• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, September 15, 2017

The ANA Educational Foundation (AEF) will be releasing what’s being described as a groundbreaking and revealing new study on the talent crisis facing the advertising and marketing industries. 

The study looks at the challenges marketers and ad agencies are facing as college graduates are turning away from those fields to more appealing and presumably more lucrative careers in other areas (tech and Wall Street have been mentioned in other surveys and forums on the topic). It also includes recommendations for dealing with this critical issue. 

The fact that there’s a talent crisis facing the industry is not new news but the ANAEF’s study should be an interesting read if previous recent work by the ANA is any indication. The organization has released two reports in the last year that have commanded wide attention and influence including last year’s report that examined the relationship between media agencies and clients and some of the questionable practices that have been going on. 

Earlier this year the ANA released a report that probed agency commercial production practices that produced equally interesting findings, and a set of recommendations. 

Stay tuned. The report is currently set for release next Tuesday.