Thousands of new products are launched every day and firms across all industries employ product marketing managers to bring those products to market. The product marketing specialization focuses on bridging the gap between internal product management and external customer experience. Effective product marketing managers guide the delivery of the product to market and use the full marketing mix to encourage adoption and retention.
Product Marketing courses
To best prepare individuals for roles as product marketing managers, Foster’s Product Marketing Specialization features four related courses: Consumer Marketing and Brand Strategy (MKTG 552), Strategic Product Management (MKTG 554), Advertising and Promotions (MKTG 556) and Customer Insights (MKTG 560). To complete the specialization, students are encouraged to complete at least three of the four courses.
- Consumer Marketing and Brand Strategy (MKTG 552) focuses on the customer experience and how to design a brand that will resonate with the customer and drive adoption and loyalty.
- Strategic Product Management (MKTG 554) establishes the relationship between product management and product marketing. This course bridges the gap between product design and product delivery with particular attention to the pricing and channel decisions facing a product marketing managers.
- Advertising and Promotions (MKTG 556) delves into the final element of the marketing mix (promotion) that product marketers must manage to effectively communicate the value of the product to consumers and manage the consumer life cycle.
- Customer Insights (MKTG 560) is focused on the methodologies that can be used to reveal customer needs, drives and preferences. This will include attention to both exploratory and experimental research techniques.
Together, these courses will help future product marketing managers bring the customer’s voice into the company to guide product and brand strategy and to effectively deliver on that strategy. Note that while these courses are designed to be taken in sequence, they can also be taken as standalone courses (i.e., they are not required as prerequisites for each other).