Brien

Subscription economy drives music to new highs in 2021
By:
0

The global recorded music market grew by 18.5% in 2021, driven by growth in paid subscription streaming, with paid subscription streaming revenues increasing by 21.9% $12.3 billion.

That’s according to according to IFPI, the organisation that represents the recorded music industry worldwide, which says there were 523 million users of paid subscription accounts at the end of 2021.

Total streaming (including both paid subscription and advertising-supported) grew by 24.3% to reach US$16.9 billion, or 65.0% of total global recorded music revenues. In addition to streaming revenues, growth was supported by gains in other areas, including physical formats (+16.1%) and performance rights (+4.0%).

Record companies are working to drive this continuing growth for the broader music ecosystem.  With local teams and expertise around the globe, they invest in local artists and genres and support their development. In high-potential growth markets across Asia, Latin America and Africa, as well as more mature markets, like Europe and North America, labels are putting down deep roots and helping to foster the continued advancement of vibrant and diverse local music ecosystems.

IFPI Chief Executive Frances Moore said: “Around the world, record companies are engaging at a very local level, to support music cultures and bring on the development of emerging music ecosystems – championing local music and creating the opportunities for it to reach a global audience. As more markets mature, they join with and contribute to the rich, globally interconnected music world.

“Consequently, today’s music market is the most competitive in memory. Fans are enjoying more music than ever and in so many different and new ways.  This creates enormous opportunities for artists. Those who choose to partner with a record company, do so to benefit from the support of agile, highly responsive global teams of experts dedicated to helping them achieve creative and commercial success and build their long-term careers.

“As technologies and the online environment continue to evolve and expand, so too do the creative opportunities to share music experiences. From the metaverse, to in-game content, record companies have invested in the people and the technologies to deliver new, highly interactive experiences – adding to the evolving ways for artists to make connections with their fans.”

Growth in the world’s other regions:

Recorded music revenues grew in every region around the world in 2021:

  • Asia grew by 16.1%, with its largest market, Japan, seeing growth of 9.3%. Excluding Japan the region experienced a 24.6% climb in revenues. In a continuing trend, Asia also accounted for a significant share of the global physical revenues (49.6%).
  • Australasia experienced growth of 4.1%. Australia (+3.4%) remained a top 10 market globally and New Zealand saw a rise in streaming revenues push the overall market to growth of 8.2%.
  • Revenues in Europe, the second-largest recorded music region in the world, grew by 15.4%, a steep increase on the prior year’s growth rate of 3.2%. The region’s biggest markets all saw double digit percentage growth: UK (+13.2%), Germany (+12.6%) and France (+11.8%).
  • Latin America saw growth of 31.2% – one of the highest growth rates globally. Streaming accounted for 85.9% of the market, one of the highest proportions in any region.
  • Middle East and North Africa – split out as a separate region in the Global Music Report for the first time – experienced growth of 35.0%; the fastest regional growth rate globally. Streaming was a particularly strong driver in the region, with a 95.3% share of the market.
  • Sub-Saharan Africa – also split out for the first time in IFPI’s reporting – saw revenue growth of 9.6% in 2021, largely driven by streaming. Ad-supported was particularly strong in this region, with revenues from this format growing by 56.4%.
  • The USA & Canada region grew by 22.0% in 2021, outpacing the global growth rate. The USA market alone grew by 22.6% and Canadian recorded music revenues grew by 12.6%.

Download the free Global Music Report 2022 – State of the Industry report (English language) here.

Data literacy to be most in-demand skill by 2030
By:
0

Just one quarter of employees believe their employer is preparing them for a more data-oriented and automated workplace (25%), including in the marketing industry.

That’s according to new research from analytics provider Qlik, despite most business leaders predicting an upheaval in working practices due to the rapid onset of artificial intelligence (AI).

With 32% of employees surveyed reporting they had changed jobs in the last 12 months because their employer wasn’t offering enough upskilling and training opportunities, there is a stark need to better upskill workforces to support the workplace transition that is already underway.

The report, Data Literacy: The Upskilling Evolution, was developed by Qlik in partnership with The Future Labs and combines insights from expert interviews with surveys from over 1,200 global C-level executives and 6,000 employees.

The findings, which were largely consistent across all geographies surveyed, reveal how the rapid growth in data usage is extending enterprise aspirations for its potential and, in turn, transforming working practices. As organisations shift from passive data consumption toward a state of Active Intelligence, where continuous data becomes integrated into working practices to trigger immediate actions, the report predicts how this will impact skills requirements and professional opportunities.

