Category: News

Nearly 200 young professionals in the European advertising industry have completed the 2016 European Advertising Certificate exam with 95% achieving passes, continuing the success of previous years. Since its launch in 2003, over 13,000 people have achieved the foundation qualification in over 60 countries.

The European Advertising Certificate offers a qualification in foundational learning on the advertising industry to young agency employees with at least two years experience. The programme is available to members of the European Association of Communications Agencies (EACA) for a fee of €250 per delegate. Non-members are also encouraged to participate.

The Certificate provides students with a broad understanding of the advertising industry, offering them a comprehensive overview of industry practices and brand communication processes. It is the first panEuropean qualification that builds on professional experiences while focusing on future careers. The programme was designed with a European audience in mind with help from the European Union Leonardo programme and is based on the proven IPA Foundation Certificate.

The online programme consists of 7 learning paths or modules: Advertising and Communication in Context; Understanding Client Business; The Strategic Planner’s Toolkit; Client, Creative and Media Briefs; Understanding Media Channels; Creativity and Creative Development; and Effectiveness. The programme includes a combination of videos, key readers, e-lessons, assignments, quizzes and discussion groups to assist the students in the learning process.

According to Dominic Lyle, Director General of the EACA, the results of the EAC were very positive: “The EAC is a valuable learning tool for our young professionals, who come from agencies across Europe. Developing the knowledge of young professionals is essential for the industry as a whole, and the EAC focuses on giving those professionals the tools they need to succeed in an ever-changing field. We are thrilled with this year’s results as our students once again showed an exceptional ability to grasp the intricacies of the industry.”

Registration for the next generation of EAC young professionals opens early next year, and the exam will take place in April 2017.

The jury of the third round of the Ad Venture Student Competition, organised by the European Institute for Commercial Communications Education (edcom) and EACA, has announced that team Aedion from King’s College London (UK) has won the Ad Venture Competition with their campaign “Your Web Vote”.

Students in advertising and commercial communications from across Europe were asked to create a campaign to raise awareness of the consequences of the use of ad blocking technology. The topic is creating much debate in the industry and has been top of mind to advertisers and publishers, to whom it causes a real threat. The brief was to make internet users aware of how ad blocking technology restricts publishers’ ability to display high quality online content.

The winning team Aedion, represented by Wayne D’Cruz, Mu You, Chi Zhang and Petya Karagyozova competed against 75 other teams from 14 countries answering a brief developed in collaboration with a consortium of European media associations covering television, press and digital.

The three finalists – Aedion (King’s College London, UK), Xense (University of Leeds, UK) and What do you mean Agency (Pantheon University, France) – were selected during two initial judging rounds and were given the opportunity to present their campaign to the final jury and the edcom members during the 9th edcom May meeting at the College of Agora in Zagreb, Croatia.

Team Aedion’s campaign “Your Web Vote” is centered around an online vote wherein users have to pick between two options: ‘free internet with advertising’ or ‘paid internet with no advertising’. The campaign presents two fictional figureheads in Jack LeftSide and Max RightSide who lead their respective campaigns.

The King’s College London students were rewarded for their hard work with travel, accommodation and a ticket to the prestigious Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity which will take place in June 2016.

“The experience of participating in a competition of this scale was both challenging and rewarding. The opportunity to not only meet some of the most esteemed names from the industry but also more importantly to pitch our ideas before them and receive elaborate feedback has been immensely valuable. Furthermore, it was quite enlightening and inspiring to see how other teams approached the same brief. Our biggest takeaway is definitely the ‘can-do’ attitude that this competition empowers you with which has truly motivated us for the future!” commented winning team Aedion.

The final jury, chaired by Marina Vnučec (Degordian), was composed of Townsend Feehan (IAB Europe), Angela Mills Wade (EPC), Luka Dubokovic (BBDO Zagreb), Jan Binar (McCann Prague), Arnoud Versluis (NHTV University) and Nenad Bogdanovic (College of Agora).

Jury chair Marina Vnučec stated that “it was a privilege to be a part of the Ad Venture competition and to be among so many creative young minds. The jury was really impressed by all three top final solutions since each one of them was outstanding in its own way. Congratulations to all the teams, especially to the winner, King’s College London!”

From the client’s side, EPC Executive Director Angela Mills Wade said: “I found the experience very inspiring, to see such talented young people working together to produce very high quality work. The brief was challenging but they got behind this controversial issue of ad blocking with highly imaginative ideas and workable executions. Their commitment and professionalism is to be commended.” Townsend Feehan, CEO of IAB Europe, added that “it was particularly encouraging to see with what conviction the group embraced the brief, although they are all right in the “millennials” age group that is leading in ad blocking usage. Seeing how they would motivate their peers to think twice was enlightening and shows that young people today can see the strategic stakes involved in supporting media independence.” Registrations for the next Ad Venture Student Competition will open in autumn 2016.

A record 1,128 adlanders have passed the award-winning IPA Foundation Certificate, the industry’s rite of passage qualification aimed at graduates and practitioners with up to one year’s agency experience.

Key facts:

• 136 agencies spanning all disciplines took the exam
• In total 1,197 sat the exam (with 1,128 passes)
• 163 were distinctions
• 666 were passed with credit
• 299 were passes

Says Patrick Mills, Director of Professional Development, “After another record breaking year it is safe to say the IPA Foundation Certificate is THE must-have qualification for new industry starters. Congratulations to everyone who worked so hard to achieve this qualification.”

Since its inception, 9,342  industry practitioners have passed the Foundation Certificate and over 11,000 people have passed an IPA qualification in the UK. In Europe, professionals can take the European Advertising Certificate (to be launched in January 2017).