LONDON: Brands allocate large sums to media, but it appears they are letting themselves down because just one in ten (9.4%) of senior brand and agency marketers believe their media training initiatives are satisfactory.

That is according to the 2016 Training Survey from ID Comms, a strategic media consultancy, which polled 117 senior executives representing both agencies and brand advertisers around the world.

Nearly all (96%) agreed that brands can gain competitive advantage in marketing by investing in media training, with around two-thirds (67.5%) strongly agreeing with the statement.

Yet 60% said there was not enough financial support for media training and they ranked the current media skill base at brands as being far from satisfactory.

Brands scored an average of just 2.9 out of 5, where 4 is satisfactory, across three key areas – being a good client and following good media management behaviours, working productively with media agencies, and making media more accountable.

In addition to insufficient financial support, around a quarter (27%) of respondents cited lack of time to explain the patchy commitment to media training at brands.

Other factors included the perception that agencies should provide this training for free (12%) and previous poor experiences with media training (7%).

The survey also revealed that brand advertisers were most concerned about inadequate budgets for media training while agency executives were most concerned about finding the time for it.

"Recent concerns over trust and transparency in the media landscape have highlighted the risks to brands of not having up-to-date knowledge and skills in media," said Tom Denford, Chief Strategy Officer at ID Comms.

"Brands can no longer simply rely on agencies to provide free training but must take active steps to improve their own skills and commit to a programme of continuous media education.

"Training is one key tool to upgrading that internal capability, alongside recruitment, but while many recognise the benefits that better media understanding could bring to their business in a fast changing media landscape, collectively brands are failing to invest enough time and money in media training."

Data sourced from ID Comms; additional content by Warc staff