• Professional recognition - CIM qualifications such as the Professional Diploma are very much a pre-requisite for professional marketers.
• Reputation for excellence -With this CIM qualification you become a member of CIM, which as the world’s largest organization for professional marketers, has a global reputation as a center of excellence and therefore CIM qualifications are recognised worldwide.
• Increasingly recognized by the UK government as the voice of marketing, the CIM sets standards within the industry and is the first port of call for marketing information, knowledge and insight.
• Improved earning potential -According to a Marketing Rewards Survey, published annually by leading pay and benefits consultancy Croner, the average Chartered Institute of Marketing member earns about 10% more than a non-qualified member over the course of their career.

The CIM Professional Diploma is ideal for marketers with operational responsibilities who are moving into a mid-level marketing position, including department managers, product/brand managers, account managers, marketing executives and business development managers. It helps with the “how to” aspects of marketing planning.  Included are elements ranging from channel management to communications, along with specialist areas such as new product development.

This course consists of four units:

1. Marketing Planning Process: Provides a detailed understanding of marketing planning to deliver marketing strategies; marketing audit & strategic outcomes; creating marketing strategies through segmentation, targeting & positioning; adapting marketing planning in different contexts.
   Assessment: Work based assignment involving the preparation of a marketing plan
    
2. Delivering Customer Value Through Marketing: Covers product preparation & brand management; channel management; managing marketing communications; managing & achieving customers’ service expectations through the marketing mix.
   Assessment: Three hour unseen examination based on pre-seen case material
    
3. Managing Marketing: Develops the marketer as a manager; management of the marketing infrastructure; management of marketing teams; operational finances for marketing.
   Assessment: Work-based assignment.
    
4. Project Management in Marketing: Uses marketing information to develop a justified case for marketing projects; building a case; assessing, managing and mitigating risk associated with marketing projects; project management for analysis, planning, implementation and control.
   Assessment: Work-based project requiring an in-depth study of a specific and focused area of business activity

Learning outcomes:
By the end of this diploma course, candidates should be able to:

• Evaluate the role of the marketing planning process and implementation in a range of marketing contexts, including organizational strategy, culture and the broader marketing environment
• Develop and manage a brand and product portfolio in the context of the organization’s marketing strategies and objectives
• Recommend how a marketing function should be structured to deliver competitive advantage, marketing and organizational success
• Identify the organization’s information needs, scope of research projects and resource capability to underpin the development of a business case to support marketing projects

Download the CIM Course Syllabus

• The CIM Professional Certificate in Marketing (either the 2002 syllabus or the 2008 syllabus) OR
• Any business or marketing Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree (or an equivalent qualification) where a minimum of one third of the credits come from marketing (i.e. 120 credits for Bachelor’s degrees or 60 credits for Master’s Degrees) AND
• Experience in a marketing management role that has provided potential students with the ability to demonstrate that they can meet the learning outcomes of the CIM Professional Certificate in Marketing, if required to do so, and is sufficient to pass the Entry Test to Level 6.

Courses are delivered over the course of two semesters; February to May and August to November. Classes are scheduled twice a week, during evening hours or weekends.

The Chartered Institute of Marketing is the world’s leading marketing management professional body with members across the globe. Log on to www.cim.co.uk for more information.