TribalWorks

Chapters Indigo recently launched the Indigo MBA - a 12-month self directed program.

The free, 12-month, self-directed program features a 21-book reading list that includes new and bestselling business titles and online “discussion modules.”

“It’s sort of a natural extension for us because our brand has always been about enriching people’s lives and providing inspiration and continuous learning,” said Deirdre Horgan, chief marketing officer, Indigo Books & Music Inc. “Those are the cornerstones of our brand.”

“During a time of economic uncertainty, we thought it would be an innovative way to provide valuable and meaningful support for our customers to sharpen their skills in the business arena,” she added.

To join, consumers simply need an e-mail address and password to engage in the monthly scheduled discussions.

On the surface, the campaign design itself is quite innovative.  Many people during tough economic times leave the workforce and head back to school to sharpen their skills.  Indigo understand this and assembled a self-directed course.  The payoff for Indigo is that they should see an uptick in sales of the recommended titles.

However, if we examine this issue more deeply, we can see that Indigo has the potential to radically change what an MBA is and its value proposition. 

Looking back at my MBA experience (almost 5 years ago), I would say the biggest value I got for the over $50K spent was not the knowledge I received, but the network I am a part of.  I still keep in touch with the people I met during the program, whether it be classmates, people in senior/junior classes, professors or alumni.  Undoubtedly this network has led us to build Accelteon.  Thus, the money I spent on the MBA wasn’t so much for the knowledge, but to have access to some of the best business people in Canada. 

It seems now that Indigo has made the knowledge piece of the program very affordable (I recognize many of the recommended books as those that I either read or should have read).  The question is, can Indigo build a true community around its MBA program?  They currently have a forum where students can have discussions online, but perhaps adding frequent ‘class’ get togethers and events with the authors of these books would be a starting point to build that valuable network.