The Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada is developing a new training program to get marketers, media planners and sales reps who are inexperienced with ad tech and measurement up to speed with help from several of Canada’s top ad tech companies.
“We’re trying to get people’s resumes to reflect the proficiencies required to be successful in today’s environment,” said IAB Canada president Sonia Carreno. “You want to start seeing resumes that say, ‘I can do Kenshoo, Omniture Webtrends.’ There’s a growing list of platforms that you’re going to want to see across the industry.”
The new curriculum, which the IAB plans to build up through 2016, will focus on applications that require marketers, media planners and publishers to make use of complex platforms. Carreno said she hopes to eventually get enough sponsors to bring down the price of courses and make it more accessible to students. “The dream would be to partner with the universities and colleges to have all of our member schools attending these courses for free as part of their curriculum,” she said. “So it’s pretty ambitious.”
As a first step, the IAB is working with Index Exchange, Eyereturn and ComScore to pilot two one-day standalone courses this fall, focused on programmatic trading and media analytics.
In the analytics course, students will get an in-depth look at four different measurement platforms — ComScore, Google Analytics, Visible Measures and Engagement Labs. Carreno said it’s designed to provide an “inclusive” look at a range of platforms that students will encounter in the industry. “The idea really is to go counter to what is happening today — which is the individual [platforms] trying to take on training on their own,” Carreno said.
The second course will dive into acquired by Rocket Fuel last year).
Index Exchange and Eyereturn Marketing partnered with the IAB to fund the initial session and provide the technology for students to get hands-on experience with programmatic buying.
“As all advertising moves to programmatic, it’s time for everyone in media to understand the intricacies of auto-magic buying and selling,” said Eyereturn CEO Renee Hill, in a release. Eyereturn revealed last week that its revenue has grown 76% in the past year, and the number of trades on its platform grew 143% — showing that advertiser demand for programmatic remains high across Canada. “Eyereturn is proud to be a part of IAB Canada’s move to fill a much needed gap in the Canadian media industry,” she said.
Carreno said that Index and Eyereturn were the first IAB members to step up in what she hopes will be a rotating roster of educational sponsors.