Data literacy: The most in-demand skill in the future workplace

The study found that business leaders and employees alike predict that data literacy – defined as the ability to read, work with, analyze and communicate with data – will be the most in-demand skill by 2030. And 81% of executives believe it will become as vital in the future as the ability to use a computer is today.

This reflects the greater appreciation of data in the enterprise. Global employees surveyed report their use of data and its importance in decision-making has doubled over the past year. While 86% of executives now expect all team members to be able to explain how data has informed their decisions.

Underpinning more intelligent and automated working practices

The demand for data skills reflects the significant shift in the workplace, due to the rise of AI. The enterprise leaders who took part in the study believe employee working practices will change to become more collaborative, with intelligent tools helping them make better decisions (80%) and become more productive (82%).

To realise its potential, 37% of C-level respondents predict their organisation will hire a Chief Automation Officer within the next 3 years, rising to 100% within the next decade. But the investment cannot end at senior hires; those on the front line need support during this transition. And 57% of employees surveyed believe that data literacy will help them stay relevant in their role with the growing use of AI.

“We often hear people talk about how employees need to understand how Artificial Intelligence will change how they complete their role, but more importantly we need to be helping them develop the skills that enable them to add value to the output of these intelligent algorithms,” said Elif Tutuk, VP of Innovation & Design at Qlik. “Data literacy will be critical in extending workplace collaboration beyond human-to-human engagements, to employees augmenting machine intelligence with creativity and critical thinking.”

The true value of data literacy on the talent market

The shift toward a more data-oriented and automated workplace creates a massive opportunity for those with data literacy skills. Every single business leader surveyed reported that they would offer a salary increase for candidates that could demonstrate their data literacy. On average, they would offer a 24% salary increase for demonstrating this skillset. For the average UK employee, this translates into an additional £7.6K to their annual salary.

Despite being perceived as critical to the success of the enterprise – both today and in the future – just 13% of employees surveyed feel fully confident in their data literacy skills. Yet, the most common belief among UK enterprise leaders is that it is an individual’s responsibility, over that of their current employer or educational institutions, to prepare themselves with the skills for the future workplace.

Where organisations are increasing their data literacy training, our research shows that it is primarily offered to those working in specific data related roles (59%), such as data analysts and data scientists. Far fewer organisations offer this training to those working in marketing, HR and finance (10%, 17% and 13% respectively) despite the majority of employees working in these functions stating data literacy is already necessary to fulfil their current role (69%, 56% and 75% respectively).

Over three-quarters (76%) of employees are instead investing their own time and money (58%) to plug the professional skills gap needed for the future enterprise – with these employees spending an average of nearly 7 hours each month and nearly £2.6K each year. Some vote with their feet, with 32% of employees reporting having left a job in the past 12 months due to their employer not offering enough upskilling and training opportunities.

“Over the past few years, investments in digitizing most business processes have transformed the data resources available, and this will continue as we move toward a more intelligent and automated workplace,” said Dr. Paul Barth, Global Head of Data Literacy at Qlik. “But investment in leading-edge data platforms has revealed a large—and expanding—gap in data literacy skills in the workforce. To become a data-driven company, where employees regularly use data and analytics to make better decisions and take informed actions, business leaders need to make investments in upskilling workers in every role to close the data literacy gap.”

The Data Literacy: The Upskilling Evolution report can be downloaded here.

Do you specialise in Digital Printing? We want to hear from you!
By:
0
Each month on Digital Marketing Briefing we’re shining the spotlight on different parts of the print and marketing sectors – and in April we’ll be focussing on Digital Printing solutions. It’s all part of our ‘Recommended’ editorial feature, designed to help marketing industry professionals find the best products and services available today. So, if you specialise in Digital Printing and would like to be included as part of this exciting new shop window, we’d love to hear from you – for more info, contact Clair Wyld on c.wyld@forumevents.co.uk. Here’s our features list in full:- April – Digital Printing May – Social Media Jun – Brand Monitoring July – Web Analytics Aug – Conversion Rate Optimisation Sept – Digital Signage Oct – Brochure Printing Nov – Creative & Design Dec – Online Strategy

IAB sets out Online Advertising Programme vision
By:
0

With DCMS’s consultation on the Online Advertising Programme expected soon, the IAB has shared its view on how the regulatory framework for digital advertising can be developed

Ahead of the consultation on the Government’s Online Advertising Programme (OAP), the online advertising industry body has laid out its view of how the regulatory framework for digital advertising can be developed, building on and complementing the comprehensive system of self-regulation that is already in place.

