CIM launches new programme to turn today’s marketers into the business leaders of the future

The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) has launched a new qualification designed to provide the platform senior marketers need to drive meaningful change and business growth.

Equivalent level to a Master’s degree and an ideal stepping stone to an MBA, CIM’s new Marketing Leadership Programme has been developed together with business leaders, academics and senior marketers from across the globe. The programme focuses on areas identified by the business world as ‘must haves’ for senior marketers aspiring to become the leaders of the future. It also empowers the individual to tailor their learning around their own career development needs or the needs of their business.

One of the senior marketers who helped to shape CIM’s new qualification is Owen Tebbutt, head of marketing, at IBM Global Business Services, UK & Ireland.  Owen, comments: “As a senior marketer in industry, I was privileged to be part of the team that developed the new UK CIM Level 7 postgraduate qualification.  At a time where marketing is becoming even more critical to business success – and also a time where the profession itself is evolving so rapidly – it is vital for marketing professionals to maintain a razor sharp focus on personal and skills development.

“I believe this new CIM postgraduate qualification represents a step-change in providing senior marketers with the knowledge, skills and confidence they’ll need to thrive – not only in relation to modern marketing challenges such as personalisation, digital and data – but also around building the fundamental business and strategic skills which marketers need to prosper in forward thinking, customer orientated organisations across all sectors.”

Maria Heckel, marketing director of CIM, adds: “Professional marketing is a vital driver for business growth. For businesses to fully reap its benefits, strategic marketing professionals need a firm seat at the top table. To secure this seat and become the business leaders of the future, today’s marketers need to develop a much wider range of business skills. Whereas years ago professional development may have focused mostly on theory and how to interpret data, now marketers need to understand how to lead from the front.

“Businesses are not just looking for their marketers to be creative, interpret analytics and successfully operate in a digital world. They more critically need them to lead change, manage people and projects, and have the skills and ability to collaborate, innovate and influence across the business – no matter how challenging the climate.

“These are the invaluable skills our new marketing leadership programme teaches whether you’re an individual aspiring to strategic marketing or management level, or a consultant looking for professional recognition. We can provide marketers with the platform they need to reach the next level in their career and beyond.”