Mini MBA in Marketing and Brand Management Training Course

Duration 10 days 18 modules · 65 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Marketing Managers, Brand Managers and others
Fee from USD 2,200 KSh 190,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 9 Nov 2026 Course code SD-EPMM-008

Before you join: Participants should have experience working with customers, products, services, sales, communications or commercial plans.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Marketing and brand leaders are expected to connect customer insight, commercial priorities and market execution. They must decide which segments to serve, how to position an offer, where to invest media budget, how to manage a brand portfolio and how to prove marketing contribution to revenue, retention and reputation. These decisions are harder when data is incomplete, customer needs differ by market, and sales, product, finance and communications teams use different measures of success.

This Mini MBA in Marketing and Brand Management develops the managerial knowledge needed to make and defend those decisions. Participants examine market structure, customer behaviour, segmentation, targeting, positioning, brand strategy, product and pricing choices, channel design, integrated communications, digital marketing, customer experience and marketing performance management. They use established methods including STP, Jobs to Be Done, customer journey mapping, Brand Key, marketing-mix modelling principles and customer lifetime value analysis. The programme also addresses practical governance: brand architecture, agency briefing, campaign controls, budget allocation and marketing dashboards.

Instructor-led sessions combine focused briefings with cases from consumer goods, financial services, B2B, public services and digital businesses. Participants analyse market evidence, make commercial trade-offs, assess brand and campaign decisions, and develop work relevant to their own organisation. By the final module, each participant prepares and presents a complete marketing and brand management plan for a product, service, portfolio or strategic initiative. The plan includes customer insight, target segments, positioning, brand choices, go-to-market actions, budget logic, measures and implementation controls.

The course suits managers moving into marketing leadership, commercial professionals who work closely with marketing, and experienced marketers seeking a disciplined business framework for senior-level decisions.

What you will be able to do

  • Analyse market attractiveness using PESTLE, Five Forces and category economics
  • Define priority customer segments using STP, personas and needs-based criteria
  • Develop evidence-based positioning statements and value propositions for selected segments
  • Design brand architecture, identity and portfolio roles using Brand Key principles
  • Build integrated marketing plans covering product, price, channel and communications decisions
  • Evaluate digital campaigns using funnel metrics, attribution limits and conversion analysis
  • Prepare marketing budgets, customer lifetime value calculations and performance dashboards
  • Present a complete marketing and brand management plan to senior stakeholders

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Make clearer recommendations on segments, positioning and marketing investment
  • Speak confidently with finance, sales, agencies and senior leadership
  • Create a defensible brand and marketing plan for a live business priority
  • Assess campaign performance beyond reach, impressions and activity counts
  • Apply recognised marketing frameworks in promotion, interview and project work

For your organisation

  • Improved alignment between customer insight, brand choices and commercial priorities
  • More disciplined selection of target segments and channel investments
  • Stronger consistency across portfolio, product, communications and customer experience decisions
  • Better scrutiny of marketing budgets through value, conversion and retention measures
  • Practical marketing plans ready for refinement and internal approval

Course modules

18 modules over 10 days

Participants can connect marketing decisions to growth, margin, retention and enterprise value.

  • Marketing’s role in demand creation, retention, margin and customer value
  • Market orientation compared with product, sales and production orientations
  • Revenue, gross margin and contribution implications of marketing choices
  • The marketing planning cycle from diagnosis through control and review
  • Cross-functional interfaces between marketing, sales, finance, operations and product
  • Marketing ethics, consumer protection and responsible communications decision criteria

Participants can assess market attractiveness and identify the forces shaping competitive returns.

  • PESTLE analysis identifies external forces affecting demand and market access
  • Porter’s Five Forces assesses rivalry, substitutes and bargaining power
  • Category value chain maps profit pools, partners and control points
  • TAM, SAM and SOM estimates distinguish opportunity from addressable demand
  • Competitor benchmarking compares proposition, price, channels, capabilities and share
  • Market maturity analysis informs entry, defence, expansion and exit choices

Participants can convert customer evidence into actionable demand insights.

  • Primary and secondary research sources answer different decision questions
  • Jobs to Be Done reveals functional, emotional and social progress
  • Buying-centre roles shape B2B influence, approval and supplier selection
  • Consumer decision processes identify triggers, evaluation criteria and barriers
  • Voice-of-customer coding separates stated preferences from underlying needs
  • Insight statements link observed evidence, tension and commercial implication

Participants can select priority segments using needs, value and strategic fit.

  • STP frames segmentation, target selection and positioning as linked decisions
  • Behavioural, attitudinal and needs-based variables produce actionable segments
  • Segment attractiveness scores size, growth, profitability, access and strategic fit
  • Persona profiles combine context, goals, barriers, behaviours and decision criteria
  • Prioritisation matrices distinguish core, growth, maintenance and excluded segments
  • Target-market choices account for capability constraints and competitive response

Participants can create differentiated value propositions and positioning statements.

