Business-to-business transactions take place every day, in every industry around the world, as firms design, market, and sell products and services for organizational customers including businesses, governments, and nonprofit firms. Connect with leading B2B marketers and gain business marketing expertise and real-world experience in the Business Marketing Academy, one of two marketing Academies that make the Kelley MBA one of the top marketing MBAs in the US.
Business Marketing Academy: Become a top B2B marketer
Angelica Pastrana, MBA'23, discusses the experiences, connections, and insights she gained in the Business Marketing Academy. Director Josh Gildea says students from all career backgrounds thrive in the Academy, which exposes students to a wide range of roles and industries.
Description of the video:
WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.540 2 00:00:01.540 --> 00:00:04.030 The Business Marketing Academy is really 3 00:00:04.030 --> 00:00:05.680 about experiential learning. 4 00:00:05.680 --> 00:00:07.330 Kelley is a marketing school. 5 00:00:07.330 --> 00:00:09.010 It's one of the things we excel at, 6 00:00:09.010 --> 00:00:11.770 and so we go a little deeper in that field of marketing. 7 00:00:11.770 --> 00:00:14.020 And for a marketer, that's great because you 8 00:00:14.020 --> 00:00:17.500 have a choice between consumer marketing and business 9 00:00:17.500 --> 00:00:18.280 marketing. 10 00:00:18.280 --> 00:00:20.822 We have students who come from lots of different backgrounds. 11 00:00:20.822 --> 00:00:23.860 Those could be technical or engineering backgrounds, 12 00:00:23.860 --> 00:00:26.660 students who come from non-business backgrounds, 13 00:00:26.660 --> 00:00:29.590 as well as marketers who are looking to take a step up 14 00:00:29.590 --> 00:00:30.620 in their careers. 15 00:00:30.620 --> 00:00:32.860 We sort of orient it so that a student 16 00:00:32.860 --> 00:00:36.100 can come in from any background and start 17 00:00:36.100 --> 00:00:38.080 to make sense of the opportunities that 18 00:00:38.080 --> 00:00:39.310 exist in B2B. 19 00:00:39.310 --> 00:00:41.020 When I entered Kelley, I actually 20 00:00:41.020 --> 00:00:43.540 knew I wanted to get into the Business Marketing Academy 21 00:00:43.540 --> 00:00:46.480 because I come from a tech sales perspective, 22 00:00:46.480 --> 00:00:50.200 and I was interested in staying in the tech industry. 23 00:00:50.200 --> 00:00:53.080 And this enabled me to look not only at the tech industry, 24 00:00:53.080 --> 00:00:55.780 but also health care, manufacturing, all 25 00:00:55.780 --> 00:00:57.670 different types of different industries 26 00:00:57.670 --> 00:01:00.610 to see if tech was the right perspective for me. 27 00:01:00.610 --> 00:01:03.520 A strong part of any academy here at Kelley 28 00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:05.710 and in particular the Business Marketing Academy 29 00:01:05.710 --> 00:01:07.247 is our corporate partners. 30 00:01:07.247 --> 00:01:09.580 When we tend to travel to three or four different cities 31 00:01:09.580 --> 00:01:12.460 in the fall and visit 8 to 10 different companies, 32 00:01:12.460 --> 00:01:14.950 the goal is to expose our students 33 00:01:14.950 --> 00:01:17.680 to lots of different types of roles and industries 34 00:01:17.680 --> 00:01:19.900 all around the idea of B2B, which 35 00:01:19.900 --> 00:01:23.230 is organizations, marketing, selling, partnering 36 00:01:23.230 --> 00:01:24.640 with other organizations. 37 00:01:24.640 --> 00:01:27.560 But it's pretty broad, so you to see lots of different things 38 00:01:27.560 --> 00:01:30.760 and then make your choices and narrow your search from there. 39 00:01:30.760 --> 00:01:33.880 I think it is very rare for an MBA program 40 00:01:33.880 --> 00:01:36.050 to have that B2B perspective. 41 00:01:36.050 --> 00:01:39.370 So I do think Kelley is way ahead of the times in having 42 00:01:39.370 --> 00:01:40.450 that here. 43 00:01:40.450 --> 00:01:43.600 Josh just does such a great job at connecting us 44 00:01:43.600 --> 00:01:48.100 with different alumni, mentors, he brings in great speakers. 45 00:01:48.100 --> 00:01:51.280 I never had a C level mentor my whole entire life, 46 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:54.200 and now I have someone who I call on every two months. 