• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, August 9, 2016

Adobe will begin officially rolling out this week a worldwide accreditation program requiring a "significant investment" in human capital and financial resources. The goal is to invest in the education and future of the advertising industry, Kim Peretti, global head, Digital Learning Services at Adobe. told Media Daily News.

After extensive research, Peretti says, Adobe found the need to educate marketers and provide accreditation on how to marry the art and the science of digital marketing in the customer experience space. The Adobe Digital Marketing Accreditation program, a series of self-serve courses, aims to tie business skills with creative thinking and technology.

"Sometimes, it requires marketers to look at data differently," Peretti says.

Peretti plans to promote the accreditation in social media. The campaign could also piggyback on other Adobe marketing and advertising initiatives.

Marketers purchase the complete accreditation program that is divided into segments, as Building a Digital Foundation, which offers sub-sections of courses covering Marketing in the Experience Era, Testing and and Mobile Foundations. Other courses include email marketing, data, display advertising, mobile measurement, personalization, search marketing, mapping the customer journey and more. 

Citing numbers from Econsultancy, about 40% of respondents to the "Digital Marketing: Organizational Structures and Resourcing Best Practice Guide" say finding staff with suitable skills is the most challenging barrier to success in digital progress. 

Of course, the accreditation program comes complete with a badge companies can display on their Web site. The accreditation is broken down into six segments from Business Processes to Go-To-Market Strategies and offers about 50 courses. Accreditation badges are distributed quarterly for those who have completely the entire program.

These courses are not limited to Adobe's point of view, Peretti says. The curriculum brings in perspectives from experts in media and entertainment, financial services and health care.

The program is focused on digital marketing across different industries and verticals, much more so than strictly advertising.

While the accreditation isn't linked to a university, Peretti says there are a couple in the California area that are interested in a partnership. Others have linked their marketing curriculum to Adobe's accreditation program. "It's something to look at in the future," she said. "Universities in their curriculum and academic process can't keep up with the rate of change in marketing."

The online courses will have a webinar workshop supported by Adobe experts and partners to provide further details on specific topics in the program such as cross-channel engagement.