Marketing - Analytics | Strategy | Innovation

I found myself back on campus again, not as a full-time student, but an adult learner. Just last month, I made the decision to enrol in the MiniMasters in Marketing Management at Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University. For those who may be contemplating whether you should return to campus for lessons while working, here is 3 of my reasons.

Awareness of Knowledge Gap

First of my reasons for returning to school was that I felt that I did not have enough knowledge in my current industry and interest in management. While in the retail and FMCG industry, the conversations tended to be along the lines of consumer behaviour, marketing strategies and trends. While I had taken some marketing modules before, as well as did two marketing internships, I did not have a deep enough understanding of the full picture of marketing. I decided to sign up to improve my understanding of marketing strategy, marketing research, branding and digital marketing.

Networking Opportunities

Going back to campus also gives me the chance to interact with people from various backgrounds and settled into different professions. This provides even more opportunity for an early career professional like me to understand the perspectives of both early career and experienced professionals and in my field and other fields. Honestly, in retrospect, I also found out after the first lesson there is so many different cultures which students from different schools in my university had both in class and outside of class! This meant even more room for intellectual growth and understanding of the whole business environment!

Application of Theory into Practice

One benefit which I realised as a working professional back in school is also the application of theory into practice. Having the context to think of (despite being just four months at work) is a really good chance to really look at my experience at work through a theoretical lens and understanding why certain decisions are being made at work.

Contrary to popular belief, I believe that both my MiniMasters experience so far and undergraduate experience is highly applicable to the working environment!

I’m sure that it would be a pleasant experience for me to immerse in the marketing space.

Let’s all continue prospecting forward in our journey of lifelong learning!

Looking forward to sharing more about my MiniMasters in Marketing Management journey! Here are some takeaways from my experience!

If you are interested in taking the Mini Masters in Marketing Management too, do read our course reviews here.

While I have this opportunity to do both business analytics and marketing, if you are faced with a choice between either, do read this post!

Which Major to Pick? Business Analytics vs Marketing (Ex-NBS Student)

Don’t think you can commit to part time courses in university? Self-paced learning might be for you:

Reflections from 3 Months of Distance Learning on Coursera

Image Credits: Photo by Wengang Zhai on Unsplash

As a recent business graduate, I was once faced with the choice to select my specialisation in business school. Two of the most important contenders being Business Analytics and Marketing. For the record, I have taken 6 Business Analytics Modules in Nanyang Business School, 1 Marketing Module in Nanyang Business School, and 2 Marketing Modules during my exchange at ESSEC Business School in France. I eventually decided after my first year to specialise in Business Analytics. I shall do a one by one comparison by features so you could make the informed choice in knowing what you want to specialise in.

Career Prospects

Let’s face it, most of us come to business school with the intention to focus on our careers. This shall be the first point which I will focus on.

As a Business Analytics Graduate, what I observed is that Business Analytics Students are very versatile. A large proportion would decide to go into Banking, Technology and Consulting related roles as business analysts, data analysts, financial analysts, operations analysts, marketing analysts, human resource analysts, etc. There would also be a certain proportion who will end up in leadership programmes organised by the various multinational companies due to the fluid nature of analytics being applicable to many walks in management!

For Marketing Students, classmates who I have met tend to be interested in a variety of careers. A significant portion would aim to go into the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) or Retail sector, or into Marketing Agencies, focusing on branding, trade marketing, social media, e-commerce, sales among many other possible roles. There would also be some students who move on to B2B marketing, non-profit organisations or Human Resources. Marketing also similarly can be applied to many walks in management and are also highly sought after by leadership programmes.

Be it whether you’re a Business Analytics or Marketing Student, this post may be relevant for you!

https://tanweixiang.com/ntu-nbs-internship-hunting-guide-tips-from-an-nbs-graduate-with-3-mnc-internship-experiences/

Quantitative Content

For Business Analytics, the quantitative content tends to be the massive amount of coding involved. I have personally been involved in Python, SQL, R, SAS, Tableau, PowerBI, Excel projects among many others. It is also important to understand the underlying assumptions behind each of the statistical models which are used when doing analysis. Some of the models include regressions, decision trees, linear and non linear programming, association rules etc. This content is generally more applicable to the wide business context.

For Marketing, there is some quantitative content. I shall use the example of the marketing module which I took in NTU, Marketing Analytics, where we did a variety of analysis, with perceptual mapping, Customer Lifetime Value Calculations, Regressions, Conjoint Analysis. This content is more specific to the marketing and management context.

Qualitative Content

For Business Analytics, there is a focus on problem solving approaches, problem formulation, analysis and conclusion, along with recommendations. It is a rather standard but important framework.

For Marketing, there is more qualitative content, including creative problem solving, connecting the dots between the theory and practice.

Classmates

For Business Analytics, in Nanyang Technological University, there is a good mix of classmates, with a third of the cohort being students who take computing classes. This means that you could learn from the computing perspective, coupled with your own business knowledge.

For Marketing, classes tend to be majority business students, with a sprinkle of social science students occasionally. There will likely be more knowledge exchange while in class and expect class participation to be extremely exciting!

Tutors

For Business Analytics, tutors tend to come from a variety of fields, with some who have a mathematical and programming background, and others with business management and consulting backgrounds.

For Marketing, tutors tend to come mainly from the business management sector, specifically in the consumer business industries.

Mode of Assessment

For Business Analytics, the mode of assessment is commonly group project heavy, with it taking up a majority of the semester time even outside of class, as well as some quizzes. Out of my 6 modules, only one had a formal final examination, and every module had at least one project deliverable.

For Marketing, the key focus is on in class activities, quizzes and final examinations. Besides some readings and exam preparation, most of the learning is done inside of the classroom while interacting with one another. You may have a bit more of a work life balance while doing marketing modules, but they definitely require in classroom attendance.

This is my two cents worth when comparing Business Analytics and Marketing!

Follow me on my newest journey of Adult learning in marketing:

Why I decided to return to University while Working Full Time

Do read this article for why I took Business Analytics.

https://tanweixiang.com/three-reasons-why-i-picked-a-specialisation-in-business-analytics-at-nanyang-business-school/

For more on how to maximise your business school experience,

Make the Most Out of Your Business School Experience (NTU Nanyang Business School Graduate)

Photo Credits: Photo by Samson on Unsplash