February 2024 President’s Note

Happy February!

The year has started on a busy and fulfilling note. It’s hard to believe it’s already February. The good news is that spring is one month closer.

It also marks the start of Black History Month. This year’s theme is “Black Excellence: A Heritage to Celebrate; a Future to Build”. The month celebrates important past and present contributions and accomplishments of Black people in Canada, and embraces and helps create future opportunities. 

One benefit of CMA membership is free access to great events and thought leadership. This month, you can choose from the following three complimentary events.

• Join us on February 8 or 14 to discuss Generative AI for marketers.
• Learn about the evolution of VOD on February 15.
• Attend our interactive session on being confident communicators on March 1.

I hope to see many of you tomorrow as we unveil the Most Influential Brands of 2023. With more than 1,200 marketers attending from across the country, it will be a terrific morning.

The CMA is also helping members stay on top of Canadians’ changing views. To that end, we asked Canadians how they feel about sharing their personal data with marketers and businesses. We learned:

• 75% feel more comfortable sharing their personal data with businesses for marketing purposes if there is transparency on how their data is being used and if they can adjust their preferences over time.  
•  While Canadians remain concerned about the privacy of their personal information online, their greatest concern is malicious uses of their data (53%). Very few are concerned about having their information used to target ads and offers to them by the business/organization they shared it with (5%) or by a third party with their consent (6%)

A career in marketing can be volatile, especially in a slower economy. The CMA is deeply committed to helping future-proof marketers in several ways, including professional development to help navigate the tsunami of change we’re all managing.

That’s why we evolved the Chartered Marketer (CM) program, introducing these two Advanced Standing Pathways to make the designation relevant to marketers at every level.

• A new Career Experience Pathway for marketers with a minimum of eight years of progressive and diverse marketing experience. 
• New Education Pathways for graduates with a marketing degree or diploma from an accredited Canadian University or College. 
• The CM course requirement for people who qualify for these pathways will be reduced.

The changes are resonating. Our largest ever cohort of learners are now pursuing their CM designation.

As the only professional marketing designation in Canada, the CM is a powerful differentiator for employers, signalling that you have the depth and breadth of experience required to help grow the business.

The CMA is also committed to supporting marketers in transition.

• I’m thrilled to announce a new scholarship that provides full financial support to qualifying marketers in transition to earn their CM designation. If you – or someone you know – is in transition, I encourage you to apply.
• The CMA is reserving a group of complimentary tickets to each of our events for marketers in transition. It will provide great networking and learning opportunities for our colleagues as they pursue their next roles.

As the year unfolds, I’m excited to share more new benefits and innovations that you can enjoy as part of your CMA membership. I’m looking forward to seeing you at our events, and I welcome the opportunity to meet one-to-one, so, don’t hesitate to reach out if you’d like to chat.

I hope you’re looking forward to a fun Family Day weekend later this month.  

Warm regards, Alison Simpson

P.S. Our CMA Connect podcast is another way the CMA is helping future-proof the profession.  Our first two episodes of 2024 are live and feature great conversations on the marketing profession, ageism and the vision for the CMA. You can listen to all of our episodes here.