Tanvi Did One of the Best Digital Marketing Courses From Kellogg and Here’s Her Review

A career transition, a revoked job offer due to Covid, a lucky break with an internship followed by a longish interlude at a marketing agency, then moving cities for another job, followed soon by the threat of recession-time layoffs. That was just the first two years after Tanvi Singh completed her master’s from Symbiosis and was ready to plunge into the world of digital marketing. Singh’s foray into her new career has been nothing short of dramatic. It all, however, led to where she is now—upskilled and confident, with Kellogg’s Professional Certificate in Digital Marketing in her kitty and a new job at KMPG. She spoke to us about an eventful couple of years and what it was about Kellogg that called out to her inner learner with the right digital marketing course online.  

“I started as a recruiter, then worked in business development before deciding to switch careers to digital marketing; that journey began in 2020.” 

After completing her degree at Symbiosis, Singh found a job during campus placement. Unfortunately, that didn’t pan out because of the pandemic and the ensuing job cuts that had gripped most professions. She lucked out with an internship at a faculty member’s agency, which provided invaluable real-world learning. “It gave me an idea of all the areas that come under the marketing—digital marketing specifically. I then joined Merkle Sokrati as a senior business analyst, where I worked for nine months.” 

After that, Singh decided she wanted to move to Bengaluru and found a job with Share Chat. This furthered and focused her exposure to the paid marketing facet of digital marketing. Then came another hurdle. “This was sometime in 2022, so it was in the thick of the global recession. There were major cuts in marketing spending.” And the pink-slipping in the startup ecosystem was in full flow.   

“By then, I was already toying with the idea of upskilling myself.”

Even as a possible layoff was hanging over her head, Singh had begun thinking about diving into the learning world again. The initial quest after she had firmed up her mind to upskill also had its moments of confusion, largely about the kind of course she wanted to pursue. “I was at a crossroads about my next move, education-wise—whether I should be in India or not, opt for a PhD or not. I was weighing the pros and cons of pursuing that further.” That was when she came across a program on Emeritus. Among the searches was also the Kellogg digital marketing course online, which caught her eye. “I checked the course details, found it covered topics that I wanted to learn, and that was it.”  

“I was very excited about the Kellogg program.”

Her motive for choosing Kellogg was manifold, the first being that it is a standard bearer for high-quality education with some of the best digital marketing courses to offer. he was already aware of the benefits of having the backing of a digital marketing course online from such a school. “In my job as a recruiter, I had interviewed candidates from this institute, so I knew about the quality of learning.” What cinched it, though, was the opportunity for global learning it offered. “There are a lot of other major Indian marketing institutes offering niche courses. I wanted that global perspective, which I knew I would find at Kellogg.”

“I was extremely busy on Saturdays and Sundays, and I enjoyed every minute of it.”

Getting on board with the learning program of this digital marketing course online was something she readily did because Singh has always enjoyed learning. “I loved the assignments, especially the topics around AI, generative AI, how digitization is happening, and how it is playing out in the digital marketing sphere.” She also credits her cohort of learners—from diverse backgrounds and experiences—for bringing different perspectives to the learning process. This enriched Singh’s understanding of this vast field. “I realized even the questions that they asked were helping me learn.”

“I had already taken a two-year break to pursue a master’s program. This time, I wanted to see how what I learned from the course would help me in my work.”

Getting that work-study balance right is a tightrope walk for every professional. In Singh’s case, things were further complicated by the fact that, professionally, she was facing her fair share of challenges. “I was faced with a layoff when I enrolled, so I was looking for another job, which I found with Bajaj Finserv, but it wasn’t the right fit. While I was there, I did help them establish the non-SRN pillar. 

Then, while doing the course, I was at Target working in the programmatic space.” Amidst all these challenges, the course was a constant and important source of motivation. “I wanted to apply my learnings to my job—not in the daily working but to understand where my organization was heading, what my leadership is talking about, to develop a more practical bent of mind.” For her, this was as necessary to her overall growth as the nitty-gritty of focused areas. For her, that is the specifics of paid marketing. “I have always worked in outbound marketing—Google Ads, Facebook Ads—those kinds of platforms. I also enjoy it because I like learning new things about analytics.”   

“I like to know the big picture even if I am not the one navigating it.”

Apart from research and analytics, Singh wants to understand the mechanics of digital marketing and how things work at a holistic level. “I want to learn how to build compelling insights from data, know-how brand communication works, and know what goes on behind creating a strategy—essentially, in the back end of all these aspects.” Singh believes this course has helped her become proficient in that language and with the language of a marketer. “By that, I mean something as simple as talking to somebody with the stakeholder to learn not to get into jargon.” She is also much more aware of the imperatives of deep research, whether it is for the product or for the consumer. 

“The career coaching team at Emeritus has been immensely helpful. Carlos B Martini has been an excellent guide and very non-judgmental about my choices!”

Singh’s job hunting picked up once again around the time her course ended. Her mentor Carlos B Martini, proved to be just who she needed in this endeavor. “I have worked as a recruiter, so I know how judgy we can get. But Carlos understood where I was coming from. I had set a lot of expectations from my workplace instead of focusing on myself. He has helped me change my approach and my perspective.” Carlos recommended the required materials, tools, and other resources to prep for her interview, the right mindset to have while interviewing, and even the rudiments of communicating with people in a new workplace. “He helped me with a 30-, 60-, 90-day plan and how each milestone should look like. It is these small things that have made a big difference to me.

“The most important thing I have gotten out of Kellogg is the confidence that I understand digital marketing.”

While Singh is still getting comfortable in her role at KPMG, learning, observing, and contributing, she does not doubt that she will be able to incorporate her learnings into the job. “My role here is helping the marketing team by tapping into different divisions to move the project—a project manager position but in the marketing space. I am, however, leveraging those learnings with KPMG whether it is about the leadership asking to focus on which areas, how their marketing strategies are aligning.”

“Kellogg is going to have an impact in my future roles too —wherever I go.”

Today, the concept of continuous learning has become an essential aspect of career growth—perhaps even survival. And Singh believes in the need to invest in it. “It isn’t just about getting a job immediately. There are multiple benefits, especially if you’re playing a long game. Those are more important anyway—developing a peer-group network whom you can reach out to even years later, having exposure, and learning from stalwarts in the industry. Such programs are extremely valuable for career growth. Learning is the point. The job will come.”

Singh pointed out that learners often hold back from pursuing a course due to reasonable financial challenges or get blindsided when calculating the short-term ROI benefit. But she believes that learning has farreaching outcomes and the real value of continuing education can only be calculated in the long run. “If my story could help even one person think from a different perspective, I would feel happy,” she concludes. 

However, finding the right platform to channel that zeal for skilling up is also necessary. Singh found hers with the Kellogg digital marketing program. For similar continuous learning opportunities, check out the other online courses on offer at Emeritus.