Marketing Management MA/MSc

Course summary

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. 

Marketing Management MA

Special emphasis in the MA is laid on enhancing participants’ analytical and creative skills that are crucial for sound innovative decision-making, imaginative problem solving, and developing and implementing marketing strategies in a fast-changing, global business environment.

Marketing Management MSc

Special emphasis in the MSc is laid on enhancing participants’ analytical and data-handling skills that are crucial for sound decision making and evidence-based problem solving for developing and implementing marketing strategies in a fast-changing, resource-constrained global business environment.

Top reasons to study with us

• Strong links with the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and option to join CIM/University of Westminster Marketing Club, providing networking and professional development opportunities
• Regular professional events and guest speakers, which have previously included CIM events and collaboration with the CIM Levitt Group annual lectures and seminar series
• Past field trips have included company visits to the Mini Plant, the Morgan Car Factory, Sky, and The Museum of Brands
• Become business-ready through practical experiences including a case study away day acting as a marketing consultant, preparing and presenting a marketing plan
• Career development workshops and masterclasses to enhance your global perspective and employability
• Taught by staff with expertise in marketing, strategic marketing management, digital marketing, brand strategy and brand management, product development, price and distribution management, marketing research, consumer psychology and insight, marketing communications, social media, quantitative analysis and analytics, marketing creativity and innovation

Course structure

On this course, you'll learn the theories and applications of marketing management, analysis and planning, developing your ability to critically evaluate contemporary marketing practice in a modern business and marketing environment. Acknowledging the rise of digital and online marketing, these content themes can be found throughout and include digital behaviour/consumption, social media, apps, digital social influence, online analytics and e-targeting, for example. All students will be initially enrolled on the Marketing Management MA, to give you time to appreciate the different emphasis of each degree and reflect on your own ability, strengths and future career development. You will make your decision during the first semester of your study.

The modules below are indicative of what you will study on this course.

We’ll advance your knowledge of marketing theory and practice, together with core subjects such as consumer psychology, marketing research insights, product and brand management, and distribution and price management.

As the ultimate goal of all marketing activity is to identify, anticipate and satisfy consumer requirements, we’ll start by looking closely at the consumer. You’ll gain an understanding of the psychology that underpins modern consumers’ attitudes, perceptions, decision-making processes and behaviour in today’s complex environment, enriched as it is by advanced technology, digital and social media, and environmental, ethical and sustainability considerations.

We move on to strategic decision-making and the importance of meaningful marketing analysis. You’ll develop competency in mining big data and applying the main qualitative and quantitative methods for data collection, measurement, sampling, analysis and presentation of results. You’ll also examine the key concepts for managing products and brands as strategic assets in offline and digital environments and how to create value for customers and the organisation. We’ll explore marketing options to consider when developing strategy, including the logistics, motivations and behaviour of participants in relation to various marketing channels, pricing issues and promotion.

We’ll cover multi-platform marketing communications with a strong focus on digital marketing. We look at the variety of digital and non-digital communications channels that now constitute the marketing communications mix – digital and interactive media (such as SEO, PPC, digital display and email marketing), social media marketing, mobile marketing, promotional tools, sales promotion, PR/e-PR/influencer marketing, direct marketing, advertising, sponsorship and alternative marketing (buzz/guerrilla marketing, outdoor, interactive campaigns).

Those studying the MA will explore how creativity and innovation can add value when planning marketing campaigns, while MSc students will experience a variety of industry-standard mathematical and statistical data-analytic tools which can be used to guide marketing decision-making. We cover a wide range of qualitative and quantitative techniques, including descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing and regression analysis.

The Marketing Dissertation is an ideal opportunity to demonstrate your resourcefulness and ability to ‘think on your feet’. The final module brings together all aspects of the process of marketing strategy formulation: situational analysis, the generation and selection of appropriate alternative marketing objectives, and the development of segmentation, targeting, positioning and marketing mix strategies. You’ll investigate a problem/issue in the context of the international, technological, social and ethical environment in which today’s and tomorrow’s businesses must operate.

You'll be undertaking a substantial piece of academic research with the choice of your own topic. This will be the best opportunity for you to specialise in a marketing subject in which you have a special interest or career opportunity. The dissertation module is a year-long module running through the first semester and the second semester of your study.

Core modules

Option module – MA

Option module – MSc

Professional Accreditation

Depending on the module structure in each given year, MA and MSc Marketing Management may be accredited by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) with a Graduate Gateway programme status.

The Marketing Management MA/MSc is accredited by the Digital Marketing Institute. Our marketing degrees have been mapped for DMI certification. The partnership offers DMI professional certification opportunities when students enrol as DMI members.