IAB Australia launches education and training program – 1st course commences February 2013

Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Australia today launched its Education and Training Program, designed to address the documented digital skills gap in the industry and to complement existing training offerings. The Program includes the launch of IAB run training courses on key digital marketing topics, a series of educational events as well as providing a training listing service for the industry. The first IAB Australia run training course will be held in February 2013.

Full details of the IAB courses and the training listing service can be found on the newly launched IAB website here.

The Education and Training Program was developed following extensive industry research conducted by IAB Australia. Its primary goal is to provide the marketing industry with the practical skills and understanding required to make buying and selling digital advertising easier.

Says Paul Fisher, IAB Australia CEO: “We are very excited to announce this first phase of our Education and Training program. While the digital industry continues its rapid growth it’s clear that there is a skills gap and the IAB plans and resources will go some way in helping to educate the market and improving the skills of advertisers, agencies and publishers. In our position as the peak digital advertising industry association, representing members on both the buy and sell side of the industry, the IAB is in a unique position to offer objective, up-to-date, quality training that incorporates the latest IAB research, standards, guidelines and best practices.

“We are already planning future phases of the IAB Education and Training offering, with possibility of adding certification and eLearning to the Program, depending on the success and interest in our initial plans.”

IAB Australia’s training courses will be delivered in partnership with The Knowledge Engineers (TKE) in an exclusive agreement that will see them deliver a series of six open courses. TKE is new to the Australian market and it has worked extensively with the IAB in other markets globally and has trained over 20,000 people across 30 countries.

IAB’s training and education research, which was conducted in August 2012, found that respondents had a better understanding of key digital marketing topics compared to their practical skills.  82 percent of respondents indicated they would prefer small, face-to-face, out of office classes  and the top requested training topics include mobile display advertising; mobile sites and apps; strategic planning; integration/cross-media; measurement and& tracking; display advertising; building brands online; and social media marketing. The findings come from 600 respondents across a range of agencies (51 percent of respondents), advertisers (seven percent) and publishers (39 percent).