Product Management and Marketing Training Course

Duration 10 days 20 modules · 65 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Product Managers, Marketing Managers and others
Fee from USD 2,200 KSh 190,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-M-055

Before you join: Participants should have basic familiarity with their organisation’s products, customers, competitors or marketing activity.

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

Product managers and marketing managers must turn market evidence into products customers will choose, sales teams can sell and organisations can profitably support. This requires more than creative ideas or technical product knowledge. It requires disciplined choices on target segments, customer needs, value propositions, pricing, routes to market, launch priorities and performance measures. Weak decisions at any point can produce costly development work, unclear positioning, channel conflict or launches that fail to gain adoption.

This course develops the product management and marketing skills needed to manage a product through its commercial life cycle. Participants examine market structure, customer buying behaviour, segmentation, targeting, positioning, product portfolio choices, new product development, brand architecture, pricing, distribution, marketing communications and sales enablement. They use established tools including SWOT, PESTLE, Porter's Five Forces, STP, the Kano model, product life cycle analysis, Stage-Gate and marketing-mix planning.

Teaching combines concise instructor briefings with sector-based cases, group analysis, planning workshops, simulations and structured peer review. Participants progressively build a practical product and marketing plan using a product, service or proposition relevant to their work. The completed deliverable brings together market analysis, customer insight, value proposition, product strategy, pricing logic, channel plan, launch activity, budget assumptions and performance measures.

The course suits professionals responsible for existing products, new offerings, commercial propositions, category performance or marketing programmes. It is relevant to B2B and B2C organisations, including banks, public agencies, telecommunications firms, manufacturers, technology providers, healthcare organisations, NGOs and professional services businesses.

What you will be able to do

  • Analyse market attractiveness using PESTLE, Porter's Five Forces and competitor mapping
  • Segment customers and select target markets using STP and needs-based criteria
  • Create evidence-based customer personas, journey maps and value propositions
  • Develop product strategies using portfolio analysis, product life cycle and Kano methods
  • Prepare pricing recommendations using value-based pricing, cost analysis and price architecture
  • Design go-to-market plans covering channels, sales enablement and launch communications
  • Measure product and marketing performance through funnel metrics, cohort analysis and dashboards
  • Present an integrated product and marketing plan with commercial assumptions and implementation priorities

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Produce stronger product recommendations supported by market and customer evidence
  • Lead cross-functional discussions using a common commercial planning language
  • Build credible business cases for new products, features and market investments
  • Improve communication with sales teams through clearer buyer and value-proposition logic
  • Create a portfolio-ready product and marketing plan for immediate workplace use

For your organisation

  • Improves product investment decisions through clearer market attractiveness assessments
  • Reduces failed launches by testing customer needs, proposition fit and channel readiness
  • Aligns product, marketing and sales teams around defined target segments
  • Strengthens pricing discipline through value, cost and competitive analysis
  • Creates repeatable planning templates for product launches and portfolio reviews

Course modules

20 modules over 10 days

Participants can define product management and marketing accountabilities across the commercial life cycle.

  • Product management responsibilities from opportunity assessment through retirement decisions
  • Marketing responsibilities for demand creation, brand preference and customer retention
  • Commercial interfaces between product, marketing, sales, finance and operations
  • RACI mapping for product decisions, launch approvals and market feedback
  • Product-led and market-led operating models compared through practical examples
  • Product life cycle stages and changing management priorities

Participants can assess market conditions and identify commercially relevant external forces.

  • Market definition using customer need, category boundaries and substitute products
  • PESTLE analysis focused on forces affecting demand, cost and regulation
  • Porter's Five Forces applied to industry profit pools
  • Competitor mapping by target segment, proposition, price and channel
  • Market sizing through top-down, bottom-up and proxy-data methods
  • Demand drivers distinguished from short-term sales fluctuations

Participants can convert customer evidence into actionable product and marketing requirements.

  • Jobs to Be Done interviews structured around progress and constraints
  • Buying-centre mapping for complex B2B purchase decisions
  • Customer journey maps identifying moments, friction points and decision triggers
  • Voice-of-customer evidence from interviews, complaints, reviews and service data
  • Behavioural segmentation signals from purchase patterns and channel usage
  • Insight statements separating observed evidence from unsupported assumptions

Participants can select priority segments and develop a defensible market position.

  • STP model linking segment selection with proposition and channel choices
  • Needs-based segmentation using motivations, barriers and desired outcomes
  • Segment attractiveness scored by size, growth, access and profitability
  • Target-market selection using strategic fit and competitive strength
  • Positioning statements specifying audience, category, benefit and reason-to-believe
  • Perceptual maps revealing positioning gaps and competitive crowding

Participants can create personas and value propositions grounded in customer priorities.

  • Buyer personas built from behaviours, needs, objections and decision criteria
  • Value Proposition Canvas matching customer pains, gains and jobs
  • Functional, economic and emotional benefits distinguished in proposition design
  • Proof points selected from performance evidence, credentials and customer outcomes
  • Message hierarchy connecting master value proposition with segment-specific claims
  • Value proposition testing through concept statements and customer feedback

Participants can set product strategic direction and prioritise portfolio choices.

