Strategic product management

You'll learn how to develop product strategies that secure products' position in the market over the medium and long term: the strategy process, strategy tools such as the Strategy Canvas, SWOT analysis, and portfolio analysis, Blue Ocean Strategy, AI in strategy work, business plans, and performance measurement.

In two days, you'll identify your own success factors based on best practices and go home with concrete actions and quick wins for your product.

Yes, for example, in sales, business development, and marketing. Sales must communicate the positioning of the products, business development builds on product strategies, and marketing shapes the brand’s image accordingly. With a solid foundation in strategic product management, you’ll become a valuable partner for the product managers and senior management.

The " training " lasts two days. It takes place in person or live online via Zoom. The fee includes course materials, lunch, and snacks during breaks for in-person sessions. You can find the current dates, locations, and prices on the seminar page.

You can add a two-hour transfer coaching session with your expert at a discounted rate when you book the course. For companies, the “ training ” is available as an in-house training program. To deepen your knowledge, consider “AI Strategy for Product Management” (36452) and the “ certified product manager ” continuing education course (30581). Upon completion, you’ll receive an Open Badge.

Set aside specific times in your calendar for strategic work and treat them like client meetings. Determine which operational tasks you can delegate, standardize, or automate—such as recurring reports or routine inquiries. Work with your manager to identify which topics take priority so that you can justifiably decline or postpone ad hoc requests.

In the " training ," you'll analyze your own workflow and see how experienced product managers manage this balancing act.

A typical process consists of four phases: analyzing the market, the competition, and your own portfolio; developing and evaluating strategic options; planning implementation, including specific actions, responsible parties, and a budget; and, finally, monitoring results. Involve Sales, Marketing, Business Development, and senior management early on to ensure that the strategy has their full support in the end.

In the " training ," you'll go through the phases using examples and learn how to facilitate the process internally.

A guide:

• Business Strategy Canvas and Strategy Map, if you want to visualize your strategy and link it to your goals

• Growth, Competitive, and Positioning Strategies: When You Define Your Direction

• Value-added, SWOT, and portfolio analyses when you assess the current situation and allocate resources

• Life-cycle strategies for managing products at different stages

• Blue Ocean Strategy: When You Want to Break Out of Saturated Markets with a New Offering

In the " training ," you apply these tools to your product and see which ones provide the clearest answers.

The Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne describes how companies can create new market spaces instead of getting bogged down in price wars with competitors. To do this, you ask which industry features you can eliminate, reduce, enhance, or create anew. This results in an offering with its own unique value proposition that is difficult to compare.

In the " training ," you'll apply this approach to a product of your own and translate the results into a business plan. Disruptive business models are also presented as an additional option.

AI is particularly helpful when it comes to information gathering: analyzing market data, continuously monitoring competitors, drafting SWOT analyses, and running through different scenarios. The strategic decision is still up to you, because AI doesn’t know your internal capabilities or your company’s policies and may get the facts wrong.

In the " training ," you'll explore these use cases and determine how to integrate AI into your strategic process without letting it make the decisions for you.

A business plan for a product strategy includes market and competitive analysis, target audience and positioning, marketing mix strategies, an implementation plan with resources, and financial projections showing the impact on revenue, EBIT, and other KPIs. It begins with a brief summary outlining the decision you need from management.

In the " training ," you'll create a plan like this and practice presenting it in a way that leads to a decision.

Derive two to three key metrics from each strategic goal—for example, market share in the target segment, revenue share from new products, or contribution margin per product line. Include leading indicators such as the sales pipeline or customer feedback so you don’t wait until the end of the year to realize that something is going wrong. Report regularly to management and committees using a standardized format.

In the " training ," you'll translate strategic goals into key performance indicators and learn how to assess their impact on EBIT and other financial metrics.