The Wharton Customer Analytics Initiative, focused on undergraduate
A few days ago, the Wharton School (PA) began an important initiative that will allow companies to reach the right target of customers in the most accurate way, based on past consumption patterns.
The Wharton Customer Analytics Initiative (WCAI) — that branches off the Wharton Interactive Media Initiative — will be integrated into the undergraduate Wharton curriculum and will lead the undergraduate due to the search of the suitable job.
The WCAI has a particular methodology; it helps companies analyze data related to customer preferences in order to obtain and maximize profits.
What differentiates this initiative from “other customer-oriented research centers is that it is data-driven” WCAI co-Director Peter Fader said.
Co-director Eric Bradlow said “The nowadays expansion of WIMI to WCAI will drive the initiative increasingly undergraduate focused and even more attractive to applicants.”
“People in admissions are flagging applications that mention [customer analytics]” he added.
Until few days ago, the courses offered by Wharton School in this area often “lagged terribly behind” what occurs daily in the business industry, Fader said. “We’re changing all that.”
Shawndra Hill, assistant professor in Operations and Information Management, is trialing a new “Business Analytics” track for undergraduates.
Currently there are no similar projects in the schools, all over the U.S.
“The response to this has been great” Nicole Berlucchi, the business administrator of WCAI, wrote in an e-mail. “Many companies from diverse industries are building or already have analytics departments.”
According to its directors: “Most of marketing is just campaigns,” Fader explained. “We are trying to reverse that, and have the data lead the campaigns.”
Fader, for example, cited Google, who have already utilized data-driven into the customer analysis.
“We want to jump on that bandwagon and get a head start,” Fader said.
According to Bradlow, the University has been “extremely supportive” of WCAI. The data-driven customer analytics is “potentially unique to Wharton and is an area that MBAs have shown strong passion for,” he said.
