BAM Training: Mini-MBA – Meaningful Marketing Academy

A new seven-day programme designed for medior and senior marketers at brands and agencies across Belgium.

Across seven days, the Mini-MBA walks the complete marketing management sequence — from market orientation and strategic positioning, through planning and measurement, to product, brand, media and martech. Every session is grounded in rigorous frameworks and adapted to how Belgian marketers actually work today, AI included.

Built for a mixed cohort of brand-side and agency professionals, the programme is also fully modular: book the full seven-day journey, or pick the standalone day that matters most to you.

Program & structure

Each of the seven days is mapped to one or more of the ten core marketing competencies. This framework provides a structured reference for the capabilities expected of marketing professionals, helping ensure the programme covers the breadth of the discipline rather than a series of disconnected topics. Participants leave with a clearer understanding of how these competencies apply in the context of marketing in Belgium today.

Day 1. Market orientation & research (06/10/2026)

Session A · Market orientation

This session introduces the marketing concept and examines what it means in practice to build an organisation around customer needs. Participants will explore ways to evaluate market orientation within their own organisation and consider how it influences strategic choices, performance and long-term growth.

Session B · Research & insight 

Explore the role of qualitative and quantitative research in informing marketing decisions. Learn how to commission and brief research effectively, critically interpret findings, and recognise both the value and limitations of different approaches. The session also introduces AI-assisted market synthesis and competitive intelligence, with an emphasis on using these tools to support (rather than replace) sound analytical judgement.

Teacher: TBC.

Day 2. Consumer Orientation (13/10/2026)

Segmentation & Targeting

You’ll explore how to segment markets using behavioural, attitudinal and cultural approaches, and learn why targeting is as much a brand identity decision as it is a media decision. The day examines how to develop a focused targeting strategy, translate it into compelling storytelling and a distinctive brand universe, and align these choices with broader business objectives to create lasting competitive advantage.

Teacher: Kristel Vanderlinden

Day 3. Objectives, planning & measurement (22/10/2026)

Session A · Setting objectives that hold

This session explores the links between business, marketing and communications objectives, and how alignment across these levels supports more effective decision-making. Participants will examine strategic planning frameworks, marketing funnels and OKRs, and learn how to develop objectives that are measurable, meaningful to stakeholders across the organisation, and useful for evaluating performance once a campaign has concluded.

Teacher: TBC

Session B · Measurement design & first-party data

This session explores how to design measurement frameworks that align with marketing objectives and provide meaningful evidence of performance. Participants will examine brand and performance metrics, consider the challenges of balancing short- and long-term measurement, and explore the role of first-party data in building robust measurement systems. The session also addresses privacy by design and the Belgian and wider EU regulatory context as essential considerations for sustainable marketing practice.

Teacher: Fabian Van de Wiele

Day 4. Product, innovation & distribution (29/10/2026)

Session A · Product management & innovation

This session explores the jobs-to-be-done framework as the foundation of product thinking and customer-centric innovation. Participants will examine approaches to portfolio management and prioritisation, learning when to continue, pivot or discontinue products and initiatives. The session also considers how to evaluate innovation proposals against market evidence and explores the relationship between product innovation and broader business model innovation.

Teacher: Sarah Godard

Session B · Distribution & availability

This session explores how distribution and pricing decisions contribute to market growth. Participants will examine the concepts of physical and mental availability, compare direct, indirect and omnichannel distribution models, and consider developments in the Belgian market, including the role of bol.com, retail media, direct-to-consumer models and the emerging impact of agentic commerce. The session also introduces pricing and dynamic pricing strategies, with a focus on balancing customer value, commercial objectives and competitive context.

Teacher: Cédric Cauderlier

Day 5. Brand building, creative strategy & long-term equity (12/11/2026)

Session A · Brand equity & long-term brand building

This session explores how brand equity creates long-term commercial value by examining the roles of salience, brand associations and distinctive assets, alongside the evidence linking strong brands to business performance. Participants will learn how to measure brand health in ways that connect to commercial outcomes and support a credible business case for sustained investment in brand building.

Teacher: Aline Lemaire

Session B · Creative strategy,brand management& Positioning

This session explores content as the foundation of modern brand building in a digital-first environment. Participants will learn how to develop content strategies that support the entire customer journey, align with brand and business objectives, and create value across owned, earned and paid channels. The session examines visual content and social-native creativity, balancing brand consistency with platform-specific expression, and explores how messaging, copywriting, UX writing and emotional storytelling contribute to effective content experiences. Finally, participants will discover how audio content, sonic branding and AI-powered creative tools can strengthen brand expression across an increasingly diverse content ecosystem.

Teacher: Bart Lombaerts

Day 6. Media strategy & the attention economy (19/11/2026)

Session A · Media strategy fundamentals

This session explores how media planning has evolved in response to audience fragmentation and the growing importance of attention in a multi-platform environment. Participants will examine the role of paid, owned and earned media, and consider how these channels work together to support marketing objectives. The session also looks at the particular characteristics of the Belgian media landscape, including the implications of operating across two distinct linguistic and media ecosystems for planning, investment and campaign execution.

Session B · Channel selection & media effectiveness

How to evaluate channel mix against marketing objectives rather than habit or budget. Retail media as a growing Belgian-specific channel. How to measure media ROI honestly, including what platform data tells you and what it does not.

Teacher: TBC

Day 7. Martech, data & the marketing stack (26/11/2026)

Session A · The martech landscape

This session provides an overview of the marketing technology landscape and the role different platforms play in supporting modern marketing. Participants will examine CRM, customer data platforms (CDPs), marketing automation and analytics, exploring where these technologies complement one another and how to define business requirements before selecting solutions. The session also considers the emergence of AI-native tools, their relationship to established platforms, and the strategic choices involved in building, buying or integrating technology within a broader marketing ecosystem.

Session B · First-party data as competitive infrastructure

This session explores the growing importance of first-party data in a changing digital landscape. Participants will examine the principles of developing a first-party data strategy, consider how marketing, IT and legal teams can work together to build an effective and compliant data architecture, and explore the distinction between data collection and data activation. The session also looks at the characteristics of a mature first-party data strategy, drawing on examples relevant to organisations operating in the Belgian market.

Teacher: Olivier Van Duyse