USI Università della Svizzera italiana
Master of Science in Marketing and Transformative Economy
Lugano, Switzerland
MSc
DURATION
4 semesters
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2026
TUITION FEES
CHF 4,000 / per semester **
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* 30/04/26 for non-EU/EFTA; 30/06/26 for EU/EFTA
** applicants whose official residence was in Switzerland or Liechtenstein at the time of the final high school exam - Maturità - pay a reduced semester fee of CHF 2,000 per semester
Key Summary
About: The Master of Science in Marketing and Transformative Economy at USI trains marketers to advance individual and collective well-being beyond customer satisfaction. It covers market systems and alternative exchange systems—access-based, circular, gift, and sharing economies—and addresses tensions like craftsmanship versus mass production and proximity versus global reach. Keywords: marketing, circular economy, sustainable marketing.
Career Outcomes: Graduates obtain career opportunities in advertising, content management, branding, digital marketing, e-commerce, public relations, sales, startups, and wellbeing-focused sectors such as arts, fashion, healthcare, pharma, sport, and public and non-profit organizations. They can launch ventures supported by USI’s incubator. Keywords: branding, digital marketing, entrepreneurship.
The Master in Marketing and Transformative Economy is not just another Master in Marketing. Its ambition is to offer established marketing wisdom and practice, and expand them further.
First, the Master brings marketing aims beyond customer satisfaction, to cater to individual and collective well-being. This allows marketers to pursue new business opportunities by improving customers’ economic as well as emotional, environmental, physical, and psychological well-being.
Second, traditional marketing just focuses on market systems. This programme also covers new exchange systems, including access-based, circular, gift, and sharing economy, which have fostered gratuity, indirect reciprocity, and use as an alternative to ownership.
Last, marketers are today confronted with conflicting expectations (e.g., craftsmanship/mass-production, exclusivity/accessibility, proximity/global reach, human-touch/technological mediation). The Master tackles these challenges, by enriching economic thinking with cultural and social understanding.
In sum, these substantial innovations provide students with unique, up-to-date knowledge and expertise to make marketing professions transformative for economy and life.
Awarded Degree
Master of Science in Marketing and Transformative Economy
Structure and contents
The Master in Marketing and Transformative Economy is a two years, 120 ECTS credits programme helping participants to acquire critical analytical and practical skills grounded in solid and fresh marketing knowledge. Participants should expect to become conscious decision-makers familiar with a variety of market situations and systems (b2b, b2c, b2b2c, c2b, c2c, access-based, gift, and sharing economy). They should also expect to sharpen their ability in interpreting markets, executing effective solutions, forecasting and measuring the effects of their work in terms of competitive, financial, and socio-environmental performances.
This Master integrates the best competences from two Faculties—Communication, Culture and Society and Economics—which award a joint master diploma. It also connects to the business world, via extensive collaborations with professionals, in-company projects, international competitions, and the final field projects.
Along the two first semesters, core courses cover a wide range of marketing and managerial theoretical frameworks, analytical tools, methods, and executional levers to implement a marketing plan. The third semester allows participants to customize their education in line with personal interests and professional plans, either in Lugano or by undertaking international exchange programs. Elective courses comprise various marketing topics, but also include courses from other master programs: Architecture, Corporate Communication, Digital Fashion Communication, Informatics, Management, Public Management and Policy.
During the fourth semester, participants apply the acquired competences alternatively to a theoretical research project (i.e., research thesis), a consulting project (i.e., field project), or an internship. They also receive a bundle of professionalising courses to strengthen their competitiveness in the job market.
Master of Science in Marketing and Transformative Economy
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Career Prospects
Graduates can integrate hundreds of marketing-related professions, with no restrictions in terms of company size (from start-ups to multinationals), markets (b2b, b2c, b2b2c, c2c, c2b, etc.), or industry. For its focus on individual and societal well-being, the programme also supports graduates seeking careers in industries focused on well-being (arts & culture, cosmetics, fashion, financial services, food & beverage, healthcare, insurances, pharma, sport, etc.) or public and non-profit organisations.
The most requested profiles relate to advertising and content management, branding, (digital) marketing, e-commerce, public relations, sales, and more.
Graduates can also launch their own start-up, supported by USI’s incubator.