To this end, its has worked with members to develop key principles for the OAP to ensure that the future regulatory framework is ‘proportionate, targeted, and effective’. The five key principles that it believes the OAP proposals should meet, and which it will ask government to use to guide its policy development, are:

  1. Recognition of and support for the value of the ad-funded business model and its crucial role in the digital economy: The UK’s digital advertising industry is world-leading and the biggest in Europe. It drives e-commerce, helps fund technological innovation across the economy, enables free access to content and services and supports business growth from big brands to SMEs. It’s important this value is recognised as the OAP is developed, both in terms of continuing to drive responsible and sustainable growth, and in understanding why it is critical to ensure that regulation is well-designed and is proportionate to the harms it is seeking to address.
  2. Recognition of the place of self-regulatory mechanisms and open standards in any new framework: From the ASA to IAB Tech Lab, there is already a range of self-regulatory mechanisms and open standards initiatives in place that are designed to directly protect consumers and to indirectly contribute to consumer trust in digital advertising. It’s crucial that existing self-regulation and standards are taken into account and complemented by any new regulatory framework being developed.
  3. A clear vision that brings coherence and alignment to all relevant policy and regulatory workstreams, aligned with the Digital Regulation Plan: For the OAP to be effective, it must align other relevant ongoing regulatory policy workstreams around a clear vision that is aligned towards the same policy goals, and present a coherent overall plan for regulating and supporting the online advertising sector in line with the Government’s economic goals for the digital sector and the Digital Regulation Plan. Collaborating with and drawing on expertise from industry is vital for designing a clear and coherent overarching framework that looks forward, not back.
  4. An evidence-based approach with robustly justified proposals: The OAP proposals should meet accepted principles of effective regulation. In its consultation, DCMS should robustly justify any proposed regulatory interventions based on clear evidence of the harms they are seeking to address, and how they will deliver specific, measurable outcomes. At the same time, government should recognise that a combination of regulatory tools and other solutions may be needed to address a single ‘harm’. We welcome the opportunity to support DCMS where we can in gathering the evidence that it needs throughout the course of this Programme. Where the necessary evidence does not exist, we are keen to work with DCMS to identify how it can be obtained.
  5. Emphasis on cooperation between industry, law enforcement and regulators to target criminal actors: Our industry shares the Government’s goal to protect consumers and foster innovation to fully realise the benefits of the digital economy. Where the evidence shows that a particular harm is perpetrated by bad actors, the Government should work with the relevant representatives of industry, law enforcement and regulators to design an effective approach.

To sum up, the IAB says OAP represents an opportunity for the Government to work with industry to design and develop a modern, digital-first regulatory framework that supplements the existing system of self-regulation and targets the bad actors that look to use advertising as a vector to commit crime and cause harm. It says it believes a partnership approach is needed from this point forward between the government and all actors in the digital advertising ecosystem, whose collective action is needed to deliver shared outcomes and evolve and maintain good practice within the industry.

The IAB has sent a version of these principles to DCMS ahead of its consultation on the Online Advertising Programme.

50% of consumers won’t shop with brands that greenwash
By:
0

As consumer demand for environmentally friendly and green products grows, retailers could be risking lost long-term loyalty if their sustainability efforts aren’t genuine.

That’s according to research from Retail Technology Show, which surveyed over 2,000 UK shoppers in its latest ‘Retail Revolution’ report, with results showing that almost half (47%) already actively buy more from brands they perceive to be sustainable, rising to 65% of Gen Z demographics.

And demand for ‘green’ retailing among shoppers is growing; six in ten (60%) of those polled said retailers’ commitment to sustainability would become more of an important factor in their buying decisions over the next five years, rising to 67% of 18-25 year olds.  Meanwhile, a further 65% of 18-24 year-olds say they would shop more with brands who are sustainable in the future, and another 63% would be more loyal to those retailers with green values.

However, despite the growing appetite for green retail – with the green pound estimated to reached over £122bn – two thirds (62%) of consumers in another poll by Retail Insight were untrusting of retailers’ and brands’ eco pledges, believing they merely pay lip-service to sustainability initiatives.  This growing concern around ‘greenwashing’ prompted the CMA’s recent crackdown on brands, who will face fines if they don’t deliver on the environmental claims they market against.

