WITH the aim of enhancing skills for creative leadership amongst advertising professionals in Malaysia, the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents of Malaysia (4As) is presenting a Chartered Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) Course called the “IPA Creative Directors Bootcamp” from Feb 25 to 26 at Aloft Hotel Kuala Lumpur.
The IPA bootcamp programme is a 4As Malaysia initiative with the goal of raising industry standards and fostering continuous professional development.
Conducted by Paul Arnold, one of IPA’s top trainers and UK industry veteran of nearly thirty years, this bespoke bootcamp is customiSed for Creative Directors and Creative Group Heads who are involved in the direct oversight of creative talent.
Speaking about the bootcamp, Andrew Lee, 4As President said, “Most Creative Directors ascend to their position on the strength of their ideation and past work, but discover that, once there, they need to develop a whole new skill set to lead their teams. Furthermore, their role extends to dealing directly with clients and selling creative work.”
“The two-day bootcamp has thus been designed to provide insights into recurring leadership issues by presenting typical everyday scenarios that the creative fraternity faces, so they can address them when they return to their workplace,” Lee added.
The first day of the bootcamp will look at what makes people tick, how to handle different personalities, and how to inspire, motivate, and develop creative teams, whilst the second day addresses the key skills for selling creative work focused on the psychology and neuroscience of selling.
“The output of an agency is paramount. An agency with great work attracts the best people and clients – which leads to increased financial health for all involved. It’s a positive cycle driven by the Creative Director jointly with the agency CEO in pushing for high standards of creativity and effectiveness”, said 4As CEO, Khairudin Rahim.
“The Creative Director needs to see their role as that of being a “coach”, and like any great coach, they see the potential of their staff, set high standards, challenge and support them in accelerating their performance,” Khairudin added.
Arnold said transitioning from a creative role to a managerial role can be challenging. He added that Creative Directors tend to excel at coming up with ideas and executing them, but sometimes they may be lacking the skills to sell these ideas to the clients.
“I’m delighted to be able to share my insights on these topics, leveraging on my training as a psychologist and my knowledge of neuro-linguistic programming, and many years of experience working at companies like Saatchi & Saatchi and Grey,” he said.
Registration for the IPA Creative Directors Bootcamp is on a first come, first serve basis, and closes on Jan 31. To register please contact Kandesh at the 4As secretariat via email (kandesh@macomm.com.my) or call (603) 7660 8535.
Course fees are HRDF claimable, and cost RM3,500 for 4As members.
