Toronto’s Centennial College has partnered with business intelligence firm SAS Canada to develop a new one-year certificate program devoted to marketing research and analytics.
 
The program, which is open to students with a prior university undergraduate degree or advanced diploma from a community college, debuts this fall.

SAS Canada helped to develop the curriculum and also donated analytics technology to the college.
 
According to Victor Sousa, coordinator and professor for marketing programs at Centennial College, the program addresses an increasing demand from businesses for employees who can understand and interpret marketing and business data.
 
“We looked at the job requirements and the skills the industry was looking for and decided to completely revamp and re-engineer a program that would not only include reporting results but interpreting results and predictive models as well,” said Sousa. “The skills learned in this program can be used in marketing and many other industries as well.”
 
Cameron Dow, vice-president of marketing for SAS Canada, agreed with Sousa’s assessment of the changing marketplace.
 
“Roughly 84% of Canadian organizations surveyed viewed business analytics as critical to making their business decisions,” said Dow, citing a recent survey conducted by SAS in association with Bloomberg Businessweek. “But the number one barrier to using and adopting analytics is a lack of talent.
 
“I’m seeing a real shift in marketing, where it’s becoming less of an art and definitely more of a science, so for future marketing leaders, having analytical skills is going to help them in their careers. That’s what we’re trying to do in working with institutions like Centennial.”