IBM has announced a partnership with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania to present a two-week course for CMOs on data-driven marketing practices and disciplines. The program will commence in June 2015.
In a recent survey of 524 chief marketers, IBM found that 94% of them believe analytics will play a big role in reaching their goals, yet only 18% said their organizations were in a position to do so. That finding led IBM—which already presents interactive educational materials to marketers—to develop the first CMO-only course at the world class business school.
“At Wharton, we run a number of programs that attract CMOs, but this is the first that is exclusively for senior-level marketing officers,” says marketing professor David J. Reibstein. “This is not intended as a show-and-tell, this is intended as education. Our focus will be on how the most senior marketing officer goes about building organizational capabilities to address the challenges of the future.”
Entitled “The CMO Advantage: Evolving Beyond the Digital Revolution,” the course aims to:
- Give chief marketers a deeper understanding of the transformative impact of the connected consumer on enterprise value propositions and marketing practices;
- enhance the influence of the CMO and chief customer officer in the C-suite, including rallying and orchestrating the wider organization to align in support of the brand promise;
- challenge mental model through live simulations and rapid feedback; and
- instruct how to improve performance through nimble organizational design, marketing return measurement, partner ecosystems, and winning the talent war.
Prospective students will be able to apply to take part at the end of this month. Class size will be capped at 48 CMOs, with student selections to be made by Wharton and IBM, but not limited to IBM clients. The course of study will consist of two three-and-half-day sessions in non-concurrent weeks.
