As a Board Trustee, I was proud to attend the MarketingEDGE (www.marketingEDGE.org) 2014 Annual Awards Dinner held Oct. 25 at the US Grant Hotel in San Diego.
The mission of this non-profit organization is to Educate, Develop, Grow and Employ college students in the field of marketing…and as MarketingEDGE approaches its 50th year anniversary (in 2016)…support could not be higher from its three constituents…students, educators, and employers.
This year’s annual dinner raised over $600,000 to support EDGE’s ongoing student programs including scholarships, one-day student forums, one-week data-analytics and digital bootcamps, summer internships, and job placements.
This year’s Corporate honoree was Google, which underscores the transition of marketing to “all things digital.” Google has become a major corporate sponsor of MarketingEDGE and will be hosting both data-analytics and digital bootcamps on their campus headquarters in 2015. Google also utilizes custom data-driven and digital educational programs developed in partnership with U. Chicago, an EDGE participating university and DMA educational partner.
Michael Becker, Founder of mCordis, a mobile training company, was the Individual honoree, underscoring the rapid development of mobile advertising, marketing, and m-commerce as the fastest-growing part of the marketing eco-system.
Accenture Digital, another EDGE sponsor, released their 2014 Global CMO Survey just prior to the dinner which revealed the majority of CMOs believe digital marketing in all forms will exceed 75% of total marketing spend within 5 years…with mobile exceeding 50% as part of this rapid digital media transformation. This underscores research we have seen from several sources confirming mobile devices (especially tablets) are the new “first screen” for consumers who are increasingly shopping and researching online.
As a follow-up to the Annual Awards dinner, MarketingEDGE held a Student Forum on Monday, Oct. 27 at the San Diego Convention Center, in partnership with The Direct Marketing Association (“DMA”). This event included 100+ students who also received free passes to attend the 2014 DMA Annual conference.
One of the themes highlighted for students and corporate attendees is the widening skill gap developing in the rapidly changing marketing environment. According to a recent McKinsey study, by 2018 there will be approximately 140,000-190,000 unfilled positions for data analytics experts in the U.S. alone. This emphasizes the need for more math, economics, and engineering majors to enter the marketing field including receiving new relevant courses in data analytics, digital marketing and media as part of revised college curricula.
MarketingEDGE is partnering with over 175 colleges and universities nationwide (i.e., including U. Chicago, MIT, NYU, Northwestern and Wharton) to develop next-generation curricula in data-driven and digital marketing. Also, as part of the weekend’s events, EDGE hosted a professors’ Research Summit, where attending professors presented recent papers on data-driven and digital marketing.
MarketingEDGE is the connector between students, educators and employers…helping students by providing real-world experiences during junior and senior years, helping educators stay current by providing educational materials and forums to share research and trends, and helping employers find the motivated and highly-qualified (and increasingly technical) entry-level marketing talent.
Are you involved with MarketingEDGE?
There are several ways to engage…please visit www.MarketingEDGE.org to find out how you can participate in one of the 2015 programs and obtain the EDGE your company needs to remain competitive in the rapidly shifting marketing eco-system.
You can also reach out directly to me (jgundersen@executiveconnectionsllc.com) for additional information.
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