  • Value proposition canvases connect customer pains, gains and offer elements
  • Points of parity establish category credibility before differentiation claims
  • Points of difference require relevance, distinctiveness, believability and deliverability
  • Positioning statements specify audience, frame, benefit, reason and distinction
  • Perceptual maps reveal whitespace, crowding and repositioning risks
  • Messaging hierarchies organise master promise, proof points and supporting claims

Participants can define brand meaning and manage the drivers of brand equity.

  • Brand equity links awareness, associations, perceived quality, loyalty and value
  • Brand Key defines target, insight, benefits, values and brand essence
  • Brand purpose distinguishes enduring contribution from campaign-level messaging
  • Distinctive brand assets include names, colours, shapes, sounds and symbols
  • Brand salience measures mental availability during relevant buying situations
  • Consistency rules protect recognition while allowing market-specific adaptation

Participants can choose brand architecture and assign clear roles across a portfolio.

  • Branded house and house of brands create different governance demands
  • Endorsed brands balance parent credibility with offer-specific differentiation
  • Portfolio roles classify strategic brands, cash generators and niche offers
  • Cannibalisation analysis tests incremental demand against internal revenue transfer
  • Naming systems clarify hierarchy, relationships, extensions and market recognition
  • Architecture decisions consider acquisition integration, risk containment and cost

Participants can align product and service decisions with customer needs and portfolio goals.

  • Core, actual and augmented product layers shape perceived customer value
  • Product life-cycle choices differ across introduction, growth, maturity and decline
  • Ansoff Matrix compares market penetration, development, innovation and diversification
  • Service blueprinting exposes frontstage, backstage and support-process failure points
  • Stage-gate governance evaluates concepts before development and launch investment
  • Portfolio matrices guide resource allocation between growth, defence and harvest

Participants can recommend pricing approaches that reflect value, costs and market conditions.

  • Value-based pricing starts with customer outcomes and willingness to pay
  • Cost-plus pricing identifies required recovery but ignores perceived value
  • Competitive price benchmarking tests reference points and market expectations
  • Price elasticity estimates demand sensitivity across price-change scenarios
  • Good-better-best architecture creates choice while protecting premium value
  • Discount governance controls approval rights, floors, duration and exceptions

Participants can design channel strategies that match customer buying preferences and economics.

  • Route-to-market choices balance coverage, control, service and channel cost
  • Direct, distributor, retail and marketplace models carry distinct economics
  • Channel conflict arises when incentives, prices and territories overlap
  • Sales enablement translates positioning into tools, proof and objection handling
  • Key account plans align stakeholder mapping, value creation and account growth
  • Go-to-market sequencing coordinates readiness across product, sales and communications

Participants can create coordinated communications plans from message strategy through channel selection.

  • Communication objectives distinguish awareness, consideration, conversion and retention outcomes
  • The hierarchy-of-effects model links messages with audience response stages
  • Creative briefs define audience, proposition, evidence, tone and mandatory elements
  • Paid, owned and earned media serve different reach and control roles
  • Media planning balances reach, frequency, timing, context and budget
  • Campaign calendars coordinate launches, seasonal demand and operational readiness

Participants can select digital tactics using audience intent, funnel stage and measurement logic.

  • Search intent informs keyword, content and landing-page decisions
  • Content pillars organise educational, proof, conversion and retention materials
  • Marketing funnels track progression from discovery through qualified demand
  • Email lifecycle programmes address onboarding, activation, renewal and reactivation
  • Social listening identifies audience language, emerging issues and competitor signals
  • Conversion-rate optimisation tests page friction, message match and calls-to-action

Participants can improve customer journeys and retention priorities using experience evidence.

  • Customer journey maps connect stages, touchpoints, emotions, needs and failures
  • Moments of truth determine trust, satisfaction and future buying behaviour
  • Service recovery protocols address failure ownership, response and compensation
  • Net Promoter Score separates promoters, passives and detractors for follow-up
  • Churn analysis identifies behavioural signals preceding cancellation or inactivity
  • Retention programmes combine value, convenience, recognition and timely communication

Participants can build a marketing scorecard that links activity to commercial outcomes.

  • Marketing dashboards combine leading indicators with commercial outcome measures
  • Customer acquisition cost compares spend against newly acquired customers
  • Customer lifetime value estimates future contribution from retention and margin
  • Conversion funnels locate drop-off between exposure, response and purchase
  • Attribution models allocate credit while recognising measurement limitations
  • Test-and-learn designs use hypotheses, control groups and decision thresholds

Participants can prepare and defend marketing investment recommendations using financial evidence.

