Omnicom Oceania has inked a multi-year, industry-first partnership with the MiniMBA in Marketing, committing to roll out the globally recognised marketing effectiveness program across its client-facing leadership teams at scale.
The initiative will see more than 1,000 employees complete the MiniMBA over the coming years, representing one of the largest, coordinated investments in marketing capability across Australia and New Zealand.
The partnership marks a significant step in Omnicom Oceania’s evolution beyond a traditional media and creative model into a broader marketing and customer transformation business.
The move comes as marketers face increasing pressure to drive growth across fragmented channels, audiences and experiences. While the industry has become highly effective at maximising value from customers, Omnicom Oceania believes the next phase of growth will come from strengthening the value exchange between brands and customers.
“Marketing has become more complex, and the expectations on CMOs have expanded significantly,” said Nick Garrett, CEO Omnicom Oceania.
“For a long time, the industry has focused on extracting value from customers. The real opportunity now is creating more value for them and that requires a different level of thinking.
“What makes this partnership different is the scale. We’re not investing in capability for a few; we’re embedding it across our entire client-facing leadership. We talk a lot about building a culture obsessed with effectiveness, but you can’t do that without backing it with real investment. This means all our leaders, no matter what discipline, not only having far deeper knowledge, but are singing from the same hymn sheet, using the same definitions and benchmarks of success for our clients”.
For employees, the program represents a long-term investment in career development, providing globally recognised capability that extends well beyond their current roles.
For clients, it ensures access to highly trained teams applying proven, evidence-based approaches, improving how marketing investment decisions are made and strengthening the link to measurable business growth.
Mark Ritson said the scale of the partnership reflects a broader shift in how leading organisations are approaching marketing capability.
“You don’t often see this level of commitment to marketing effectiveness within a single organisation,” he said.
“This is about embedding a consistent way of thinking at scale across markets, clients and teams and that has the potential to materially lift the standard of marketing in the region.
“This isn’t training for training’s sake. When you put more than a thousand people through a rigorous, evidence-based program like the MiniMBA, you’re improving decision-making at scale. “That leads to better strategy, better allocation of budget, and ultimately, better commercial outcomes.
“We know that around 95 per cent of participants don’t just enjoy the program, it makes them a better marketer almost immediately. It’s exciting to think about what Omnicom Oceania will be able to deliver for clients with this level of capability embedded across its teams.”
The MiniMBA, developed and taught by Mark Ritson, focuses on brand strategy, commercial marketing fundamentals, effectiveness, and return on investment, with a strong emphasis on evidence‑based decision‑making and real‑world application. By investing in marketing effectiveness at this level, Omnicom Oceania is building a more effective network delivering more effective work that drives measurable client growth, and in turn, fuels its own continued growth.
