Graduates with a solid knowledge of contemporary marketing thought and best practices, coupled with a solid grounding in market(ing) research methods, tools and applications, are likely to secure employment in the following areas:digital marketing, marketing analytics, marketing research and new product introductions, key account management, export projects and related international expansion as well as brand management work.

The course can only be taken on a full-time basis. Students undertake 4 modules in semester 1 (September to December) and a further 4 in semester 2 (January to April/May). In semester 3 (July to September) students either undertake the traditional dissertation, internship and work-based project or the academic research project.

Semester 1

• Marketing Management

This module serves as a platform for understanding the far reaching and holistic application of marketing as both a philosophy and function in contemporary organisations. The module serves as a base for the MSc in Marketing, providing the requisite level of knowledge needed to advance in the parallel and sequential modules in the course. The module is taught at an introductory level. It assumes no prior knowledge of the business system - marketing in particular.

• Strategic Marketing

This module serves to provide an understanding of marketing from both a management and consumer perspective. This module will build on your understanding of management with marketing theory and practical illustrative cases of the challenges facing the marketing manager. During this module you will explore the interfaces between marketing and institutions, strategy, organisation and psychology in the social practice of marketing strategy. This will help you to critically evaluate and gain practical experience of how the agency of marketing leadership contributes to the creation, maintenance and disruption of markets and strategies.

• Digital Marketing

This module aims to provide students with the knowledge and skills required to develop marketing strategies that can be employed on Internet/mobile platforms as well as integrating with offline platforms. It sets digital marketing management in context as a key creator of customer value and deals with strategic insights into the firm, its customers and the challenges it faces.

• Accounting

This module examines the theory and practice of accounting at a non-specialist level. This includes topics such as the function of accounting and control in organisations, financial accounting, financial statement analysis and management accounting.

Semester 2 – Core Modules

• Consumer Behaviour

The aim of this course is to enable students to develop a deep understanding of how consumer behaviour theory and practice has emerged to play a key role in understanding consumers and their contexts of consumption. Students will be able to understand and evaluate how consumer research and its practices are applied in organisations in order to drive business performance and enhance the consumer experience, analyse and critically evaluate the role and effectiveness of key consumer research practices as well as understand and critique the importance of consumer research to effect change in the marketplace for consumers, practitioners, management and employees.

• International Marketing

The focus of the module is on the theory, practice and challenges faced by marketing managers working in a global/international environment and the concepts and theories that can be used to inform marketing decision making in these contexts. On completion of the module students will understand the nature, scope and role of marketing in firms operating in a global/international environment and be able to apply key concepts and theories to marketing problems faced by managers working in a global/international environment.

• Marketing Analytics

This module focuses on a new and exciting development in marketing theory and practice. The use of data, ‘big data’, to assist in marketing decision making and accountability continues to grow in importance, particularly in the current age of austerity and resource scarcity. The module takes both a theoretical and practical approach to the use of marketing analytics in practice. A highlight of the module is the use of SAS or SPSS software to analyse data for marketing-related decision making and evaluative purposes. Students who successfully complete the module will be able to signal to potential employers that they have the theoretical, practical plus industry-standard software skills to compete.

• Research Methods and Techniques

This module aims to provide students with a range of skills to undertake effective research in business and management. The skills learned in this module will be applicable across professions as the relevance and importance of being able to design research, interpret, critically analyse and evaluate qualitative and quantitative information is crucial in today's management world. The general aim of the module is to introduce students to the research process and present the tools and methodologies of social science required to carry out your thesis research. This course has three separate but closely related components - a discussion of the research design process, research methodology principles and research skills applications. At the end of the course, students should be able to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different methodological approaches and formulate quality research projects.

Semester 3 (select a total of 60 CATS)

• Dissertation (60 CATS)

• Marketing Internship and Work-based Research Project (60 CATS)*

• Academic Research Project + 2 taught modules (Contemporary Issues in Management and Business Governance and Ethics) (60 CATS)

The three options for semester 3 will each enable students to utilise the knowledge and skills acquired in the Research Methods for Business module.

The Dissertation requires students to undertake a significant research project and write up a thesis of their study and its findings.

The Marketing Internship and Work Based Project requires students to undertake a 12 week paid internship, which will include undertaking an action research project which they must write up as a report (similar in detail and length to a traditional dissertation). Please note internships are allocated on a competitive basis based on CVs and interviews.

The third option is an action research project in the form of a critical literature review as well as completing two modules (Contemporary Issues in Management and Business Governance and Ethics) which are taught in blocks over a few weeks in the summer.