Clevertouch unveils lovemartech Academy for martech skills

Clevertouch Consulting has launched the lovemartech Academy, a learning hub combining training, structured learning pathways and research for marketing teams working with marketing technology.

The academy brings together expert-led courses, curated research and access to industry events in a single platform. Clevertouch is positioning it as a response to increasingly complex marketing technology stacks and the need for ongoing skills development within marketing organisations.

Alongside the launch, the consultancy has formed a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with the University of Stirling. The work will research how organisations adopt and use marketing technology and how they assess its effectiveness.

Training Offer

The academy offers practical training delivered by Clevertouch staff with platform certifications across marketing technology products. The team holds more than 140 certifications.

Technologies referenced in the launch include Adobe Journey Optimizer, Marketo and Salesforce Marketing Cloud. Courses and pathways cover both product knowledge and broader martech decision-making, with a focus on helping organisations extract more value from their tools.

Members also gain access to Clevertouch research, including its State of Martech report. Invitations to events, workshops and webinars are also included, forming part of a wider community element.

Clevertouch has not disclosed pricing, the number of courses available at launch, or whether participation is limited to existing clients. It has also not said whether the content will be tailored by sector or company size.

Research Tie-up

The Knowledge Transfer Partnership links Clevertouch's research team with academic expertise at the University of Stirling. It builds on an existing relationship with Rob Angell, Professor of Marketing at the university, who has worked with Clevertouch on recent editions of the State of Martech research.

The partners plan to expand the scale and depth of the research, focusing on clearer evidence of what successful adoption looks like rather than only levels of investment or the number of tools deployed.

In a statement, Angell said there remains a gap between spending on platforms and independent evidence on outcomes.

"Over the past decade, organisations have invested heavily in marketing technology, but there is still limited independent evidence around what successful adoption really looks like. Our partnership with Clevertouch creates an important opportunity to move the conversation forward - shifting martech towards a more evidence-based discipline. By combining academic research with industry access to real-world use cases, the lovemartech Academy can help build a clearer understanding of how marketing technology contributes to organisational performance," said Rob Angell, Professor of Marketing, University of Stirling.

The partnership comes as marketing leaders face pressure to justify software spend and demonstrate returns. Many organisations now run multiple systems across customer relationship management, marketing automation, personalisation, analytics and data management, increasing the need for in-house skills spanning both marketing operations and governance.

Market Context

Training and certification programmes are common among software vendors and large consultancies. Clevertouch is differentiating the academy through a mix of training and what it describes as independent research, backed by an academic partnership.

Clevertouch has used "lovemartech" as a brand for its community activity; the academy formalises that work into a single learning hub with defined pathways and recurring research outputs.

The academy will draw on Clevertouch's certified specialists to deliver training and its research portfolio to provide insights for practitioners making decisions about tool selection, implementation and use.

Chris Fowler, Director of Research & Enablement at Clevertouch Consulting, said the aim is to help marketing teams keep pace as platforms change.

"Marketing technology continues to evolve rapidly, but many organisations struggle to keep skills and knowledge up to date. The lovemartech Academy brings together training, research and community to help marketers build the capabilities they need to get more value from their martech investments. By combining certified platform training with independent research and academic collaboration, we're creating a space where marketing teams can continuously develop their skills and stay ahead in a fast-moving martech landscape," said Chris Fowler, Director of Research & Enablement, Clevertouch Consulting.

Clevertouch said it will continue to add training, research and community activity as the programme develops.