ARMONK, N.Y., Oct. 6, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced a partnership with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania to deliver a first-of-a-kind executive education program for Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) and Chief Customer Officers (CCOs). The two-week course, titled "The CMO Advantage: Evolving Beyond the Digital Revolution," will explore the increasing importance of the CMO in the C-Suite. The intersection of marketing and technology in today's marketplace presents a unique opportunity for senior business leaders, such as the CMO, to drive innovation, enhance influence and deepen customer engagement.

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According to the recent IBM Global CMO Study which surveyed more than 500 CMOs around the world, 94 percent of CMOs believe advanced analytics will play a significant role in helping them reach their goals, yet 82 percent say their organizations are underprepared to capitalize on this data explosion. The Wharton IBM partnership program is designed to guide established business leaders in today's era of Big Data and the connected consumer to provide the knowledge and tools necessary to use cloud, analytics, mobile and social technologies to unlock deeper insights about their customers in order to deliver greater value with every interaction.

By combining the Wharton School's excellence in executive education and IBM's leadership in marketing transformation, Big Data and analytics, program participants will have access to unmatched executive peer-to-peer learning, advanced academic frameworks, hands-on simulations and live case studies across a host of data-driven social, mobile and digital marketing scenarios.

"This is a ground-breaking initiative that combines academic expertise from one of the world's leading business schools, the commercial expertise and leadership of one of the world's leading technology corporations, with the depth and breadth of experiences from top CMO peers from around the world," said Monica McGrath, Vice Dean of Executive Education at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. "Wharton and IBM will establish a new standard of excellence in how CMOs and Chief Customer Officers approach and use technology to better engage consumers and personally succeed within their companies and their field."

The program will commence in June 2015. An application for admittance to the program will be required. Wharton Marketing faculty who will teach this program include: George Day, Geoffrey T. Boisi Professor; Professor of Marketing; Co-Director, Mack Institute for Innovation Management; David Reibstein, William Stewart Woodside Professor, Professor of Marketing; and Jerry Wind, The Lauder Professor, Professor of Marketing.

Wharton faculty, in collaboration with IBM senior executives, have designed a program that will highlight the impact of Big Data, analytics, social and mobile technologies on the expanding role of customer engagement. Among other learnings, participants will be able to:

    --  Gain a deeper understanding of the transformative impact of the
        connected consumer on enterprise value propositions and marketing
        practices;
    --  Enhance the role and influence of the CMO and Chief Customer Officer in
        the C-suite, including rallying and orchestrating the wider organization
        to align in support of the brand promise;
    --  Achieve personal transformation and challenge mental models by applying
        lessons through live simulations and rapid feedback;
    --  Improve the performance of the marketing organization, including nimble
        organizational design, marketing return measurement, partner ecosystems,
        and winning the talent war; and
    --  Join a collaborative network of executive peers for continuous learning.

"We live in a data-driven world that's changing the nature of the marketing profession while also expanding its role to help organizations better understand and engage their customers in every interaction across marketing, sales and service," said Kevin Bishop, Vice President, IBM ExperienceOne. "Today's consumers are more connected, more knowledgeable and create more information than ever before. CMOs need a way to extend their existing expertise into areas like advanced analytics and cloud-based technologies to quickly unlock and act on the deeper insights trapped in that wealth of data."

Wharton will begin accepting applications for this program starting October 20. Established CMOs, CCOs, and those in related leadership positions are encouraged to apply early, as the initial class is limited to 48 participants. For more information on the program and admissions process, interested participants should visit: ibm.biz/WhartonCMO

For more information on IBM, visit: www.ibm.com/university

ABOUT WHARTON
Founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is recognized globally for intellectual leadership and ongoing innovation across every major discipline of business education. With a broad global community and one of the most published business school faculties, Wharton creates economic and social value around the world. The School has 5,000 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students; more than 9,000 annual participants in executive education programs; and a powerful alumni network of 92,000 graduates.

Media Contacts:
Amanda Carl
IBM Global Communications
amcarl@us.ibm.com

Eleena de Lisser
Director of Marketing Communications
Aresty Institute of Executive Education
The Wharton School
University of Pennsylvania
Telephone: 215-898-7239
Email: execed-pr@wharton.upenn.edu

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SOURCE IBM

SOURCE: IBM