Strategic Marketing for Competitive Advantage

Wharton’s Strategic Marketing for Competitive Advantage offered tremendous knowledge exchange while engaging with amazing instructors, participants, and guest speakers. It provided skills to enhance client experience with overall marketing approach, target audience, and messaging. Critical for global business was learning about digital marketing.

Participants were an interesting mix in terms of industry and career experience. Professionals proactive about getting the best quality education and achieving higher goals personally and professionally. There were networking opportunities with participants and professors, who have an open door to former students. Companies that want to go from good to great need this experience.

Marketing affects every level of an organization and programs like Wharton’s are vital to understanding our industry. We are in a new business world and have to figure out how to survive and thrive for success. If you understand the customer and what you have to offer, you are ahead of every business owner who has not been to this program or received equivalent training. Strategic Marketing for Competitive Advantage is an investment for yourself, your business, and your future.”

Valerie Vashio Business Unit Lead-Project Management, Biologics Consulting

Before I took Strategic Marketing for Competitive Advantage, being in a corporate support function, I thought most of marketing was smoke and magic. We spend hundreds of millions of dollars on marketing every year, and it was difficult for me to see the value. The program showed me through data what that value is and will be. Without it, you have no signal, and if you have no signal for even a short period of time, you become irrelevant.

The deep subject matter expertise of the faculty doesn’t begin to explain how phenomenal they are. They have access to new research no one else has and they’re in the field working with companies. The practice and learning for them is a continuous loop — it feels like they are a couple of years ahead in terms of knowledge. They’re the reason for Wharton’s reputation. While they all have different teaching styles, what they have in common is making it real. Professor Raju uses new, real-world examples with brands that everyone recognizes. It’s completely relevant and easily resonates with you. The program gave me a much greater appreciation for how important marketing is, and provided me with real-world tools for evaluating the effectiveness of our marketing programs.”

Matthew Owenby Chief Human Resources Officer, Aflac, Inc.

My background is in engineering, and I have not had formal business training. Strategic Marketing for Competitive Advantage gave me a great base to have better conversations and a better understanding with our product owners. Because my role as IT director is internal facing, I wanted to come away with strategies and techniques I could use to take internal projects forward. I now have a better ability to evaluate why we do things in more grounded ways.

The horsepower of the professors in the program was really impressive. It wasn’t just about their achievements and research, but they taught the program to help you apply the concepts in any line of work or industry. The case studies they chose and the discussions they spawned were also very impactful. I have already begun to leverage some strategies associated with target audiences and messaging that I learned by applying them to change management efforts. I’ve gotten far more out of the program than the week I invested in it."

Greg Thompson Director, Enterprise IT, EnPro Industries

I needed a program that not only focused on the what of marketing — the tactics — but also on the why. I wanted a strategic view that included the impact of various decisions and how best to integrate decisions in areas such as customer segments, go-to-market, price, channels, and communication. I went back with a very deep understanding and not only shared what I learned with colleagues, but also implemented some of the key learnings quickly. We are now asking the right questions and seeing a phenomenal change.

The program goes well beyond tactics and the four Ps (product, price, place, and promotion) of marketing. It’s a semester of knowledge condensed into a week. You not only get to think about many issues involved in marketing in a different way, but you come away with very specific actions to take. The payoff from the program has been enormous just four weeks after I completed it.”

Amar Pandit, CFA, CFP Founder, Happyness Factory

One of the most valuable insights from taking Strategic Marketing for Competitive Advantage was learning how to price a product or service offer. The group exercises were very engaging and entertaining. We had one exercise where we were in an oil company and had to decide how to price our barrels in a country where there were a lot of competing parties. That was really challenging. It was also fun since I’m a very competitive person.”

Eric Sabato Western Regional Sales Manager, Carber Holdings Inc.

Like a lot of companies, we weren’t very strategic about looking at how beneficial marketing is to our company and to our bottom line. The pricing discussion, the analytical part, and the case studies were all hugely beneficial. The one line I will remember from the week was a 1 percent price improvement creates operating improvement of 11.15 percent. We’re taking a real hard look at pricing for next year. We manufacture high-quality products, so we can command some small premium for that without losing all of our business.

Also, we did not have a specific marketing manager, so I’ve decided to hire someone for that role. My CEO went on this course a year ago and encouraged me to attend. I would certainly encourage whoever I hire as a marketing manager to take the course. I think everyone in the class came away with something beneficial from the week — to challenge themselves to think differently about some part of their business.”

Alan Kelly Director of Commercial Development, Bimeda Inc.

I found the course to be well packaged and one that gave me new and enriching insights into the various facets of marketing. The course content addressed the evolving scenario and challenges in the industry that have prevailed over the years on a global perspective. It was a refresher course as it helped me build on the concepts that I learnt while doing my MBA. This course truly helps a manager with the necessary tools and wherewithal that will equip him to face the challenges in today’s dynamic, innovative, and competitive marketplace.”

Vijay Ramachandran Senior Manager, Reliance Industries, Ltd.

I founded Bloke, a men’s fragrance company, five years ago. It was always my dream to go to Wharton, because it’s the best of the best. I thought it was time for me to step out of my comfort zone of being creative, and become more knowledgeable with what Wharton could teach me. I took the Strategic Marketing for Competitive Advantage course to gain a competitive edge.

Taking a Wharton course had a big impact on my career. Three days after I got back from the program, I got hired as a consultant to do fragrance work in Australia. People were saying things to me like, 'You’re so talented, and you went to Wharton.' In addition, the men’s underwear line that I recently developed is getting released at New York Fashion Week in September. I’m very good at what I do, but I’m a designer, a dreamer. Wharton gave me the vernacular and the tools to be more effective when I speak at business meetings.

In the program, I felt like there were participants with both more and less knowledge and career experience than me, yet no one looked at each other any differently. We all learned from each other, a hundred percent. There were people in very different industries from mine: oil and gas, the shipping industry, you name it. I’m still in touch with people from the program on LinkedIn and am glad that I developed a network from the course.

Every professor was amazing. However, Jonah Berger was my favorite. Barbara Kahn was also an inspiration. I have never felt so challenged — in a good way — in my life. I’m considering taking another Wharton Executive Education course in the near future."

Christopher Valiante Creative Director and CEO, Bloke NYC