Weekly online
Each four-month module includes 14 interactive two-hour classes and one reading week, following an optional full-day London masterclass. Read selected material, practise between sessions and bring your questions back to the group.
Professional learning · Marketing
Commercial Intelligence.
Turn market evidence into decisions that stand up in the boardroom.
A busy dashboard can tell you what happened without explaining what your organisation should do next. Commercial Intelligence develops the judgement to connect customer behaviour, competitor activity and business performance. You will practise asking a sharper commercial question, choosing useful evidence and testing the assumptions behind a recommendation. The proposed KBC learning journey moves from market context to customer analysis, commercial measures and decision communication. Working with a business case, you build a concise intelligence brief that a manager can challenge and act upon. The emphasis is on defensible reasoning, useful numbers and a clear account of uncertainty.
Weekly route4 months
Live online2 hours a week
Module startsOctober · February · June
Learning structure1 module
The professional challenge
Make the next decision with more confidence.
Sales have softened, yet website traffic has increased. One colleague wants more promotion, another wants a price reduction and a third blames a competitor. You must decide what to investigate, separate plausible explanations and recommend a proportionate response without presenting incomplete information as a settled conclusion.
Who will benefit
For marketing executives, account managers, business development professionals and managers who need to make a stronger commercial case. It also suits owners who have plenty of operational data but need help deciding which signals matter. Familiarity with spreadsheets is useful; advanced statistics is not the starting point.
What you take back to work
Practical capability, built through learning.
- Frame a commercial decision and identify evidence that can change it.
- Compare customers, competitors and market signals using explicit assumptions.
- Interpret performance measures alongside costs, margins and uncertainty.
- Present a recommendation with alternatives, limitations and a review plan.
Inside the course
A connected learning journey.
KBC’s proposed four-month module uses 14 sessions: two to frame the decision, three for market evidence, three for customer and commercial analysis, three for recommendations and three for workshops, feedback and presentation. This is an applied teaching sequence informed by recommended reading, not the books’ chapter order.
01Define the decision before collecting data
Begin with a choice that matters: entering a segment, changing a price or retaining a customer group. Identify the decision owner, timescale and constraints. Separate facts already known from assumptions and unanswered questions. The teaching exercise makes the purpose of analysis explicit, so learners can explain why each proposed source is worth collecting.
Apply it at work: Produce a one-page intelligence brief for a commercial decision.
02Read the market and competitive context
Build a structured picture of customer needs, competitor offers and changes in the wider environment. Compare like with like: an apparent price advantage may reflect a different service promise or cost base. Learners practise recording source dates and confidence levels, then translate observations into implications for their chosen organisation and its customers.
Apply it at work: Create an evidence-backed competitor and market comparison.
03Find commercially useful customer patterns
Explore segmentation, buying behaviour and retention as ways to make a broad market more actionable. Examine how averages can hide differences between new and established customers or between channels. A practical case asks learners to identify a promising group, explain what makes it commercially relevant and state what additional evidence would strengthen the conclusion.
Apply it at work: Recommend one priority segment with supporting evidence and caveats.
04Connect measures to business value
Connect conversion, contribution margin and customer lifetime value. Consider forecasting assumptions and how a result changes when conversion, costs or repeat purchasing shift. The aim is to ask intelligent questions of a model and interpret its implications. Learners make their calculations visible and distinguish an observed association from evidence of an effect.
Apply it at work: Build a simple scenario comparison and explain the main sensitivities.
05Present a decision that can be reviewed
Turn analysis into a recommendation with a clear choice, rationale and next step. Include a credible alternative and explain what would cause the decision to change. Learners practise presenting evidence visually without overstating precision, then respond to questions from a manager’s perspective. The final exercise closes the loop with ownership and a review measure.
Apply it at work: Deliver a decision brief and a short management presentation.
Learn around your working life
Time to understand. Space to apply.
Online or in a city near you
Face-to-face delivery can be arranged in London, Maidstone, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and Liverpool. Your course offer confirms the venue and teaching dates.
A London masterclass to start your module
Meet your tutors and fellow professionals at an optional full-day London event. KBC covers the event, agreed transportation, refreshments and an open buffet dinner. Confirm arrangements with the team before booking travel.
Support between sessions
Return to class recordings and learning resources, bring questions to your tutor and use free one-to-one tutoring and coaching support. Your course plan sets out the guided reading and practice needed alongside live teaching.
Your route to recognition
Know what the assessment involves.
Proposed KBC applied assessment: create a commercial intelligence brief for an agreed organisation or teaching case. Include the decision question, source evaluation, market and customer analysis, a proportionate financial comparison and a recommendation. A short presentation tests your ability to explain assumptions and respond to challenge. Tutor feedback should focus on the quality of reasoning and the usefulness of the proposed action. This task is a KBC teaching proposal; any published assessment arrangements should be confirmed against the approved course brief.
Your written offer records the award or course completion requirements, any examination fees included, and the relevant eligibility checks.
The professional knowledge behind the course
Explore the books and standards.
The learning themes above bring together the relevant guide, syllabus and workplace practice. KBC’s teaching sequence connects these ideas through discussion and application.
- Marketing Analytics: A Practical Guide to Improving Consumer Insights Using Data Techniques — Mike Grigsby ↗Kogan Page · 3rd edition; 3 December 2022
Recommended reading: insights, demand, forecasting, segmentation, media value, loyalty and statistical testing.
- Marketing Management — Philip Kotler, Kevin Lane Keller and Alexander Chernev ↗Pearson · 16th edition; © 2022
Recommended reading: market research, segmentation, positioning, pricing, brands and customer loyalty.
Your investment
Get a course offer that fits your route.
Request the standalone fee for your chosen format, including the teaching, reading materials, assessment and membership arrangements relevant to this course.
Standalone professional development is self-funded or employer-funded. The agreed course offer explains any available support and the costs included.
Your questions, answered.
Do I need to be an analyst?
No. The proposed course starts with business questions and develops practical interpretation. Spreadsheet confidence will help with the exercises.
Can I use my organisation’s data?
Use authorised, suitably anonymised material. A teaching case can provide the same opportunity to demonstrate your reasoning.
Will this help me justify a recommendation?
That is the central purpose: linking evidence, commercial implications and a clear decision, while making the limits of the analysis visible.
What would this help you achieve?
Talk to KBC about your experience, your goals and the right learning route for you.