Imperial College Business School has joined forces with IBM to provide future marketers with crucial skills in data analytics.

All major companies collect data about their customers to understand more about their purchasing preferences. This allows them to strengthen customer loyalty through targeted and relevant marketing and services. However, there is often so much data collated that it requires trained staff to effectively analyse the information, in a purposeful way.

Students on Imperial’s MSc Strategic Marketing programme are working with IBM and its Digital Analytics platform to apply advanced marketing analytics to live data and case studies. They are using advanced tools that enable them to examine data trends, providing vital information that they can feed into their marketing strategies. Imperial is the first university in the UK to partner with IBM on its Academic Initiative, Marketing and Analytics with IBM program.

Angela Dalrymple, Programme Director, MSc Strategic Marketing at Imperial College Business School, said: “The digital revolution has had a major impact on the way marketers have to approach data. For example, online shopping companies collect vast amounts of data on consumer behaviour and their buying preferences. If you are to thrive as a marketing specialist in today’s business world, it’s critical to have strong analytical skills.

“Our partnership with IBM means our students have access to real-world tools which help them to select and make sense of the relevant data. We will be teaching them a wide range of analytical skills, and also enabling them to put these skills into practice using this cutting-edge technology.”

Eric Vonheim, Seed to Succeed Program Manager at IBM, said: “IBM has a long history of helping universities when it comes to enabling students with world-class enterprise technology and resources. Our partnership with Imperial College Business School will play a critical role in helping students become employable and successful in the marketplace.”

Giles Pavey, Chief Data Scientist at dunnhumby Ltd, which analyses data from nearly one billion customers worldwide, said: “In the past few years we have seen a seismic change in the amount and complexity of data available to business in general and marketers in particular. It is imperative that today’s CMO understands what the data is telling them about what customers want, how they are behaving and in what ways they are responding to marketing messages. With an ever-increasing avalanche of “big data” and real-time addressable media, the modern marketer now needs to be fluent in data, data analytics and data science.”

For more information about the course, or to put in an application, please visit the MSc Strategic Marketing web page