Comms guru to bring real-world expertise to new marketing module

A creative comms director at agency MacMartin is set to deliver a new course for The Marketing and Leadership Academy on purpose-driven marketing.

MacMartin co-founder Claire MacDonald, who specialises in behaviour change campaigns, will be bringing her real-world expertise into the classroom for the new module in Societal Impact for TMLA from this month.

The six-week course, accredited by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), has been launched in response to the trend in marketing for campaigns which aspire to make the world a better place.

It follows the CIM’s adoption of societal impact as part of its most up-to-date syllabus, in response to the marketing industry’s move towards using campaigns to create meaningful, lasting change alongside promoting products and services.

It means marketers need to address societal expectations by embedding sustainability, inclusivity and ethical practice into their strategies alongside their commercial messaging.

As part of the new module, students will examine the changing social and environmental landscape and learn how to design marketing that not only supports organisational goals but also encourages positive behaviour change.

They will also work with established behaviour change frameworks to explore how marketing can influence real-world actions as well as develop strategies that balance commercial success with long-term societal impact.

TMLA is owned and operated by MacMartin, which is based in Agard Street and specialises in creating behaviour change campaigns for organisations and public bodies.

It is only one of a handful of providers in the UK offering societal impact as a standalone, CIM-accredited course.

Claire said: “Societal impact is still an emerging discipline but it’s an incredibly important aspect of marketing because nowadays there is a huge expectation for brands to share and promote the values of their potential customers.

“Not only has it led to the creation of some iconic campaigns, including Dove’s body-positive movement, it has forced marketers to look beyond their commercial imperatives to consider the wider beneficial effects their campaigns can have.

“That involves the same behaviour change techniques that we use as part of our work at MacMartin, so it’s wonderful to be able to bring them to bear on our courses for TMLA and I’m really looking forward to the first session.”

The module runs over six Tuesday evenings from 21 April and is delivered live online.

It can be taken as a standalone CIM specialist award or as part of the full Level 6 CIM Diploma in Professional and Digital Marketing.

Entry is open to marketers with a relevant Level 4 qualification, a marketing degree, or at least two years of operational marketing experience.

For further information or to register click here.