J&J Chooses Rutgers to provide Custom Digital Marketing Program to Global Workforce

Johnson & Johnson engaged the Rutgers Center for Management Development (CMD) to roll out a global custom-tailored executive education program in Digital Marketing. This engagement was the result of a highly successful pilot program  held the week of April 4th, the first of its kind in the healthcare/pharma industry,  that boasted some staggering numbers:

Comparative pre- and post-course testing demonstrate 67% gain in digital knowledge, as well as 46% improvement in self-rated confidence applying digital strategies.  The anonymous post-course exit survey revealed that all 30 participants would recommend the course to colleagues, and all 30 found the course to be actionable and would take action on the learning during the first week back at work. 

One of the participants’ anonymous feedback answers sums up the overwhelmingly positive feelings of his colleagues: ““Highly Engaging.  Highly Relevant.  I have never seen a group of people so engaged for an entire week.”  Bill Bigoness, CMD’s Executive Director and 30-year global executive education veteran, said of the program: “I have never seen such overwhelmingly positive results from a new program in all my years in executive ed.  Custom-tailored programs like this one are laser-focused, far more engaging, and spawn projects that lead directly to ROI for the client company.  This is the future of executive education.”

The week-long program ran from April 4^th-8^th at J&J’s Ethicon facilities in Bridgewater, NJ, and at AOL’s headquarters in NYC.  It included ten customized modules taught by eminent industry experts, tailored to J&J’s specific corporate needs for a diverse group of brand managers .  Topics covered the most pertinent issues in digital marketing, including website strategy and optimization, social media strategy, mobile marketing, security and privatization issues, customer-driven innovation, and measurement of digital strategies.  Presenters of each module went to great lengths customizing the content, which included real research, numbers, and case-studies using the J&J brands represented in the room.  Discussions revolved around J&J-specific problems and areas needing improvement.  Participants indicated that using J&J brands and their competitors as a basis for learning skyrocketed impact, relevance, and engagement to levels far beyond any other continuing education program they had experienced.  Nearly half of the participants were from international J&J offices, and the camaraderie fostered during the program was extraordinary.  Furthermore, the program made extensive use of iPad2^TM devices for each participant, which allowed for unprecedented interactivity with the course material, as well as improved collaboration among brand manager participants. 

The success of the program did not stop with the pilot:  The ultimate goal of the custom program was to create real, actionable initiatives that generate results for J&J.  Participants began solidifying these ideas during the pilot course, and began implementing these projects after the program.  Rutgers faculty and staff continues to guide and mentor participants in implementing these initiatives to maximize organizational impact.

Due to the immense success of the pilot, J&J continues to roll out more programs, based on this wildly-successful course structure, to enlighten brand managers throughout the company.  The second week-long custom program took place June 27th-30th, and initial results suggest this second program was even more successful than the first.  J&J plans to expand its partnership with Rutgers to roll out additional custom programs globally.