Countdown to opening of advertising academy

Classes at the new Africa Academy for Communications (AAC), an initiative aimed at increasing skills and improving professionalism and credibility of industry professionals, will begin on 24 July 2006 at the AAA School of Advertising in Johannesburg, and enrolment is still open for late entries.

12 Jul 2006

AAC manager Alexia Georgiou says she has been encouraged by the uptake and interest shown by the industry. "The industry has taken to this programme with much enthusiasm. This demonstrates the industry's commitment to skills development and professionalism."

Modelled against the UK's International Practitioners of Advertising (IPA)'s 7-Level programme, the academy is targeted at people already working in the advertising and marketing arena. The part-time programme comprises various modules running over a period of two years or as determined by the individual's needs.

Reasonable rates

The programme is open to both ACA members and non-members at reasonable rates: paid-up member's fees vary from R1000 - R2000, while, non-members will pay double the rate.

According to Georgiou, the AAC has signed on the cream of industry experts and reputable academics from AAA School of Advertising.

The AAC, which was launched in April 2006, aims to be a world-class training and development programme that strives to enforce the highest standards of professionalism for personnel in the advertising and marketing industry. It will provide on-the-job training which will expose learners to a well-planned, well-structured training programme with high quality multi-disciplined and practical courses, to meet the developing needs of advertising agency staff as they progress in their careers over time.

Culmination of a process

The AAC is a culmination of a process that started in 2004 when the Future of the Advertising Industry (FOI) committee of the Association for Communication and Advertising (ACA) commissioned research to assess the image of the industry as well as attitudes and perceptions of clients and industry opinion makers.

In response to the needs of the industry spelt out in the findings, the ACA resolved to create the AAC. The courses on offer target junior level to senior management, where an executive development programme focusing on business management and administration - specific to the advertising and communications industry - is offered.

Upskilling the ad industry
New advertising academy to improve professionalism