Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/62215
BabsonMBA "The Babson program changes the way you analyze and make decisions almost instantly. Even when you have a lot of experience, it rapidly expands your overall business perspec- tive. Thanks to the integrated and incremental approach, I was able to apply what I learned early on. The program is changing my life." — Rik Kerstens Marketing Manager, PANalytical Inc. F.W. OLIN GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AT BABSON COLLEGE Wellesley, MA The Fast Track MBA 27 Months to a Part-Time MBA Babson's Fast Track MBA accelerates working students through a powerful hybrid learning experience that combines face-to-face and distance learning models. Key features of the Fast Track MBA include: • Integrated, modular format for core courses. • Monthly classroom meetings complemented by Web-based instruction, allowing students to continue to earn their full-time salary and benefits. • Strong team-based learning that promotes student interaction and exchange of ideas. • Shorter completion time—just 27 months to an MBA, much faster than typical part-time MBA programs. • Up-to-date virtual technologies and projects extend the learning experience To learn about this innovative program, visit www3.babson.edu/mba/programs/fast-track-mba/ capable of producing a timeline of what's happening with a company. Oh, yes. When students read about a company doing this or that, they need to ask, "Is this good or bad?" Then, they need to continue to observe what's happening with a company. That's the only way to develop confidence. Students will never be good at marketing unless they have confidence, and they develop confidence by making pre- dictions and then watching them happen. If they make predictions that don't happen, students should realize that they're doing something wrong. That should be constant- ly in their minds as they read about what these companies are doing. You have spent your career examining the roles of advertising, PR, branding. In your opinion, what's the next mountain to climb in the marketing arena? What's the next wave that organizations should expect to affect their marketing strategies? Laura and I are working on a book on innovation. We want to explore the areas that companies should focus on in order to innovate and how they should use technological innova- tion to advance their causes and build their brands. How do you respond to critics who say that branding, advertising, and marketing aren't quite as clear-cut as some of your books make them out to be? Is it possi- ble to oversimplify branding, advertising, and market- ing and how they all interact? I would certainly agree with most people that nothing about marketing is at all simple. The process is complicated. But even in a complicated situation, such as warfare, if you don't have a simple analogy or a simple way of looking at what you're doing, you probably aren't going to be successful. That's my main complaint about most marketing managers— they know everything, but they don't know enough to apply simple, logical, conceptual ideas to what they're doing. They run off in all directions doing hundreds of different things. They might do each individual thing well, but they don't have an overall grasp of what they're trying to do. Look at Burger King, for example. Burger King has spent hundreds of millions of dollars every year on all sorts of pro- grams. Instead, it should be the opposite of McDonald's. Get rid of the swings and slides. Get rid of all those value meals. Let that business go to McDonald's—it's going to go there anyway. Burger King should become the grownup business and focus on a different customer. This may be a simple way of looking at it. But after you simplify it, you need to work out a program. You need to think of the complicated ideas and do the complicated work. But first you'll always need an overall, simple, conceptual analogy to guide you. ■ z BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 23