And this consumer distrust on the sincerity of retailers’ sustainable commitments doesn’t just risk possible fines and reputational damage, according to Retail Technology Show’s research, it risks future sales and lost loyalty too.  Half (50%) of UK consumers in its poll said they would stop shopping altogether with brands they perceive to be greenwashing, rising to almost two thirds (63%) of Gen Z audiences and 59% of Millennials.

“Put simply, greenwashing just won’t wash with shoppers”, said Matt Bradley, Event Director for the Retail Technology Show.  “Consumers now expect retailers’ sustainability efforts to be deeply and genuinely rooted in the brands’ psyche, rather than it being any short-termist play.  And that means retail businesses need to carefully consider both how they can evolve their businesses operationally to be greener, and also how this is effectively communicated to shoppers in a genuine, transparent and engaging manner.”

Using less packaging was the top way UK consumers felt retailers could make their operations greener (78%), while a further 71% identified the supply chain as a focus for improvements, followed by 69% who said making bricks-and-mortar stores more eco would help retailers improve sustainability.  Almost half (48%) wanted retailers to pay an online delivery ‘green tax’ so the environmental impact of their ecommerce fulfilment operations could be offset, rising to 61% of 18-24 year-olds.

To find out more about the top trends impacting retail in 2022 and beyond, download the full Retail Revolution report for free: https://bit.ly/RTS_Retail_Revolution_Report

B2B marketers experiencing customer relationship issues
By:
0

More than half of B2B marketing budgets are devoted to building and maintaining relationships with new customers, but only a quarter of B2B marketers say their relationships are akin to a happy marriage.

That’s according to new research from Skout carried out by Sapio Research, which reveals that of the 200 sales and marketing pros interviewed, 8% reckoned they were going through a bitter divorce or separation; 7% were on the rocks; 8% were having ‘difficulties’ with their customer relationships. This is a surprise considering nearly all marketers are heavily invested in building and creating relationships at key stages of the customer lifecycle. 14% added that they were casually dating or still at the first date stage of the relationship, whilst 14% said would ‘swipe right’ if using a dating app.

The impact of a relationship that’s on the rocks is clear. 41% felt the biggest risk was dissatisfied customers, a third said it resulted in poor prospect to customer conversion, another third stated it was likely to result in falling profitability and missing revenue targets. Despite these impacts, 97% of marketers agreed that good business relationships are crucial in B2B marketing.

The early stages of the customer journey prove critical when allocating budgets. 94% of respondents say that their business is effective at forging and nurturing relationships during the ‘interaction’ and the ‘awareness’ stage. But effectiveness drops as the customer journey matures – 77% effective at the ‘advocacy’ stage – indicating that it’s harder to keep customers on side the longer they’re with you.

As part of the research, Skout identified the risks to customer relationships at each stage of journey, with the results clearly showing where B2B marketers are falling short.

When it comes to retention, marketers do not appear to understand the value of building advocate programmes. Despite a lower cost of sale and the strength of case studies in convincing new customers to buy, 33% of companies have no dedicated customer loyalty or advocate programme in place. And 28% fail to monitor engagement or feedback to spot potential advocates.

Rob Skinner, MD of Skout, says “B2B relationship marketing is making a comeback. Potentially part of a backlash against too much automation, buyers are looking for that human touch and connection. And while not every customer might be worth a fling, marketers need to profile their audiences carefully to ensure that they’re investing in long term, exclusive, mutually beneficial marriages of convenience and are not two timed.”

Budget constraints are blamed for getting in the way forging stronger relationships with customers according to half of respondents, but a further 38% blame lack of data/insights, people resource (37%) and lack of a clear strategy (37%).

So where are marketers focusing those limited budgets? In the past year, over half have used customer surveys, 39% identified where their customers are on the journey, 36% put budget to audience research and 27% into persona and audience mapping.

Learn from the best at the Print & Digital Innovations Summit
By:
0

Reflect Digital’s Becky Simms is confirmed to speak at this May’s Print & Digital Innovations Summit, which is co-located with the Digital Marketing Solutions Summit.

Becky has spent the last 15 years working in digital marketing, starting Reflect Digital in 2011, which is now a team of over 30 digital specialists. In 2021 Becky was listed in the BIMA 100, a list of the top 100 people shaping the future of the digital industry.

