MSc Marketing Curriculum
The programme consists of 11 taught modules (10 core and 1 elective), assessed through a blend of written examinations and continuous coursework. Taught modules run across two terms: Michaelmas Term (September–December) and Hilary Term (January–April). The final Trinity Term (April–August) is dedicated to your dissertation or company project.
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September-December Michaelmas Term |
January-April Hilary Term |
May-August Trinity Term |
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Core |
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Electives (Choose one) |
Note: Modules offered each academic year are subject to change. The modules listed above and below are the modules and timetable for 2025/2026.
Module Descriptions
Marketing Management (5 ECTS)
Lead marketing transformation in an AI-powered, digitally connected world. This module equips you to think strategically, act creatively, and manage complexity in fast-changing global markets. You'll explore the shift to customer-centric, data-driven marketing and develop the mindset to thrive in an AI-driven, sustainability-conscious business environment.
How this fits your MSc journey: Strengthens your leadership and strategic thinking to position marketing as a core driver of business value and innovation.
Learning outcomes:
- Lead in the digital era: Evaluate the mindset and skills required for modern marketing leadership.
- Leverage AI and digital: Assess emerging technologies and their impact on marketing strategy and execution.
- Champion customer-centricity: Understand and navigate the tensions of delivering customer-focused value.
- Think ahead: Use future-oriented thinking to shape marketing strategies that build resilient, adaptive organisations.
- Design for impact: Apply experimentation and design thinking to develop meaningful customer experiences.
- Collaborate and communicate: Strengthen your ability to influence through clear, strategic communication across teams.
Data Analytics & Market Research (5 ECTS)
Turn marketing data into strategic advantage. Learn how to collect, analyse and interpret insights from surveys, CRM platforms and even generative AI tools. This module gives you hands-on experience in designing research and applying analytics to shape impactful marketing decisions in a fast-changing, AI-enhanced business world.
How this fits your MSc journey: Builds essential data literacy and research skills that underpin effective, evidence-based marketing strategy.
Learning outcomes:
- Choose the right method: Identify the most suitable analytical approach for different marketing challenges.
- Design effective research: Structure analytics projects to deliver actionable insights.
- Gather meaningful data: Understand how firms collect and interpret customer and market intelligence.
Marketing & Society (5 ECTS)
Reframe marketing’s role in the world by exploring its power to both shape and solve social and environmental challenges. This module challenges traditional assumptions, introducing critical perspectives and social marketing tools that empower you to lead responsibly and drive meaningful change.
How this fits your MSc journey: Encourages ethical, reflective decision-making and positions you to become a socially conscious marketing leader in a complex world.
Learning outcomes:
- Critically assess marketing’s impact: Evaluate how marketing contributes to – and can address – societal and environmental issues.
- Understand behaviour change: Apply foundational theories from multiple disciplines to influence individual and policy-level action.
- Design social impact campaigns: Create strategic interventions that promote behaviour or structural change for the greater good.
- Think systemically: Balance individual and systemic causes in planning responsible marketing responses.
- Collaborate and communicate: Work effectively in teams to develop persuasive, theory-informed arguments and solutions.
Advertising Management (5 ECTS)
Learn how to plan, create and deliver advertising that cuts through. This module gives you the tools to craft campaigns that resonate, rooted in strategy, insight and creativity. From briefing and ideation to execution and measurement, you'll explore how advertising drives results in a rapidly evolving media landscape.
How this fits your MSc journey: Builds the practical and strategic expertise to lead effective advertising campaigns as part of a broader marketing mix.
Learning outcomes:
- Master modern advertising: Understand the key principles and trends shaping today's advertising industry.
- Plan with precision: Navigate the full process from audience insight to strategic campaign development.
- Create with impact: Explore the creative journey from concept to content across copywriting, art direction and execution.
- Tell compelling stories: Learn how brand narratives are built through media and communications planning.
- Measure success: Evaluate advertising effectiveness using meaningful performance metrics.
Entrepreneurship & Innovation (5 ECTS)
Turn ideas into impact. This hands-on module takes you through the process of launching an innovation-driven venture, from opportunity discovery to business model development. You'll learn proven frameworks, sharpen your entrepreneurial mindset, and test your ideas in real time, preparing you to lead or support new ventures in any context.
How this fits your MSc journey: Builds practical start-up skills and strategic thinking essential for launching your own venture or driving innovation within organisations.
Learning outcomes:
- Master the start-up process: Understand each stage of creating a successful innovation-led business.
- Spot real opportunities: Identify and assess the potential of entrepreneurial ideas using structured methods.
- Develop and pitch ideas: Craft a compelling business concept and communicate it effectively.
- Grow entrepreneurial skills: Strengthen creativity, initiative, critical thinking and personal resilience.
- Think globally: Evaluate entrepreneurship’s role in economic development and competitive advantage across international markets.
Research Methods (5 ECTS)
Master essential tools to investigate real-world business challenges. Build the confidence to design rigorous, ethical research that drives insight and impact in marketing, operations and supply chain management.
How this fits your MSc journey: Sets the foundation for your dissertation by guiding your research from concept to proposal.
