Northwestern’s Kellogg Adds Influencer Marketing Course
"We created this course because we wanted to empower passionate leaders with the tools to succeed with influencer marketing," says Amanda Russell, consultant and author of The Influencer Code. "Because at its core, it's about people and relationships. It's not about creating buzz or garnering attention – attention without trust is simply noise. The secret comes in understanding true influence. Shifting the lens from influencers to influence as an outcome will help marketers and brand leaders drive sustainable growth."
The Kellogg Executive Education program at Northwestern University has launched an education program on influencer marketing in partnership with the Eruditus Group’s Emeritus. The “Influencer Marketing Strategy” program was designed by Kellogg professor Mohan Sawhney and adjunct lecturer Amanda Russell to teach marketers, brand and media managers how to leverage social influence and drive brand growth.
"Influencer marketing is relationship marketing, but this approach is really misunderstood in the market,” Sawhney said in a recent media release from Emeritus. “We're helping brands to drive growth by understanding what influences their customers, activated through a series of proprietary frameworks and tools."
According to co-developer Emeritus, the eight-week online program will include:
- A deep understanding of what influencer marketing is.
- A playbook of ways to integrate and leverage influencer relationships across all elements of a business, culminating in a final capstone project.
- Frameworks for measuring and improving performance of influencer marketing efforts.
- Firsthand accounts from industry experts of how influencer marketing propelled their brands forward.
- Examples of influencer agreements designed to develop long-term, win-win relationships.
Some of the guest influencers and subject/brand specialists set to speak include Jesse Itzler, founder of NetJets; Abigail Posner, blogger and brand director at Google; TV personality Nigel Barker; Larry Namer, founder of E! Entertainment Network; and author Erik Qualman.
The program will begin on Dec. 9 and be a digital-only experience, costing $3,300 with discount options available.
