Scope broadens for trainees in advertising and marketing

The motivation for initiating the course stemmed from The Agency's perception that there were gaps in the advertising industry's training programme and that no existing course covered the principles and practice of account management.

"Effective account management is key to a successful client/agency relationship," said Robin Jones, strategic planning director of The Agency. "We therefore devised this course with the AAA School of Advertising as part of our holistic skills upliftment strategy. The new course is an important part of our social investment programme and will be a vital stepping stone in the development of the South African advertising industry of the future."

The course is expected to form the foundations of a more professional approach to account management, according to Ludi Koekemoer of the AAA School of Advertising. "Traditionally, advertising account managers learned their skills on-the-job and mistakes were often made at the expense of both agency and client," he said. "This unique course was developed by leaders in the advertising industry and experienced academics at the AAA School and is ideal for newcomers seeking a career in account management or for those account directors, account managers and account executives already in the industry who want to hone their skills."

In recognition of The Agency's leadership role in developing and running the course, the company was given a number of places on the programme. These have been allocated to internal staff as well as clients as part of The Agency's ongoing commitment to skills development.

The AAA School of Advertising is accredited by SAQA and MAPPP SETA and registered by the Council on Higher Education.

The course covers a wide range of topics including agency systems, the role of account management, strategic planning, financial management, working with clients and brand management.

Although the course is offered as one of three electives of the AAA's Higher Diploma in Integrated Marketing Communications, it can also be taken as a stand-alone, part-time course. Lectures will be held on Saturday mornings at the AAA's Johannesburg campus, with entries to the course accepted until 27 July.

For more information, please contact Charmaine Lechuti at the AAA School of Advertising on (011) 781 2772 or email .