  • Product vision statements defining customer value and strategic boundaries
  • Ansoff Matrix used for market penetration, development and diversification choices
  • BCG portfolio analysis applied with market growth and relative share
  • Portfolio roles identified as growth, profit, defence or strategic options
  • Cannibalisation assessed before adding adjacent products or service tiers
  • Product roadmaps connecting strategic themes, releases and commercial outcomes

Participants can translate customer needs into prioritised product requirements.

  • Kano model classifying basic, performance and attractive product attributes
  • User stories written with customer role, need and expected value
  • MoSCoW prioritisation separating essential requirements from lower-value requests
  • RICE scoring combining reach, impact, confidence and effort estimates
  • Minimum viable product scope defined through testable market assumptions
  • Requirements traceability linking customer evidence to product decisions

Participants can structure new product development through evidence-based decision gates.

  • Stage-Gate process from discovery through launch and post-launch review
  • Opportunity briefs defining problem, segment, value and commercial rationale
  • Concept screening criteria covering desirability, feasibility and viability
  • Business case assumptions tested before major development commitments
  • Cross-functional gate reviews using defined evidence and decision rights
  • Risk registers covering technical, commercial, regulatory and delivery risks

Participants can align product decisions with brand positioning and architecture.

  • Brand purpose, promise and personality translated into product experience
  • Branded house and house-of-brands architecture compared for portfolio management
  • Naming decisions assessed for clarity, differentiation and portfolio fit
  • Brand equity drivers linked to awareness, associations and perceived quality
  • Endorsed brands used to balance trust with proposition differentiation
  • Brand consistency standards applied across products, channels and communications

Participants can recommend prices using customer value, costs and market evidence.

  • Value-based pricing anchored in customer outcomes and willingness-to-pay
  • Cost-plus pricing tested against margin requirements and competitive alternatives
  • Price elasticity estimated from historical demand and controlled tests
  • Good-better-best architecture designed for differentiated customer needs
  • Price fences separating offers by usage, eligibility or service levels
  • Discount governance protecting margins, channel discipline and brand value

Participants can assess product economics and build commercially credible assumptions.

  • Revenue models compared across subscription, usage, licence and transaction structures
  • Contribution margin calculated from price, variable cost and sales mix
  • Break-even analysis linking fixed costs, volume and gross margin
  • Customer acquisition cost compared with lifetime value assumptions
  • Sensitivity analysis testing volume, price, cost and retention changes
  • Investment cases presented with assumptions, risks and decision thresholds

Participants can select routes to market that fit customer behaviour and economics.

  • Direct, partner and digital channels assessed against customer buying preferences
  • Channel economics modelled through margins, incentives and service costs
  • Omnichannel customer journeys mapped across discovery, purchase and support
  • Channel conflict risks identified between direct sales and intermediaries
  • Distributor selection criteria covering coverage, capability and strategic alignment
  • Service-level requirements defined for channel partners and internal teams

Participants can prepare sales teams and partners to sell the product effectively.

  • Sales playbooks structured around buyers, problems, proof and objections
  • Discovery questions aligned with customer pains and qualification criteria
  • Objection-handling guides addressing price, risk, change and competitor claims
  • Battlecards comparing priority competitors, differentiators and response messages
  • Sales training priorities determined by proposition complexity and launch risk
  • Commercial readiness checklists covering people, process, content and systems

Participants can develop integrated communications plans tied to commercial objectives.

  • Communication objectives defined as awareness, consideration, conversion or retention
  • Message matrices tailored by audience, buying stage and channel
  • Paid, owned and earned media selected against audience behaviour
  • Content plans organised around customer questions, proof and conversion actions
  • Creative briefs specifying objective, audience, proposition and mandatory elements
  • Campaign calendars sequencing pre-launch, launch and sustainment activity

Participants can plan demand generation and retention activities across the customer life cycle.

  • Marketing funnels mapped from reach through qualified opportunity and conversion
  • Lead scoring models combining fit, intent and engagement signals
  • Account-based marketing plans focused on priority organisations and buying groups
  • Lifecycle communications triggered by onboarding, usage, renewal and advocacy events
  • Retention programmes addressing adoption barriers and customer health indicators
  • Referral mechanisms designed around customer satisfaction and perceived value

Participants can prepare coordinated launch plans with clear readiness criteria and ownership.

  • Launch tiers determined by revenue potential, risk and market impact
  • Launch objectives translated into adoption, revenue and awareness targets
  • Critical-path plans linking product release, sales readiness and communications
  • Launch readiness reviews covering proposition, channel, support and measurement
  • Contingency plans prepared for defects, weak demand and competitive response
  • Post-launch reviews capture evidence for corrective action and future launches

Participants can adapt product and marketing actions to life-cycle conditions.

