Telstra is taking the idiom ‘if you want something done well, do it yourself’ to new heights. The telco says it can’t hire marketers that are well enough equipped for the next generation of challenges the marketing industry faces, so it is putting a training program in place to build them itself.
The aim is to “future proof” its marketing division and repurpose its teams as part of the telco’s aim to be a digital first and data-driven marketing organisation. Telstra carried out research with top marketers both in Australia and overseas to identify the skills a marketer will need in the next five years. From this it has gleaned best practice insights and outlined five core capabilities it wants its marketers to have: commercial acumen, digital, CRM, strategic marketing and analytical capabilities.
Telstra’s director of one-to-one marketing, Nick Adams, said the telco doesn’t want the standard four Ps of marketing, but a workforce that is “game fit” for three years’ time. It is currently looking for a training provider that can implement the internal training program based on these attributes and is turning them into job descriptions that will begin to roll out to its workforce.
“We can’t buy a lot of marketers that are game fit for three years’ time, so we want to build that capability and lift up marketing in the Australian marketplace. The marketers at Telstra will have a very strong competency base and be renowned for being tech and digital-savvy, with good financials and good strategic thinking with this advanced training,” Adams said.
“You’d like to think that these people, as Telstra alumni and having these capabilities, would be seen as people who could [one day] lead the organisation. It’s like that P&G certification.”
While Telstra wants to keep hold of its best staff, it hopes that by taking responsibility and up-skilling its own teams, it can help raise the bar across the Australian marketplace.
The strategy mirrors the ‘marketing school’ approach that has long been taken by marketing powerhouses like Procter & Gamble and Unilever which are globally recognised as providing marketers a solid grounding in the discipline that acts like a stamp of approval in the marketplace.
This article first appeared in the 18 October 2013 edition of AdNews, in print and on iPad. Click here to subscribe for more news, features and opinion. There's more from Nick Adams on Telstra’s vision for the future, its push into loyalty and CRM, and the need to build its own marketing force in The Marketer section on p12.
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.
Have something to say? Send us your comments using the form below or contact the writer at rosiebaker@yaffa.com.au
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.