“Be more customer-centric” – and other key challenges CMOs face in their organisation

We know that MiniMBA training makes marketers better. 31,000+ marketing professionals have now taken MiniMBA in Marketing and alumni say they feel more confident (97%) and more effective in their role (94%).

But in recent years we’ve seen increased demand for MiniMBA in team settings, with organisations enrolling large groups in team training or making our courses part of their onboarding process.

So, we’ve taken a look at some of the top issues reported by CMOs globally – and exactly how MiniMBA in Marketing can help. We’ve pinpointed which elements of the course combat which key challenge, so you’ll know exactly what to expect if you enrol your team.

You’ll also hear from some of our corporate alumni about the difference MiniMBA has made in their organisation.

 Other key organisational challenges we cover in this series: 

• Take a more strategic approach to marketing 
• Improve marketing effectivenes 
• Better communication and more consistency within my tea 
  

Challenge:  Build a more customer-centric organisation

Solution: MiniMBA delivers central frameworks that bring the voice of consumers into the business – putting marketing at the centre of discussions around growth

Since Rohit Deshpande coined the term ‘customer-centricity’ in 1998, study after study continues to show that companies who listen to consumers outperform those who don’t. So why are marketers still struggling to exert broader influence in their organisation? Why are they so often banished to the corner of promotions and advertising, and left out of wider discussions around growth?

One sobering finding of the 2025 Career & Salary Survey is that while almost 90% of marketers have influence over promotions, only a third are involved in discussions about price and distribution.

Those outside the function tend to think of marketing as doing something ‘to’ the consumer, but they forget about the other side, which is listening to consumers and feeding those insights back into the business to maintain competitive advantage, drive growth and increase profitability.

Beyond learning how to maximise effectiveness within your own department, MiniMBA underpins how marketing can drive business goals on a wider scale.

It’s no accident that MiniMBA in Marketing opens with Market Orientation – a perspective-shifting examination of how whole organisations can become more customer-centric. Teams will learn how to overcome common barriers and break down silos to bring consumer intelligence into the wider business, using tools like the MORTN scale to diagnose weak areas, benchmark and track progress year-on-year.

It’s a theme you’ll come back to throughout the course, with each module taking a considered look at where and how marketing techniques can be utilised outside of the department to facilitate growth.

In Targeting, for example, teams will learn how to build and socialise target customer portraits that are based on research, rather than wishful thinking. Understanding the real barriers and challenges of potential customers, as well as their drivers and motivations, is important at every level of an organisation – from finance and operations, to web teams and front-facing customer service roles.

Throughout Market Research and Product modules, teams will learn how to implement optimal market research cycles that continuously feed qualitative and quantitative consumer insights back into product teams.

A key part of the Objectives module is learning how to build custom purchase funnels, which can help align sales and marketing teams, and promote better communication with finance. In fact, when properly wielded, a custom purchase funnel can influence whole organisations – everything ends in sales, so the funnel is a great tool to help demonstrate how changing x, y or z in the customer journey can impact what numbers ultimately come out at the bottom.

When businesses weaponise the power of marketing and consumer insight across all their different functions, growth efforts can be synchronised and galvanised. It’s easier to win when you’re playing on a single chessboard.

Overlooking the full scope of marketing isn’t just bad for business, it’s bad for morale too. Creating an environment where marketers can make a bigger difference in the company can help you hold on to your best people. By transforming his department from a “cost centre” to a growth driver, learn how one CMO reduced team turnover from 25% to almost zero and reversed employer brand value in an incredible 56-point swing. Read: ‘How Goodman Fielder transformed with MiniMBA’

Here’s what alumni say about the wider impact MiniMBA has made in their organisation:

We all can use a reminder of key marketing fundamentals as we get caught up in operations and politics of the everyday churn

“Best and most engaging training I have seen in 35 years of marketing. We all can use a reminder of key marketing fundamentals as we get caught up in operations and politics of the everyday churn and forget to fight harder to apply what we know.”

– Marketing Director, Michelin

MiniMBA helped a lot in understanding that we need to listen better to consumers

“MiniMBA helped a lot in understanding that we need to listen better to consumers and use marketing techniques when we talk about product development… how pricing research is important to set the long-term strategy in terms of costing and technology development… A number of things have changed in the way that we work that has enabled marketers to make a bigger difference in the company.”

– Marketing Director, Yakult Europe

A great course for any business leader, whether you are a marketer or not

“A great course for any business leader, whether you are a marketer or not. I learnt a LOT.”

– CFO, FSC Group

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