  • Introduction-stage priorities focused on adoption barriers and early customer evidence
  • Growth-stage investments balanced between demand capture and operational capacity
  • Maturity-stage strategies using differentiation, retention and cost discipline
  • Decline-stage decisions covering harvest, repositioning, migration or withdrawal
  • Product line extensions assessed for incremental demand and portfolio effects
  • Customer feedback loops inform backlog priorities and service improvements

Participants can measure commercial performance and recommend corrective actions.

  • Marketing dashboards connect activity metrics with commercial outcome measures
  • Funnel conversion rates identify bottlenecks by segment and channel
  • Cohort analysis tracks retention, repeat purchase and customer value
  • Campaign attribution methods distinguish first-touch, last-touch and multi-touch models
  • Net Promoter Score interpreted alongside behavioural and operational evidence
  • Test-and-learn plans define hypotheses, controls, measures and decision rules

Participants can establish governance routines that support informed product and marketing decisions.

  • Product review cadences align portfolio priorities, delivery and market evidence
  • Decision logs record assumptions, approvals, owners and follow-up actions
  • OKRs connect product outcomes with measurable commercial and customer results
  • Stakeholder maps identify influence, concerns and communication requirements
  • Escalation criteria distinguish routine trade-offs from executive-level decisions
  • Implementation roadmaps sequence dependencies, milestones, owners and resources

Participants can build, review and present a complete product and marketing plan for a selected offering.

  • Market opportunity synthesised into a focused commercial problem statement
  • Target segments prioritised using attractiveness, fit and access criteria
  • Value proposition supported by customer evidence and competitive differentiation
  • Product roadmap, pricing and channel choices aligned with financial assumptions
  • Launch plan integrates communications, sales enablement, ownership and milestones
  • Performance dashboard defines targets, leading indicators and review cadence

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

What you take back to work

  1. Market opportunity assessment template
  2. Customer segmentation and persona pack
  3. Value proposition and positioning statement
  4. Product roadmap and prioritisation model
  5. Go-to-market and launch plan
  6. Product marketing performance dashboard

Who should attend

  • Product Managers — need structured methods for product decisions and commercial growth
  • Marketing Managers — need stronger links between market insight, product strategy and campaigns
  • Brand Managers — need to translate brand positioning into product and portfolio choices
  • Business Development Managers — need commercially credible propositions for priority customer segments
  • Sales Managers — need clearer value propositions, channel plans and launch support
  • New Product Development Leaders — need market-led governance for product concepts and launches

Skills and tools covered

Market opportunity analysisCustomer segmentationProduct portfolio managementValue proposition designGo-to-market planningMarketing performance measurement

Tools and standards

Porter's Five Forces, STP model, Kano model, Stage-Gate process

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce methods, followed by case analysis, facilitated group work, planning tasks and decision simulations. Cases reflect common challenges such as launching a digital banking service, repositioning a mature industrial product, pricing a healthcare offering and improving adoption of a public-service programme. Participants apply each method to a selected product or proposition, receive structured peer and instructor feedback, and refine their work throughout the course. The final sessions focus on commercial judgement, implementation choices and presentation of an integrated plan.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have basic familiarity with their organisation’s products, customers, competitors or marketing activity. Experience in marketing, product management, sales, business development, customer experience or commercial planning is helpful. Participants should be comfortable discussing simple revenue, cost and margin assumptions, although advanced financial analysis is not required. No formal marketing qualification, specialist software expertise or prior knowledge of named frameworks is required. Bringing a current product, service, proposition or market challenge will help participants apply the methods directly.

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 should understand their organisation’s products, customers or commercial activity. Prior marketing or product management experience is useful, but no formal qualification or advanced financial expertise is required.

Bring information on a product, service, target customer group or market challenge you want to improve. Useful materials include customer feedback, sales data, competitor information, current marketing plans or pricing details, where these can be shared appropriately.

The course is designed for product managers, marketing managers, brand managers, business development professionals and sales leaders with product or proposition responsibilities. It also suits managers moving into product-led commercial roles.

General marketing courses often concentrate on campaigns, communications and promotional channels. This course also covers product strategy, portfolio choices, customer requirements, pricing, routes to market, launch governance and product performance.

Participants build a product and marketing plan progressively throughout the course using a relevant offering or realistic case. The methods can be used for product reviews, new-product business cases, pricing decisions, launch preparation and campaign planning.

Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides approximately 6.5 contact hours. The first part develops market, customer and product strategy foundations; later modules address pricing, channels, launch, measurement and the final integrated plan.

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

More courses in Marketing

Marketing MSME Market Analysis and Opportunity Identification Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Marketing Marketing Strategy Training Course 10 days · from USD 2,200 · next 16 Nov Marketing Media Buying and Advertising Placement Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Marketing Omnichannel Marketing Strategy Training Course 10 days · from USD 2,200 · next 16 Nov Marketing Product Management Training Course 10 days · from USD 2,200 · next 16 Nov Marketing Strategic Brand Management Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Marketing Strategic Brand Positioning and Marketing Training Course 10 days · from USD 2,200 · next 16 Nov Marketing Strategic Channel Management Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov