UCT course to develop strategic marketing skills

The three-day course, Strategic Marketing, will offer a hands-on investigation of the components and process of competitive and sustainable strategy development.

According to Cook, it will explore ideas on how to think differently about the role of marketing which is critical for competitiveness in today's market.

"Today, if leaders don't get fast-tracked on the latest global thinking, they may begin to fall behind the competition. This is not just a challenge for South African executives, but for top-people all across the business world. These leaders need short, punchy workshops and these programmes are tailored to their needs," said Cook.

Strategic Marketing caters for senior managers and middle managers responsible for marketing and sales, as well as communication, product and brand managers. It will investigate current approaches to strategic marketing and cases from various industries.

The course will also offer practical guidelines on: the evolution of strategy, types of planning, the strategic planning process, the planning role players, project management of a strategic plan, and the presentation and motivation of a strategic plan at board level.

Cook brings a wealth of expertise to the UCT GSB - in addition to lecturing, he does corporate training for Vega and has lectured Strategic Marketing Planning and Strategic Execution on two MBA programmes.

He is also one of the few registered Chartered Marketers in South Africa and was recently voted as one of the Financial Mail's Top 20 most influential people in advertising. He has consulted to and run programmes with a host of top companies, including Standard Bank, FNB, Anglo American, Johnnic, Old Mutual, 3M and Sasol, and, has designed and delivered coaching and mentoring workshops to companies such as Grey Advertising, Nike and TBWA.

Cook will be joined by Dr Carla Enslin, head of Vega in Cape Town, who runs the honours studies at Vega.

The UCT GSB Executive Education unit has a global top ten rating in 2005 and 2006 from the Economist Intelligence Unit, and was this May listed by the International University Consortium for Executive Education (UNICON) – the leading global body for the advancement of executive education – as one of six leading business school innovators.

The programme runs from 12 - 14 September. For more information on contact (021) 406 1268 or email .