Matthew T. Grant, PhD Minister of Enlightenment
AQUENT
Question
With an MBA in International Marketing from 20 years ago, what professional degree or certificate programs can you recommend in the field of green or sustainability that would refresh my skills? Or, should I wait until the industry matures and has the need for a formal marketing function, or, alternatively focus on bigger companies in this industry who already have a well developed business structure?
Answer
At the most basic level, the principles of marketing have not changed since you received your MBA. New products have arisen, new channels have appeared, new tools for communicating and measuring have been developed, but the basic notion that marketing involves “developing a market for a product” by identifying customers, analyzing competition, creating awareness, etc. still holds sway. If you are interested in getting into products trading on their greenness or sustainability, you should start by familiarizing yourself with the range of products and services proliferating in this space as well as whether or not you are more interested in the consumer side of things, the B2B side, or the area associated with government compliance. Then, having decided on the area that most intrigues you, talk to people in that field and find out what (and, more importantly, who) you need to know in that area to get ahead.
Of course, if you have a powerful hankering to go back to school, many universities are now offering sustainability programs that may be worth exploring.