MBA in Brand and Product Management
The Center for Brand and Product Management puts you on the fast track to general management. Our program, the first of its kind in the nation, is dedicated to building world-class brand and product-management skills. We offer you a balanced blend of general business coursework, focused brand management-related classes, applied learning and personalized attention and advice from senior executives at leading brand management companies. At the Center, you learn to be a business leader, to be more insightful, to understand the big picture and to work effectively with diverse teams. So, while you’re building world-class product-management skills, you’re also learning how to think like a CEO.
Center of Expertise
The Center for Brand and Product Management
The Center for Brand and Product Management was started in 2003 with a $6.4 million gift from marketing alumna Signe Ostby, BBA ’75, MBA ’77, and her husband, Scott Cook, co-founder of Intuit.
The Class of 2008, with some of the products they will be managing
during their summer internships.
The students at the Center for Brand and Product Management are a diverse and select group. Each year, 10-20 graduate students with outstanding leadership, communication and teamwork skills are admitted to our program. Our students bring a broad range of backgrounds and experience – strategic marketers, analytical bankers, inquisitive journalists, high-tech gurus and more. Yet all share a common goal – to be the future leaders in their chosen field.
What Students Say About Our Program
“The Center for Brand and Product Management was an obvious choice because of its strong blend of brand and general management training, in addition to its powerful industry connections.”
Ato Micah – Class of 2008, interned at Kraft Foods
“I wanted to get real-world insight, and I felt like this was the only school that would be able to give it to me. Here students meet on an almost weekly basis with some of the best companies and brand managers around. If you know you want brand or product management, you’ll get the best experience here.”
Ali Brewer – Class of 2007, interned at Nestlé, hired by General Mills
“The Center for Brand and Product Management gave me the solid foundation I need to succeed as a brand manager, and ultimately as a general manager. Our board members are a diverse group of wildly successful entrepreneurial leaders who have decided that they can develop the best product managers in the business.”
Carrie Rathod – Class of 2005, interned at Kimberly-Clark, hired by Procter & Gamble
100 Percent Placement
Our classes have achieved 100 percent placement, with all students receiving offers of brand and product management positions at top-notch companies. Students accepted internship and full-time employment at companies including:
| Abbott Vascular | General Mills | Nestlé |
| Clorox | Intuit | Procter & Gamble |
| Colgate-Palmolive | Johnson & Johnson | S.C. Johnson |
| ConAgra Foods | Kimberly-Clark | Sun Microsystems |
| General Electric | Kraft Foods | Target |
What Top Executives Say About Our Program
“The University of Wisconsin-Madison is developing students into highly valued candidates for top product management positions, which will ultimately prepare many of these candidates for general management opportunities.”
Bruce Paynter—Kimberly-Clark
“At General Mills, we know how important it is to have top-performing brand and product management professionals who can hit the ground running. There’s been a clear need to have an MBA program focused exclusively on developing top product/brand managers.”
Jeffrey Rotsch—General Mills
“This program is truly unique. It provides a small, select group of students with the chance to live and breathe brand management and you can see it in the results. I’ve been impressed with the knowledge and poise of the students, and they’ve had great success in getting high-quality brand management positions. I hope we’re able to hire a number of them.”
Colleen Goggins—Johnson & Johnson
Members of the Executive Advisory Board
Our Advisory Board members and companies are a crucial source of the real-world learning emphasized at the Center for Brand and Product Management. The board members come from the finest brand and product management companies in the world. Many of them are University of Wisconsin graduates themselves. All of them commit to helping our Center students begin successful careers in brand management.
| Dick Antoine Sr. Vice President & Global Human Resources Officer Procter & Gamble |
Dan Maurer Vice President, Marketing Consumer Tax Group Intuit |
Bruce Paynter President, North Atlantic Personal Care Kimberly-Clark |
| Scott Cook Founder & Chairman of the Executive Committee Intuit |
Nick Meriggioli Senior Vice President & General Manager Kraft Foods |
Mike Risse Vice President Worldwide, Small and Midmarket Business Group Microsoft |
| Colleen Goggins Worldwide Chairman, Consumer and Personal Care Group Johnson & Johnson |
Jim Neupert Vice President, Marketing Abbott Vascular |
Jeff Rotsch Executive Vice President, Worldwide Sales and Channel Development General Mills |
| Scott Johnson Vice President, Global Environmental & Safety Actions S.C. Johnson |
Signe Ostby Founder, Center for Brand and Product Management |
Mark Schar Retired, Procter & Gamble |
| Tara Khoury Vice President and General Manager, North America Kao Brands |
Dave Palfenier President, Grocery Foods ConAgra Foods |
John Schweig Senior Vice President of Strategy & Development Grainger |
Marsha Lindsay |
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Real-World Learning
Applied learning seminars by industry leaders include:
- Situational Leadership
by Abbott Vascular - A Day in the Life of a Brand Manager
by General Mills - Brand Management Best Practices onsite at Kimberly-Clark
- In-Store Shopping Challenges
by Intuit - Applying Syndicated Data Training onsite at Kraft Foods
- Selling In Your New Products to Retailers
by Procter & Gamble and Target - Marketing Challenges for
Non-Profit Agencies
by Environmental Defense - Developing Great Advertising
onsite at JWT Advertising Agency - Growing Category, Not Just Share
by Johnson & Johnson
Contact
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The Center for Brand and Amy Schmidt, Director |