47 00:01:54.200 --> 00:01:56.290 And I would not have had that without Josh. 48 00:01:56.290 --> 00:01:59.380 He comes from so many industries and functions himself, 49 00:01:59.380 --> 00:02:02.350 and he shares his experiences to really make sure 50 00:02:02.350 --> 00:02:04.630 that you're choosing the right path for you. 51 00:02:04.630 --> 00:02:08.590 A nice aspect of the academy is that the second years 52 00:02:08.590 --> 00:02:11.560 help to guide and mentor and serve as partners 53 00:02:11.560 --> 00:02:13.340 to the first year students. 54 00:02:13.340 --> 00:02:15.070 So they help them with their projects, 55 00:02:15.070 --> 00:02:17.140 they help them practice for interviews. 56 00:02:17.140 --> 00:02:20.020 And all of that is really indicative of the culture 57 00:02:20.020 --> 00:02:23.080 here at Kelley, which is not a competitive culture. 58 00:02:23.080 --> 00:02:25.240 It's about helping people achieve 59 00:02:25.240 --> 00:02:28.040 their goals and their dreams and supporting them through that. 60 00:02:28.040 --> 00:02:30.127 And out at the end of that process 61 00:02:30.127 --> 00:02:31.960 comes students that are much better informed 62 00:02:31.960 --> 00:02:36.640 about careers and industries and jobs and companies. 63 00:02:36.640 --> 00:02:39.210 It's a family in the BMA. 64 00:02:39.210 --> 00:02:44.000
Is a career in business marketing for you?
Through this Academy, you’ll combine marketing expertise with an understanding of how you can partner with other organizations to help make their businesses better, more profitable, and more successful.
Earning the distinction for best MBA in marketing from U.S. News & World Report 2025, the Kelley Full-Time +Flex MBA offers mentoring and networking opportunities for future marketing leaders. Through the Business Marketing Academy, you’ll combine marketing expertise with an understanding of how you can partner with other organizations to help make their businesses better, more profitable, and more successful. BMA enables you to:
- Travel to cities like Minneapolis, Chicago, and Milwaukee to visit the headquarters of corporations with successful B2B operations, such as 3M, Medtronic, and Intel
- Gain real-world experience by conducting a consulting project for such companies as Amazon, Johnson & Johnson, and Eli Lilly, preparing you for your internship and career
- Learn from professionals and executives from top companies
- Receive ongoing mentoring from the Academy director, a career coach, second-year mentor, executive board, and other BMA alumni
Learn about the broad range of options
You can launch a business marketing career in most industries, including life sciences, tech, and industrial firms. Your career path depends on your interests and strengths. Here are descriptions of three broad areas within business marketing:
- General management positions manage brands and products, often managing specific product lines or industries/channels for firms—managing a small piece of the business.
- Customer management involves high-level business development, strategic account management, and field marketing support, giving you face-to-face contact with customers.
- Domain expertise leads to positions with a narrow but deep focus in marketing, such as pricing, social media, data analytics, and product marketing.
- Entrepreneurial roles abound in small B2B firms, as well as the opportunity to start your own company serving the various market needs across B2B industries.
Career outcomes
Students from the Business Marketing Academy land internships and full-time roles with such companies as 3M, Abbott, Amazon, Cummins, Dell, Ecolab, EY, Google, Eli Lilly, Microsoft, and Salesforce. Kelley MBA graduates pursue careers across the US and abroad. View employment statistics.
Learn about the Academy and business marketing careers
Gain insights about the Academy and B2B marketing careers from Kelley BMA alumni and program leaders.
Learn how to prepare for tech-related business roles
Gain insights for careers in the tech sector from a Kelley MBA student, alumni and faculty.
Learn about product management careers
Gain insights from Business Marketing Academy alumni working in different kinds of product management roles in a variety of industries.
Questions? Contact us
Joshua Gildea
Business Marketing Academy Director
jgildea@iu.edu
Business Marketing Academy Director Joshua Gildea has nearly 20 years marketing, sales and strategy management experience at a variety of mid-size and large global corporations including Microsoft, General Electric, DuPont, Carlisle Companies and Vitamix Corporation.
More opportunities to build your marketing career
Check out the Marketing Club, the largest student-led club for Kelley MBAs. You’ll learn about marketing across various industries, sharpen your marketing skills, prepare for interviews, and continue developing your network and new friendships.