Marketing Management (Advanced Standing) MA

In today’s fast-paced global business environment, strategic marketing influences every aspect of business, informing decisions about how to create and maintain consumer demand, increase profit, build reputation and stay ahead of the competition. Incorporating the latest digital and analytic marketing practices, our Master’s reflects the ever-changing nature of this exciting profession.

Internationalisation and digitisation have fundamentally shifted marketing contexts: types of businesses, products and services, channels and communication media, and consumer behaviour are changing rapidly. Businesses of all shapes and sizes – large or small, global or local, innovative or traditional, public or private – now compete for the same market. Marketing professionals can steer a company toward success through innovative product development, savvy pricing strategies, creative communications and timely market insight.

The aim of both the MA and MSc is to improve your managerial effectiveness in the increasingly digitised, automated and globalised field of marketing. It will deepen your understanding of the relationship between marketing and the wider organisation, as well as the organisation and its customers, enabling you to adopt a holistic forward-looking approach to marketing to achieve long-term sustainable competitive advantage.

Suitable for existing marketers keen to adopt a strategic approach to marketing management or those from a non-marketing background, our balanced portfolio has been designed to deliver the breadth and depth of knowledge required to excel in marketing strategy, market research, digital and global marketing, product and brand management.

Both courses provide a comprehensive curriculum. The MA places more emphasis on developing the creative skills needed for innovative decision-making, while the MSc stresses the marketing metrics, analytics and data handling skills which underpin evidence-based problem-solving. On the MA and MSc, you’ll work to apply your marketing theories, conduct marketing analysis and planning on real-life projects. The Marketing Planning Study Trip, for example, offers a great opportunity for personal and professional development. Developing a marketing plan for a real client, you’ll gain sought-after soft skills, such as creativity, critical thinking, personal agility, adaptability and resilience. In 2019, students worked on a live case study provided by Cole Haan, the global men's and women's footwear and accessories brand, to achieve a seven-fold increase in UK turnover in three years.

On graduation, you’ll be prepared for marketing consultancy or marketing management in a wide range of industries and international markets, typically in roles such as product development, brand management, digital marketing, marketing communications, marketing research, customer service management, e-marketing or sales.

The course is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) with Graduate Gateway programme status. It was designed with input from a range of industry professionals working in brand and marketing consultancy, digital technology, creative and social media.

A minimum of a lower second class honours degree (2:2). Relevant degree disciplines include business studies, economics, geography, management, and operation research. However, students with qualifications in other disciplines such as engineering, environmental sciences, the humanities and languages are also encouraged to apply. Exceptionally, non-graduates with significant practitioner experience (4 years) of marketing management will be admitted. If your first language is not English you should have an IELTS 6.5 with at least 6.0 in writing. TOEFL 88 overall with a minimum of 17 in Listening, 21 in Writing, 18 in Reading and 20 in Speaking.