  • Marketing budgets distinguish fixed costs, variable spend and contingency reserves
  • Incremental contribution estimates revenue after variable costs and marketing spend
  • Break-even analysis calculates volume required to recover campaign investment
  • Scenario planning compares base, upside and downside demand assumptions
  • Budget allocation weighs marginal returns, strategic priorities and execution capacity
  • Business cases state assumptions, risks, payback and decision requirements

Participants can establish marketing operating arrangements, controls and partner accountabilities.

  • Marketing operating models define central, local and hybrid accountabilities
  • RACI matrices clarify decision rights for brands, campaigns and budgets
  • Agency selection evaluates strategic fit, creative quality, fees and governance
  • Agency briefs specify business problem, audience, proposition, deliverables and measures
  • Brand governance uses approval gates, asset libraries and usage rules
  • Marketing risk registers track claims, reputational, regulatory and delivery exposures

Participants can lead marketing change through evidence, stakeholder alignment and disciplined execution.

  • Stakeholder maps identify influence, interests, objections and engagement actions
  • Change narratives connect customer evidence with commercial urgency and direction
  • Decision forums establish cadence, escalation routes and accountability
  • Capability assessments identify gaps in data, talent, process and technology
  • Pilot programmes reduce uncertainty before wider investment and rollout
  • Implementation roadmaps sequence milestones, dependencies, owners and review points

Participants can build, review and present a complete marketing and brand management plan.

  • Market diagnosis synthesises category forces, competitors, customers and commercial context
  • Priority segments receive explicit selection criteria and quantified opportunity estimates
  • Positioning and Brand Key articulate distinctive value and proof
  • Marketing-mix actions specify product, price, channels and communications choices
  • Budget, milestones and dashboard measures establish execution control
  • Senior-management presentation defends assumptions, trade-offs, risks and requested decisions

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Market and competitor analysis template
  2. Segment prioritisation and persona model
  3. Brand Key and positioning statement
  4. Integrated marketing communications plan
  5. Marketing budget and performance dashboard
  6. Complete marketing and brand management plan

Who should attend

  • Marketing Managers — need a structured framework for planning and investment decisions
  • Brand Managers — need stronger control of positioning, portfolios and brand consistency
  • Product Managers — need to connect product choices with customer demand and go-to-market plans
  • Commercial Managers — need to align sales priorities with marketing strategy and channel economics
  • Communications Managers — need to translate brand strategy into coordinated campaign activity
  • Business Unit Leaders — need to assess marketing proposals and hold teams accountable for results

Skills and tools covered

Market analysisCustomer segmentationBrand positioningMarketing planningCampaign measurementCommercial decision-making

Tools and standards

STP, Jobs to Be Done, Brand Key, Porter's Five Forces

How the course runs

Training methodology

The programme uses short faculty briefings to introduce models, followed by case analysis, facilitated group work, decision simulations and individual application planning. Cases examine choices such as launching a financial product, restoring trust in a public-service brand, defending a B2B offer against lower-priced rivals and allocating a campaign budget. Participants test assumptions with market evidence, discuss trade-offs with peers and receive structured feedback on their developing marketing and brand plan. Classroom and live online delivery follow the same learning sequence.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have experience working with customers, products, services, sales, communications or commercial plans. They should be comfortable reading basic business information such as revenue figures, market reports and campaign results. Prior marketing management experience is useful but not essential; the programme is suitable for managers moving into marketing responsibility. No formal MBA, marketing degree, advanced statistics knowledge, design software expertise or prior knowledge of named marketing frameworks is required. Participants should bring a current product, service, brand or market challenge to use during application planning.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants need general business experience and familiarity with customers, products, services or commercial activity. The course explains its marketing frameworks from first principles, so a marketing degree or previous brand-management role is not required.

Bring information about a product, service, brand, market or customer challenge you want to examine. Useful materials include existing plans, customer research, sales data, campaign reports or competitor information, although none is mandatory.

It is designed for marketing and brand managers, product and commercial managers, communications leaders and business unit managers. It is particularly useful for professionals preparing to make broader marketing investment and brand decisions.

Digital marketing courses focus mainly on online channels, platforms and campaign tactics, while brand courses focus mainly on brand identity and equity. This programme connects both areas with market analysis, pricing, product, channels, customer experience, finance and leadership.

Participants develop material for a live business priority throughout the programme, such as a launch, repositioning, retention plan or portfolio decision. The final plan provides a structured basis for discussion with managers, sales teams, agencies and finance colleagues.

Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. The first part establishes customer, market, positioning and brand decisions; later modules deepen go-to-market, measurement, finance, governance and the final capstone presentation.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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