Becky’s passion in digital lies within understanding human behaviour. It is her belief that as marketers we can best achieve our goals by helping our customers and we can only truly help them if we understand their needs and can build a strategy around their customer journey.

Becky’s seminar is titled ‘What have Google, MUM and your website vitals got in common?’, and will discuss; Core Web Vitals, Preparing for MUM and How understanding psychology and human behaviour can make your SEO work harder for you.

Wednesday 11th May – Hilton London Canary Wharf

Your complimentary attendance includes:

· A personalised itinerary based on your requirements with our industry suppliers

· Attendance to our thought-provoking, informative seminars

· Refreshments throughout

· Networking lunch

· Numerous networking opportunities with senior peers

Confirm your place today via our online form.

Brands ‘facing battle to stand out’ in mobile marketing space
By:
0

By Adri Gil Miner, CMO of Iterable

Love is always in the air during February, and consumers are turning to digital like never before. Working from home and socially distanced, consumers’ increased time spent online dating; research from App Annie found consumers spent over $3 billion on dating apps in 2020 – up 15% YoY. It’s clear that consumers want to invest in romance, but how can brands woo shoppers in a sea of similar offerings?

First, get noticed. These days, everyone has a phone in their pocket, so, as a brand, being able to always be with the customer is a huge plus for marketers. Mobile is a medium for engagement that marketers can’t afford to ignore. Of course, the power of mobile is only potential; for marketers to ensure they are getting the most value out of mobile, it’s important they focus on meeting customer expectations by building trust, delivering value, and constantly connecting experiences. New research from Iterable finds that while 33% of participants download a new app weekly, 48% use only 4-6 apps on a daily basis, leaving brands in a battle for users’ attention.

Competition and consumer app attention only escalates when it comes to dating. During the pandemic, online dating reached new heights — with Bumble reporting a 70% increase in video calls and Tinder exceeding 3 billion swipes in one day in March 2020. But that was in 2020. By now, engagement preferences have changed, rendering traditional dating app actions like “swiping” obsolete. Iterable’s research finds that consumers are split on their preferred method of engaging with a brand, with 38% preferring push notifications, 31% favouring SMS alerts and 26% preferring in-app messaging. With such an array of preferences, an omnichannel strategy that is optimised for each individual customer is vital for brands looking to engage with their customers in the manner that suits them best.

Fine-tuning and rethinking the user experience is a great way for dating apps to stand out in  a sea of similarity. But now, in an internet-based world, brands are faced with the challenge of digital sameness—the customer experience across dating apps has become pretty uniform. In a Forrester survey, consumers were asked how they feel about the experiences they have with brands. The results? 68% of customers said their customer experiences were “OK”. Brands are likely thinking “we’re doing what everyone else is doing, so that’s good right?” Living in this safe, comfortable area is problematic for brands looking to win customer hearts and minds. All it takes is one brand to go above and beyond to shift the expectations and turn satisfactory experiences into not-so-satisfactory.

Once you ensure your brand is doing what it can to stay on the cutting edge of a great—not good—customer experience, seal the deal of long  term loyalty by investing in another priority for shoppers: privacy, which is especially key to consumers when it comes to dating apps. Although consumers are generally willing to share data, with 54% happy to do so at least some of the time, privacy concerns are still at the front of consumer’s minds. 87% expressed concern over personal privacy when interacting with apps.

With app downloads hitting 230 billion in 2021, it’s vital brands understand ways to improve app engagement and stickiness to avoid getting lost amongst the competition.

Dating apps, by definition, have considerable influence when it comes to impacting customer joy and connection. To deliver memorable moments, brands need to invest in creating a seamless experience across channels; from personalised emails reminding shoppers to plan for the big day to encouraging sustained communications with connections made online, the possibilities for omnichannel optimised business is endless.

Brands cannot neglect transparency when nurturing customer experiences. Dating apps in particular rely on users being willing to entrust sensitive, personal conversations to the brand’s care. Customers that interact with brands need to have an up-front idea of how their data will be used. Winning this trust early on is crucial for keeping customers board for the long haul.

By utilising all methods of engagement and appreciating the preferences of customers, brands can give their apps the best chance of standing out from the pack and becoming mainstays in the user mobile experience.

