In her former role at a multinational Fortune 500 company, Susan Irving could leverage the resources of a global organization. She had access to best-in-class cases from other markets, as well as a vast pool of marketing leaders with whom she could discuss business challenges.

So when she joined Kruger Products as CMO in 2021, Irving was thankful her predecessor had taken steps to ensure the vitality of Kruger’s marketing department by becoming a corporate member of the Canadian Marketing Association (CMA).

“When you’re a Canadian organization, you don’t have a global team to lean on for programs with the best ROI or for insights on the latest trends,” she says. “That for me is the biggest benefit of being part of the CMA.”

With a mandate to bolster the marketing function in Canada, the CMA provides opportunities for its members to build relationships, develop professionally and influence the regulatory climate on issues ranging from privacy laws to DE&I and marketing standards to advertising to children.

Mike Leon, managing director of agency Brand Heroes, likens CMA membership as being part of an “ecosystem” offering myriad ways for members to connect and get involved. And marketers can dedicate as much time to it as they want (or can), he says. “There’s an opportunity to start small and go from there.”

Leon joined the CMA in 2021 after having taken an interest in the CMA’s thought leadership content, as well as guides and resources they offer. Soon after, he joined the Association’s Brand Council, through which he has co-led a council sub group and helped generate thought leadership of his own.

Since then, he has also been a judge at the CMA Awards, participated in CMA NXT (the Association’s student-focused initiative), and led a session on brand storytelling for participants in the CMA’s Chartered Marketer (CM) designation program.

“What I love about the CMA is that as you start to get through the ecosystem, you just find more and more value each time,” Leon says.

Many of the senior marketers whose organizations are members say the CMA plays an important role in developing the next generation of talent, as well as setting standards of excellence across the industry.

Christine Smith, co-chair of the Brand Council, took courses through the CMA early on in her career while on the agency-side. Now marketing director at Hyundai, Smith says membership in the CMA allows her to “connect with other marketing and agency leaders across Canada and talk about the issues, challenges and opportunities we have to elevate our brands and engage with consumers in new and different ways.”

The CMA also plays a vital role in helping members make sense of emerging regulatory issues and how to navigate them, Smith says. Organizations don’t usually have dedicated legal resources to support the marketing department, she says, which means it’s “on all of us as marketers to understand what the laws mean for us.”

For Smith, and for these other two marketers, one of the biggest membership benefits is the professional development available through the CMA.

When Hyundai joined as a corporate member around five years ago, Smith says one of the major motivations was to “get more involved in the Canadian marketing landscape” and provide training opportunities to members of the marketing department, as well as others throughout the organization with an interest in marketing-related topics.

Both Hyundai and Kruger have a handful of employees who pursue the CM designation every year, and Leon says he encourages Brand Heroes employees to enroll in development programs offered by the CMA.

“I’m very open to any learning opportunities my employees want to undertake, but having a full slate of options available to them through the CMA makes it easier. And it’s a one-stop-shop for me as well. That’s a real value-add.”

For these three marketers, the CMA is also a way to give back to the profession in which they have built their careers – be it through judging the CMA Awards, developing thought leadership or sharing their experiences in CMA Café, which brings together senior-level members for candid roundtable discussions.

“The CMA helps enhance our reputation and make sure that Canadian marketers are seen and heard,” says Irving. “You see a lot of Canadian marketers go on to secure very top jobs in U.S. or global organizations, and I do believe the CMA and its members help foster that.”

For more than 50 years the Canadian Marketing Association has acted as the voice of the marketing profession in Canada, serving more than 350 corporate, not-for-profit, public and post-secondary members, including Canada’s most prestigious brands. The CMA community also includes creative, media, and PR agencies, research firms, management consulting firms, technology companies and other suppliers to the marketing community. Learn more.