Macleay College: The future starts here

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Thomson.jpgMacleay College positions itself at the forefront of the industry by producing forward-thinking graduates who are well equipped for the future of advertising.

 

As Advertising moves away from established structures and towards new forms content and media, who best to step up to this challenge but the advertisers of the future – today’s advertising students? Under the new leadership of Ian Thomson (left), program leader of the Macleay College Advertising diploma, Macleay College has revitalised and aligned its Diploma of Advertising with the needs of industry, particularly the areas of new media and digital production.

Says Thomson: “The Australian advertising industry needs home-grown newcomers that can keep Australia on the front edge of what is happening in the rest of the world. Many advertising courses here are locked into specialist areas of study, such as graphic design or marketing, and are slow to respond to the way advertising is changing.

“Macleay College is the only advertising course in Sydney offering a true overview of the advertising industry. Our foundation course covers creative idea development, account management and media planning – with a new focus on digital production and new media. By the time our students graduate, they have a clear understanding of how the industry works and possess the practical skills that allows them to hit the ground running.”

Macleay’s renewed advertising program has come about after 6 months of intense consultation with industry representatives including Linda Wong from the MFA, Madeleine Robertson from the Communications Council and a number of well respected advertising professionals including Barbara Messitt from Initiative Media, Chris Laws MD of the Moon Group, Matthew Delprado CD from Profero and Tim Brierley CD at GHG.

 

Says Thomson: “At Macleay College we listen carefully to the voice of industry. The overwhelming message from our industry advisors was that any contemporary advertising course must be a step ahead of the way the industry is changing. This means combining established creative process and management strategies with competency in the areas of digital and new media.”

MCSoap.jpgThomson has also instigated a series of on-site agency visits that have included teaching sessions and projects at agencies and production companies including: Soap Creative, The Feds, GHG and Moon, as well as guest lectures from Mark Rogers, Amy Miller-Ross, Tony Tvrdeich and Alex Houghton.

Says Tim Brierley, creative director from MCatG.jpgGHG, after a collaborative project between their agency and Macleay College Advertising students: “We prepared a real brief, approved by our client, and were so impressed and entertained with the ideas and presentations from the current Macleay students that we are taking a couple of students on as interns this year.”

Thomson is keen to continue developing these relationships with industry to offer students as much hands-on experience as possible, and industry-ready graduates who are quick to fit in with the demands of agency life.

Says Thomson: “As a course that prides itself on our strong vocational focus, we are confident we can deliver industry-ready graduates who are ready to go from day one, with a clear understanding of creative processes and agency procedures, as well as immediately usable digital skills in Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign, to Audio ProTools and Final Cut editing software.”