Article Highlights:
“Marketers see lots of potential in younger people, but there seems to be a talent gap at emerging leader level. I founded The Marketing Academy to do something about it.”
“We have attracted Microsoft, Google, Adobe, Lloyds Bank and ITV as sponsors, and we’re about to launch our second programme in Australia.”
“The Marketing Academy now attracts between 400 and 600 applications a year, for only 30 places. Over 92% of our alumni have been promoted, with over 18 of them reaching board level.”
The recession in 2008 prompted former headhunter, Sherilyn Shackell to shrink her executive search firm and take on a new challenge–tackling the shortage of future leaders within the marketing industry, a decision which led to the formation of The Marketing Academy in 2010. In the run up to the organisation’s fifth birthday, Shackell talked to CMO.com about what prompted the creation of the organisation, and how it’s tackling the talent gap.
Shackell: I had a lot of very close former clients who were in the marketing function, and it is an area I have always been really interested in. They were all sharing the same concerns–they could see lots of potential in younger people coming through but there seemed to be a talent gap at emerging leader level. I believed I could bring industry leaders together to do something about it. The Marketing Academy has grown and grown year on year and we are now in our sixth cohort for our flagship Scholarship Programme.
CMO.com: To what extent have you seen the skills gap close since the Academy launched, and how much work is still to be done?
Shackell: There is a lot of work to be done at all levels. One major challenge facing the marketing function is the sheer speed of change from a digital perspective. Take the growing importance of data, for example. CMOs have to work right across the finance and technology piece to be able to make sense of all the data they now have, so they have to broaden their skill set. Without the CMO to join all the silos up, you are not doing the best for the customer.
The challenge for CMOs is that they now need people who are doing jobs that they themselves have never done – roles that probably weren’t even in existence five years ago. Leadership capabilities at the very top have to be exceptional to impact companies going through so much change.
CMO.com: How can CMOs overcome the challenge of leading people whose jobs they haven’t personally experienced?
Shackell: If you are a fantastic leader you don’t need to be an expert in anything – it’s a bold statement but it’s true. Leadership is about enabling others to be the best they can possibly be. Great leaders create other leaders but don’t do anyone else’s job for them. It isn’t about controlling other people’s KPIs on a day-to-day basis; it’s about enabling and empowering people to achieve those KPIs for themselves. Over-indexing on leadership is really setting [the Marketing Academy’s] people up for the future.
CMO.com: Do you believe that younger marketers need to broaden their skill sets?
Shackell: Their range of skills is certainly at risk of becoming too narrow–for example, working as ecommerce marketers, CRM marketers or insight marketers. The specialist route can be valuable but how do you develop careers for that talent in the future? One of the ways to go about this is to offer talent the widest scope of opportunity they can get. Giving emerging leaders the opportunity to flex their muscles wider than their vertical skill set will help them to get up the career ladder later on.
CMO.com: How is the Scholarship Programme meeting such challenges?
Shackell: Every year we have a cohort of 30 emerging leaders between 25-35 years old, all working in a first level leadership role and above. They receive 20 days of learning over 12 months and are mentored by CEOs, CMOs and agency heads, as well as having an executive coach. They also attend three residential boot camps packed with inspirational speakers and workshops, and in addition they can choose to attend up to eight day-long faculties run by industry experts–for example, Google runs the digital faculty and PHD runs media. There are also ‘lunch and learn’ sessions hosted by heavyweight FTSE 100 CEOs.
CMO.com: How is the programme funded?
Shackell: We are a non-profit company sponsored by the industry, so all of our programmes are free to attend. We rely on the industry investing their time for free, while sponsors–such as Microsoft, Mondelez, Adobe, Lloyds Bank, British Gas and ITV–provide the income we need to run the infrastructure. It means money isn’t a barrier to entry–calibre is. By way of giving back, the scholars are each matched with a small charity and they ‘pay forward’ what they are learning into that charity during the course of the year.
CMO.com: What impact has the Scholarship Programme had to date?
Shackell: A far greater one than I ever imagined. In our first year it had 200 applications. It now attracts between 400 and 600 applications a year, for only 30 places. Over 92% of our alumni have been promoted, with over 18 of them reaching board level. Awareness and impact have grown beyond my wildest dreams.
CMO.com: Raising the profile of marketing at board level is a key objective for the Academy. Why is this imperative?
Shackell: Marketers rarely make it to CEO and they are only just beginning to be seen as potential talent for non-executive director roles. My view is that marketing is the single most important growth driver for businesses, and if the customer isn’t at the very centre of every decision the board makes, the company is likely to fail. It is essential that marketing is elevated to that level.
Two years ago we created the Fellowship Programme, in partnership with McKinsey & Company, to address this challenge. It’s modelled on the Scholarship structure and is exclusively for CMO’s in Europe. None of the content is about marketing–it’s about board stewardship and how to run companies at board level.
CMO.com: Two years ago you also launched a pilot programme aimed at NEETs (Not in Education, Employment or Training). How is that developing?
Shackell: Merlins Apprentice is aimed at the demographic of young people who rarely get the opportunity for a career in marketing and advertising–18 to 24 year old NEETs who have experienced adversity that has stopped them from completing their education. The programme was developed with The Prince’s Trust and is a 12 month, fully salaried apprenticeship which places them on secondment in an organisation that can nurture and develop them–such as a large charity or social enterprise. We pay these apprentices proper money–£13,500 per annum, which is the Government guideline. In that year the apprentices are mentored by our alumni and also study for their first level Chartered Institute of Marketing qualification.
We piloted the programme with two apprentices and we are now hiring our fourth apprentice. The programme is scalable, and the idea is that brands, agencies and media owners donate money to pay salaries for the apprentices. We are aiming to raise a £1m fund which will create 50 apprenticeships.
CMO.com: And your 5th Birthday offers an opportunity to hit that target?
Shackell: Yes, on December 3rd 2015 we are holding our first ever fundraiser which will be a huge birthday party held in a circus tent. We are asking all of our community–partners, mentors, fellows, selection panel, alumni–to support this. We are also looking for event sponsors, and all profits will go towards the £1m apprenticeship fund. We’re basically saying ‘this is a way for the entire industry to create its legacy, change the lives of 50 young people, and invest in the talent pipeline for years to come’.
CMO.com: Finally, the Academy launched in Australia last October. Where next?
Shackell: Yes, we attracted Commonwealth Bank, Google, Foxtel and NewsCorp as founding sponsors and we’re about to launch our second programme in Australia. It has given us a blueprint for international expansion. I am hoping to open a New York Academy next year. We’re also in talks with companies in Singapore and Hong Kong. Ultimately my ambition is to have 10 academies around the world, all self-funding.
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