2018 Annual Continuous Professional Development Master Class a success

MAZ hosted a successful Annual Continuous Professional Development Master Class from 27 – 30 June at Troutbeck Resort in Nyanga.This intensive training event provided fresh insights and new trends through the speakers’ presentations. For any professional to remain relevant in their field, continuous professional development should not be ignored. Pursuit of knowledge should be ongoing.

This intensive career changing programme was divided into Class A and Class B. Those who wanted to be accredited as Marketing Practitioners were invited to Class A. They were guided through a step by step process of crafting an effective marketing strategy. One of the facilitators of Class A was Anisa Fielding, who is a marketing and communication specialist with extensive experience, having worked for large corporates such as Young and Rubicam, ABSA Group, Markex Holdings, Brand Union and Darkstar Advertising. She now holds positions at the IMM Graduate School and Repassen 10. During her sessions she also gave group and individual assignments which students will have to work on and submit. The top 3 students who will emerge after the results have been compiled will receive discounted training from one of the training institutions that Fielding represents.

Professor Zororo Muranda also delivered a presentation to Class A which focused on Marketing Metrics. Professor Muranda is currently the Pro Vice Chancellor (Business Development and Resource Mobilisation) at Chinhoyi University of Technology. He is a Full Professor of business and a widely respected senior academic in business education. Commercial Director of Powertel Zimbabwe, Willard Nyagwande also delivered a presentation on time management. He pointed out that two major challenges that people face in life nowadays are time management and work-life satisfaction. He further said that there is need to remove distractions and learn the art of delegation if one is a manager.

Class B consisted of marketing, customer service, public relations, business development, sales and digital marketing professionals, who wanted to refresh their knowledge to keep abreast of current marketing trends. The class also had marketers who had qualified as Marketing Practitioners previously. One of the speakers from Class B was Denny Marandure, CEO of ZOL, who presented a CEO’s view on “How the Marketing function can fully achieve organisational strategy expectations”. He highlighted the importance of data in the marketing function as well as being able to position one’s product and organisation well.

In line with digital trends, Munyaradzi Nhamo, the Head of Business Development for Ecocash Zimbabwe delivered a presentation on “Leading digital transformation”. There is need for organisations to reach high levels of digital maturity, such that there are clear and coherent digital strategies. Leading brands are continuing to pursue digital innovation, but they go beyond digital transformation by developing sound strategies.

CEO of Columbus DDB, Barry Manandi, was also one of the speakers and he touched on the relationship between marketers and agencies. He attributed some of the conflicts that happen between these two stakeholders, to the lack of transparency, poor communication, and unenviable foundations. Marketers were also encouraged to compile adequate briefs so that agencies do not misinterpret intended messages.

Head of Marketing and International Relations for POTRAZ, Sibonginkosi Muteyiwa delivered a presentation on Crises Management in the Digital Era. This is something that has affected some local brands such as Schweppes and Colcom. Organization should know that any crises that they face will be amplified as a result of the proliferation of digital media channels.

Dennis Mambure tackled the subject of customer experience and he got the audience to interrogate certain fundamentals on the subject. He emphasized that the keys to customer experience leadership are: insights, data analytics and synthesis, continuous review, mass customisation and mass personalisation. He also said that the element of trust is critical in customer experience.

Finance Director of FML Life Insurance, Mr. Paddy Chigunduru tackled the topic, “Maximizing Return on Marketing Investment”.  Being a marketer who fails to understand the numbers will lead you to becoming irrelevant. Marketers need measure the overall effectiveness of marketing campaigns in order to make better decisions about allocating future investments.

Those who pass their assignments from Class A will go on to graduate as Marketing Practitioners.

For more information on upcoming training events, please contact events@mazim.co.zw or eniaz@mazim.co.zw