Why IMC for me?

Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) is a graduate level program offered by the Medill School at Northwestern University. This program is designed for those who want to pursue a career in marketing communications and marketing management. The program approaches the traditional marketing concepts in a data-driven and customer-centric way. I am a graduate student at the Medill IMC program at Northwestern University and here's my take on why I chose this program.

I constantly get asked why I chose IMC having already done my MBA. I went into my MBA program with no work experience and at that time I felt it was the right thing to do. But in retrospect, I strongly believe that I would have been able to take away more from the program if I had worked in the industry before.

Post-MBA, I worked for 3 years in product management, brand management and marketing strategy roles in the technology industry. My understanding of marketing concepts from my MBA helped me perform well in these roles. Having smoothly made the crossover from campus to the corporation, I was often confronted with the conflict of theory and practice. Having got a little experience in marketing and the confidence that I wanted to pursue a long-term career in marketing, I was looking for a program that helped my further solidify my marketing skills. And the Medill IMC program exactly fit this need.

The 15-month IMC program is highly specialized and intensive and drills deep into most of the marketing and marketing communications concepts but with an interesting data analysis flavor. For would-be marketers who have battled with the measurement side of marketing, this program could give you an interesting skill set that could set you apart from the traditional MBA marketing students.

With advanced courses, in-class projects, client sponsored projects, group assignments and residency opportunities; this program is not for the light-hearted. Learning in an environment facilitated by world-class faculty, the IMC program is definitely a bang for my buck.

Get more on IMC in this blog !! Watch out for this space.