Group of creative people working together in a project

Leadership in Marketing: Building the Next Generation of Managers

Date

3rd September 2025

Author

Gustavo Tovar

There’s a clear challenge in the creative sector: 65% of mid and senior-level roles are classed as hard-to-fill vacancies. The skills gap is growing, and apprenticeships provide a way for your businesses to continue growing and gain a competitive edge.

At Creative Alliance, we believe the answer to any skills gap is smarter talent development. Our Level 6 Marketing Manager Degree Apprenticeship gives organisations a direct way to build leadership capacity, improve marketing outcomes, and prepare future-ready managers who can deliver results from the first weeks of training.

Why Apprenticeships Work for Leadership Roles

Work-based training is an effective way to develop leaders. For years, Creative Alliance has trained entry-level apprentices who have since grown into management positions, becoming strategic thinkers, decision-makers, and team leaders.

Our apprentices’ progressions and achievements prove something important: apprenticeships are not just for entry-level positions, but a powerful, funded way of levelling up your existing staff into confident leaders with the technical knowledge, behaviours, and mindset required for long-term impact.

For that reason, the Level 6 Marketing Manager programme has been designed with industry insights to train people into what today’s marketing managers need to be: creative, strategic thinkers that are commercially sharp.

Creative Alliance delivery of marketing manger progression apprentieship

Flexible Training, Measurable Impact

The Marketing Manager apprenticeship is built around six modules. Each of them focused on creating measurable business value:

Strategy that aligns with business goals – In the first months, apprentices learn to apply strategic thinking directly to your organisation, supporting better brand and marketing decisions.
Customer insight that drives growth – Apprentices are trained to turn data into action, creating value propositions that increase conversions, loyalty, and measurable revenue impact.
Smarter planning and budgeting – Every activity is designed to increase ROI, with apprentices learning how to optimise resources and allocate spend effectively.

Resource and project management – Apprentices develop the skills to streamline delivery, manage services, and lead more productive teams.
Evaluation for growth – We teach structured frameworks for analysing performance and transforming insight into business development.
Leadership that inspires confidence – The programme concludes by equipping your managers with the communication, influence, and decision-making skills to operate at the highest level.

This isn’t just theory. It’s practical learning in action, applied directly into the workplace to achieve real business goals.

“The biggest impact has been the course forcing me out of my comfort zone, it gets me out of the detail of the day to day and thinking more critically about why we do things the way we do and the impact that has on the work.”

Jay
Digital Marketing Apprentice / SWOF Media

“When you’re new to management, there’s a lot to figure out. And as an apprenticeship, it’s a great way to learn as you go. So you get a lot of guidance on the job and you can apply it as you’re going on in the job.”

Gemma
Marketing Manager Apprentice / Lightwater Valley Family Adventure Park

“My Level 7 apprenticeship in senior leadership has given me a huge amount of knowledge and insight that has helped me more than I could have conceived. The “off the job” time that you have to dedicate to the course has been a little bit of a revelation. It gives me time as a manager to research, read and reflect. It has actually led to a very innovative idea that I presented to our directors and is going to make some big changes in the organisation. Honestly I wish I had started this a few years ago.”

James Ellis
Business Development Manager / Creative Alliance

Funded Training with Clear Outcomes

With 90% of the training costs covered by the government, any organisation can overcome their current challenges through the knowledge and skills that a degree equivalent apprenticeships can provide. Future leaders can be trained on-the-job while protecting your budget.

Short-term Impact: noticeable improvements in strategy, productivity, and marketing outcomes.
Long-term Investment: measurable business growth, stronger brand positioning, and managers who stay and lead.

Ready to Develop Your Next Marketing Leader?

The Marketing Manager apprenticeship is more than training. It’s a way to future-proof your business, retain top talent, and align your marketing activity with real commercial outcomes.

Get Started

Book a call with our team today.

We’ll map your business KPIs against the apprenticeship modules and show you how this training will deliver results for your organisation.

Meet Hasan – Business Admin Apprentice at Creative Alliance

Leadership in Marketing: Building the Next Generation of Managers

Why Apprenticeships Work for Leadership Roles

Flexible Training, Measurable Impact

Funded Training with Clear Outcomes

Ready to Develop Your Next Marketing Leader?