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N
elson Mandela once said,
“Education is the most powerful
weapon we can use to change the
world.” Modern education systems as
we know them suggest formal learning
systems. Most countries have an education
system that involves going to school
and learning through different methods.
Students acquire knowledge, they learn
skills and values. The focus has primarily
been on acquiring knowledge and being
able to replicate it when tested through
examinations. This has led to an increase
in cramming, memorization by rote, rather
than a deep understanding of content.
The situation was so bad that the
Government of Kenya opted to change the
entire education system to a competency
based approach. Here students are meant
to learn skills rather than abstract theory.
The new education system has been met
with suspicion, a lack of understanding,
concern that there aren’t enough resources
to accommodate the changes needed and
that the roll out is too rushed. However,
one would struggle to argue against the
idea of learning skills which is far more
desirable than learning theory alone.
Why is this important to marketers? Think
back to the time you completed your first
degree or diploma. You stepped into the
world and armed with what you thought
was a high level of knowledge, ventured
into the world of employment. Once you
got there, you quickly realized that it was
ever so different from school. Things were
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fast paced.
No one told you about office politics.
No one mentioned that making what
seems like a simple pricing decision is
made complex by policies and different
departments all fighting to have control
of the process. No one taught you how to
manage agencies and no one mentioned
that you would be preparing a budget
on day one. No one even explained that
marketing is about numbers and data,
the very things that made you stay away
from the finance and accounting units.
In fact, you were probably in for a rude
shock when you can quite clearly see what
the problem is for the organization and
cannot do a thing to change it.
What if you were exposed to a different
set of skills? What if you were taught
how to critically evaluate options. To
analyze facts and data in order to make
rational decisions. To work as a team
in order to deliver on the objectives
of the organization. To be an effective
communicator so that you could make a
case for embracing marketing initiatives
throughout the firm. To get along with
diverse people, without thinking that they
were difficult. Would any of this have been
useful to you at the beginning of your
career?
Fast forward to where you are now. You
have probably worked for a few years. You
have learnt a thing or two about brands
and brand management. You want to move
to the next level. What do you suppose are
the gaps that you have?
Many marketers believe that for them
to move to the next level, they must
pursue a master’s degree. The obligatory
MBA. After all, the very definition of
marketing states that “it is a management
process that is responsible for identifying,
anticipating and satisfying customer
needs profitably.”(Chartered Institute of
Marketing) What other degree screams
profit management as loud as a Masters in
Business Administration. But is it really a
degree that will help you move to the next
level or is it competencies that you have
embraced or mastered.
The Chartered Institute of Marketing
(2016) highlights three main areas of
competencies that a modern marketer
should have in order to be proficient in
the marketing profession. The first level is
what is referred to as core competencies.
These are the competencies a marketer
must have no matter what level they are
at in their career. An understanding of
customer insights and strategy are at the
foundation of this.
The next level is technical skills. This
focuses on skills like brand management,
and integrated communications, digital
integration, building customer experience
and monitoring/evaluation of campaigns.
Without these skills the modern marketer
will find themselves struggling to keep up
with changes in the external environment