A team of advertising industry leaders and academics have collaborated to develop a new white paper in celebration of 50 years of advertising education in Australia. Titled 'The State of the Australian Advertising Industry and the Role of Education', the white paper provides a comprehensive overview of the adland's evolution and offers predictions for its future.

The team behind the paper includes Adam Ferrier, Chief Thinker at Thinkerbell, Gai Le Roy, CEO of IAB Australia, Leigh Terry, APAC CEO of IPG Mediabrands, Gayle Kerr, Professor in Advertising and IMC at QUT, David Waller A/Prof at UTS Business School, and Steven Bellman, Media Science Research Professor at Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science.

The paper draws on both secondary and primary research to provide an industry and academic perspective. It uses Australian Census data to map growth since 2011 and projects into the future to 2036, predicting that advertising employment from the Professional Services industries should continue to grow at an average of 28% per year.

The research also utilised text-mining software to visualise the key themes of university education and show a direct connection between the strategy of the university and its evolution into units and areas of study like marketing and advertising.

"Advertising has a profound impact on our culture, reflecting our dreams and aspirations. We shouldn't be leaving the advertising we get to chance. It's vital that we are constantly studying how it works, getting educated on how to make it better and being curious about its impact," said Ferrier.

"Not just its role in the helping drive the wider economy, but creating and celebrating Australian culture, and finally highlighting social campaigns that don’t have a voice. 50 years of helping the industry create work that works and work that matters," said Terry.

"Defining ‘what is advertising’ continues to be a fascinating almost philosophical challenge but we do know that the more the market evolves the need for top quality education will remain," said Le Roy.

"The catalyst for the White Paper was our celebration of 50 Years of Advertising Education in Australia. We thought it would be good to know if there would be something to celebrate in another 50 years’ time," said Kerr.

"This is a unique document that brings together leaders in the advertising industry and academic education to discuss past, current and future ideas to present valuable insights and predictions for advertising education for the years to come. I expect that this is not the end of the industry/education conversation on the future of advertising but just the beginning," said Waller.

The White Paper is available from the 50 Years of Advertising Education website.