SSE creates ‘marketing academy’ to equip marketers for challenges ahead
SSE is forming an internal marketing academy as it puts its marketing department front-and-centre of its efforts to restore customer faith in the brand.
The energy provider says the training academy will launch into all areas of marketing. It will then shape around specific areas of capability such as digital and CRM to carry out its retail business plan to compete more on value services rather than price.
All of SSE’s marketers will undergo the programme, including new recruits, creating a common culture and language for future marketing efforts. No other business divisions have launched an internal scheme with the energy firm turning to its marketing division to combat anger from consumers over rising energy bills, sustainability and reliability.
A spokesman for SSE says: “The academy is being developed specifically by the marketing team to help maximise its potential and equip our people for the challenges that lie ahead.”
It is one of a string of changes to the company’s marketing offering since the appointment of former Mars and P&G senior marketer Jenny Ashmore as its first CMO last summer.
Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) president Ashmore is steering the programme. SSE says it is working with the CIM alongside marketing consultancy Oystercatchers to ensure the academy is “externally recognised” and is a valuable addition to each “individual’s development”.
It reflects a wider shift that has seen some company’s emerge from a period of stringent limits on marketing costs with limited brand management expertise. Companies are exploring how they can get a tighter grip on the fragmented media landscape and nurture their own marketers. Morrisons is gearing up to launch its own academy next month, citing the need to offer professional training to young talent to prevent them from moving to rival brands.