When you’re unhappy with a relationship, you break up and move on. If the grass isn’t greener in the other relationship, you go back to your previous partner. Consumers act similarly when it comes to brands. When there is a part of the consumer journey with a brand that positively impacts their overall experience, and then they switch to a different brand that doesn’t provide the same part, the experience with the second brand is viewed less favourably—not because it’s worse than it used to be, compared to itself, but because it’s worse than the first brand’s experience. They gravitate back to the better experience.

Digital Marketing Solutions Summit: Secure your free place!
By:
0

Registration is now open for the 2022 Digital Marketing Solutions Summit, which takes place 11th May 2022 at the Hilton London Canary Wharf.

Your pass includes:

  • A bespoke itinerary of pre-arranged meetings with suppliers who match your requirements and upcoming projects
  • Access to a series of seminars by industry thought-leaders
  • Networking with like-minded peers
  • Complimentary lunch and refreshments throughout

Join representatives including: Vertex, South Downs Leisure, DS Smith, Lazard, Colossal Enterprises, EventWell, The Cotton Textile Company, LTG and more!

2021 Delegate Testimonials:

“A great, well-organised and tailored event. I benefitted a lot from the meetings I had, learning more about new solutions and have come away with great options that will help my company to grow” C-Probe Systems

“A very useful event which was easy to navigate through and ran very smoothly. It put me in front of some very useful vendors who offered relevant solutions to marketing for myself and my organisation. Would certainly attend again in the future and would recommend” Link CCTV Systems

“The Digital Marketing Summit is a great place to find out what tools and support is available in the digital world, especially if your business is new to digital marketing” Golden Bear Products LTD

Book your place here (booking form takes less than two minutes to complete).

Almost 50% of Gen Z considering marketing career
By:
0

Almost 50 percent of Gen Zs (16-24-year-olds) say they are considering careers in the marketing industry, according to new research from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM).

Over a fifth of the young people surveyed also perceive marketing as a safe career choice, signalling a surge of fresh talent is to hit the industry.

The survey of 1,000 16-24-year-olds undertaken by CIM revealed 46% we interested in marketing careers and that as a result there has been a rise in the number of students starting marketing courses.

The University of Liverpool Management School reported that demand for its BA Marketing course has been exceptionally high for the year 2021-2022. The establishment attributes this to a variety of factors including a shift in how marketingis perceived as a discipline by business leaders, which they say correlates with the rise in marketing roles being offered.

The qualitative survey also showed that many of the CIM-accredited study centres enrolled saw an increased number of self-funded marketing students while furlough schemes were in operation.

Maggie Jones, director of qualifications and partnerships at CIM said: “We’ve seen two things happening during the pandemic. The first is that young people have recognised the resilient and adaptive nature of marketing and want to pursue a career in this field.

“The second is that many marketing professionals have invested in their own development and have self-funded additional learning and qualifications while being furloughed. It’s clear that people want to thrive in marketing.”

While incumbent industry professionals may have been funding their own development, the research showed that over 70% of Gen Z newcomers to the industry expect their training to be funded by employers.

Jones added: “Students and young professionals are coming into the industry after a unique couple of years. To ensure they don’t fall behind through a lack of practical experience, Gen Z expects employers to invest in training opportunities to compensate for the loss of skills during the pandemic. This highlights the need for employers to reassess their training programmes.”

Out of the CIM accredited universities and Study Centres surveyed, they all reported that students value CIM accreditation and understand that it better prepares them for the world of work.

In response to an open question in the study, Dr Elvira Ismagilova, BSc (Hons) Marketing programme lead from The University of Bradford stated that students chose their Marketing and Management MSc as the CIM accreditation ‘reflected the high quality of the programme and post graduate employability along with access to resources and networking opportunities’.

CIM offers a range of professionally recognised marketing and digital marketingqualifications designed to develop the core skills needed to succeed within the marketing industry. Many of these courses are available through over 100 Accredited Study Centres (ASCs) across the UK and internationally.

In addition to qualifications, CIM works with UK and international universities to offer practical work experience for Gen Zs through real-life business project challenges, by delivering The Pitch competition. The competition, aimed at undergraduate students in their second or third year of university allows them to pitch their ideas to a panel of industry leaders in the marketing industry by responding to real life marketing challenge. CIM believes that not only having the right marketing skills, behaviours and technical abilities is key, but students need to gain transferable business capabilities to enhance their employability.

To find out more about CIM marketing qualifications, click here: https://www.cim.co.uk/qualifications/