Birmingham, Nov. 7, GNA- About 40 Ghanaian Professional marketing students have graduated from the Chartered Institute of Marketing, CIM in Birmingham, United Kingdom. At the Graduation and Membership ceremony held at the Symphony Hall in Birmingham, 1,500 professional Marketers worldwide including Ms. Patricia Akpene Tegbe of the Ghana News Agency were presented with the Professional Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing and were given the recognition as Full Members of the Chartered Institute of Marketing UK.

Addressing the ceremony, The Rt. Hon. Lord Heseltine, President of the Chartered Institute of Marketing noted that trends in Marketing, like every other profession was changing.

Speaking on the topic, "The Importance of Qualifications in the New Digital Age of Marketing", he said the emergence of digital media had brought about a huge change in the profession in a relatively short time which, in effect, raised many challenges that would take only the professionally qualified marketer to overcome.

Lord Heseltine said, as marketing had become more business oriented, organisations today expected marketers to be able to deliver a clear return for their investment adding; "A Chartered Institute of Marketing qualification gives both the theory and practical experience to do this".

He said the introduction of digital media had brought an explosion in the number of channels marketers could use to reach target markets, adding that, "to target markets effectively, required strategic insight into how to optimise the use of channels with limited resources and it is only the qualified marketer that is in a much stronger position to do that".

The President said positioning, segmenting and targeting markets effectively were now vital to maximise potential returns for each amount of marketing spend.

He cautioned that digital media was developing so fast that good practice might become blurred and there was the risk of some marketers to go beyond the boundaries of what might be considered ethical. Dr. Ruth Ashford, Chief Examiner of the Institute said the Postgraduate Diploma was a much-valued qualification included in the recruitment criteria set by most organisations throughout the world.

Dr. Ashford reminded the marketers that marketing was a dynamic and challenging discipline that required that, they continue to build their membership and Continuous Professional Development (CPD) to ensure that they were at the forefront of their profession in their respective countries.

Mr. Roderick E. Wilkes Chief Executive of CIM said Marketing Directors needed to be able to show that marketing was a driving factor for growth and thus a central part of the top-line business strategy.