2021 was the year of learning for me, and boy did I learn a lot. It was the year that I solidified my place in my corporate career, learnt some hard lessons about making a return on marketing budget and as well as learning a few personal things about myself and what I was and wasn’t willing to tolerate in life and business.
One of the things I undertook was Mark Ritson’s Mini MBA in Marketing. Mark Ritson is a talented professor, having taught the Marketing portion of a traditional MBA at many of the worlds leading universities, he took this portion and together with Marketing Weekly created the Marketing Mini MBA. The thing that appealed to me was that I could learn all of the marketing elements of an MBA that I needed within not only within a condensed timeframe of 3 months, but also without the need to undertake a full blown MBA.
So here are my thoughts if you’re considering undertaking the Marketing Weekly Mini MBA.
What I liked:
- The fundamentals of marketing are never going to change and this course captures that- as marketers we often get carried away with the campaign planning, budget planning and all round tactics. This course was good reminder that its while doing all of that, it’s important to take a step back and remember the things like price, product, place and promotion and why marketing should be involved in every element.
- The course is divided in too easy modules – the course is divided into 12 easy modules (1 per week with a week break) and have a particular flow so they can be easily pieced together and follow a clear pathway.
What I didn’t like:
- The Exam – we’re all busy marketing professionals who are trying to balance this learning while managing a full time career and other life responsibilities – chucking an exam on top in order to get a grade was a little too much for me.
Overall I liked the Mini MBA more than I didn’t. It was a great way to pause and think like a marketing director / CMO for a while rather than be involved so heavily in the tactical side of marketing. As a final thought, if you’re signed up or if you’re considering the course, like anything, you get out of it what you put in so as long as you have some time to devote to it then its a great course for any marketer looking to follow further their education.