Marketing Association recognises three marketing qualifications

These are:

• B.Com in Marketing Management, offered at Varsity College, which seeks to produce graduates with a strong business background who are able to contribute to the development of businesses using marketing skills and strategies.
  
• Diploma in Commerce in Marketing Management, available at Rosebank College and College Campus, provides a similar but more practically based curriculum for those who are keen to get going as marketers.
  
• Specialist B.Com in Digital Marketing, only available on College Campus sites, provides a focused qualification in this burgeoning field of digital marketing. It includes several core IT skills.

"The reputation of a profession lies in the extent to which members of the broader public respect and recognise the performance of the individuals that lay claim to a professional title," says Dr Felicity Coughlan, Director of IIE. She says that through the NQF Act, South Africa has created an enabling environment where professional bodies can contribute (through the Quality Councils) to the development and maintenance of standards in qualifications and designations related to their profession.

Recognised organisations

"Only professional associations registered with SAQA are recognised in this role and this arrangement therefore also has a public protection role of making explicit to the industry and consumers what standards are met by those who are members of the association, or carry its formal designations or complete qualifications registered or endorsed by the association."

In the case of the marketing professions, the Marketing Association of South Africa (MA (SA)) is the only SAQA-registered professional association. The three marketing qualifications from IIE are the first to be endorsed by MA (SA) under its status as the registered professional association. In addition, specific short learning programmes at the IIE Vega sites can be used for completion of the requirements for professional designations managed by MA (SA).

"Students deserve to know that their qualifications will adhere to or exceed the standards of the industry leaders and endorsement by a professional association is one of the strongest ways to provide that validation for students and employers," concludes Coughlan.