Home > News > December 2004 > 02-Dec-2004

Microsoft launches Marketing Academy

Microsoft has launched a new in-house training and continuing professional development programme in partnership with Henley Management College and the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM).

The Marketing Academy is designed to provide Microsoft employees with the opportunity to gain recognised external marketing accreditations without leaving the office.

Employees participating in the Academy can work towards a CIM Professional Certificate in Marketing and the Professional Diploma in Marketing as well as the opportunity to work towards an MSc in Strategic Marketing Leadership from Henley Management College.

The Academy covers a broad spectrum of marketing disciplines from marketing planning, project management, direct marketing, advertising, and PR, to online, market knowledge and segmentation.

"The Marketing Academy offers externally recognised qualifications, but the course content has been tailored to Microsoft, so our employees at every level have the chance to develop skills in a way that is directly relevant to their job," said Rikke Rasmussen, Marketing Academy Lead. "At Microsoft, we believe that people are our greatest asset. By investing in the Marketing Academy we are offering ‘best of the best’ training courses and contributing to the career and professional development opportunities on offer to our employees."

Microsoft will measure the effectiveness of the new programme through a series of feedback and measurement tools for each course. The Academy has already been well received by employees with 96% of personnel in the marketing department having signed up to a course within a week of the Academy’s launch.

"I have already taken 2 courses and found them incredibly beneficial – I always learn something new and leave the course feeling incredibly motivated to return to my day job and apply what I’ve learnt," said Mark Buckley, Licensing Marketing Manager at Microsoft. "I have considered working towards a professional marketing qualification in the past, but the time commitment outside of work always seemed immense. However, I’ve now committed to taking the CIM diploma as the Academy allows me to balance my training with my day job."

Neil Scurlock, Head of Training at The Chartered Institute of Marketing said, "CIM is very excited to be a key partner of the new Microsoft Marketing Academy. The fact that Microsoft recognises the importance of professional marketing qualifications has meant that the partnership process, in devising a tailored training solution that specifically meets the needs of Microsoft marketers, was easy to facilitate. We very much hope that other organisations will follow the lead that Microsoft has set in adopting such a proactive and integrated approach towards the training and development of their employees."

Linda Moyler, Head of Tailored Qualifications at Henley Management College said, "Henley is delighted to be working in partnership with the Microsoft Marketing Academy to tailor and deliver the MSc in Strategic Marketing Leadership. Henley’s practical and flexible approach to management development has allowed us to combine the academic standards required by the college and the work-life balance priorities that are important to senior marketing employees within Microsoft. This MSc programme is designed to bring experienced marketing executives to an advanced understanding of strategic marketing to enable them to be leaders in their field."

The Marketing Academy concept will also be rolled out to Microsoft’s subsidiaries in France and Germany in the New Year with plans to further extend the programme internationally.

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