Learning outcomes:
- Craft meaningful research questions: Define relevant management problems and select suitable research designs.
- Choose and apply methods effectively: Identify robust techniques for data collection and analysis.
- Conduct responsible research: Apply ethical and methodological best practices in management research.
- Evaluate and integrate theory: Use theoretical frameworks to shape and assess your research design.
- Boost your research confidence: Gain practical experience that prepares you for your MSc dissertation and beyond.
Consumer Behaviour (5 ECTS)
Explore the deeper meaning behind what, how and why people consume. Drawing on sociology, psychology, anthropology and culture, this module helps you uncover the social and emotional forces that drive buying decisions. You'll develop the critical tools to understand consumer identity, challenge assumptions, and apply these insights to shape impactful marketing strategies.
How this fits your MSc journey: Builds the strategic insight needed to connect consumer behaviour with marketing innovation in a culturally and ethically informed way.
Learning outcomes:
- Apply diverse theories: Use a broad range of behavioural and cultural concepts to analyse consumption.
- Link behaviour to strategy: Evaluate how consumer insights inform effective marketing decisions.
- Understand culture's role: Explore how identity, lifestyle and society influence consumer choices.
- Research with rigour: Build skills for investigating real-world consumer behaviour.
- Think critically: Reflect on the wider social, political and environmental impact of life in consumer culture.
Brand Management (ECTS 5)
Build brands that matter. Go beyond logos and taglines to understand how meaning, culture and storytelling shape brand power. In this module, you’ll learn how to craft brands that resonate deeply, create loyal communities and drive cultural relevance across industries.
How this fits your MSc journey: Develops strategic and creative skills essential for building impactful, future-facing brands in a competitive global market.
Learning outcomes:
- Master branding tools: Apply key frameworks to position, manage and grow successful brands.
- Think culturally: Understand how identity, society and culture shape brand meaning.
- Use cutting-edge methods: Employ advanced brand strategies to engage diverse audiences across contexts.
- Apply in practice: Gain real-world skills for designing and executing brand strategies.
- Reflect critically: Evaluate branding’s impact through a social, political and environmental lens.
Digital Marketing Communication (5 ECTS)
Harness the full power of digital to connect, convert and grow. This module equips you to craft compelling content, design data-driven campaigns, and drive brand impact across digital platforms. You'll explore the psychology behind engagement, work with digital tools, and develop strategies that resonate with today’s connected consumer.
How this fits your MSc journey: Provides hands-on expertise in digital channels and campaign design,critical for any modern marketing or brand leadership role.
Learning outcomes:
- Navigate digital channels: Understand how to effectively use the full range of digital marketing platforms.
- Build customer insight: Create detailed digital personas and sharpen your value proposition.
- Write to resonate: Master the principles of persuasive, emotionally intelligent digital copywriting.
- Scale with creators: Develop influencer and content strategies that drive brand growth.
- Create strategic content: Plan and deliver end-to-end content marketing campaigns that perform.
Marketing Design Consultancy Project (ECTS 10)
Work hands-on with a real client to co-create sustainable marketing solutions. This project-based module blends consultancy practice, design thinking and marketing strategy to help you tackle live challenges with creativity and critical insight. You'll learn how to frame problems, shape strategies and deliver impactful, actionable recommendations.
How this fits your MSc journey: Integrates marketing, design and entrepreneurship, giving you real-world experience and a portfolio-ready consultancy project.
Learning outcomes:
- Deliver client-ready solutions: Develop and present a tailored marketing strategy for a real organisation.
- Apply theory to practice: Use cutting-edge research and sustainability principles to inform strategic recommendations.
- Think like a consultant: Master key tools in marketing, design and project management for real-world problem solving.
- Collaborate and lead: Build effective teamworking, communication and stakeholder engagement skills.
- Drive change creatively: Combine critical thinking with design thinking to develop go-to-market strategies that create lasting impact.
Digital Business Models (5 ECTS)
Explore how digital technologies reshape industries, disrupt competition, and unlock new value. This module equips you with the tools to understand, analyse and design business models fit for the digital age—whether for startups, pure-players or digitally transforming incumbents.
How this fits your MSc journey: Strengthens your ability to evaluate digital strategy, helping you design forward-looking models that drive long-term marketing and business success.
Learning outcomes:
- Understand digital-first models: Identify the defining traits of modern digital business models.
- Tackle operational realities: Explore the challenges of maintaining high-performance digital operations.
- Analyse real-world cases: Apply consulting frameworks to evaluate and improve business models.
- Collaborate strategically: Work in teams to develop insights and solve business model challenges.
- Think ahead: Develop a future-oriented mindset to diagnose and reimagine digital value creation.
E-Commerce (5 ECTS)
Understand what makes online businesses thrive. This module provides a hands-on look at how retailers succeed in the digital space, covering strategy, platforms, consumer behaviour, and the KPIs that matter. Learn how to build conversion-driven online experiences and apply eCommerce principles to real business contexts.
How this fits your MSc journey: Connects digital marketing strategy directly to commercial outcomes, equipping you with practical tools to drive measurable growth.
Learning outcomes:
- Master eCommerce essentials: Evaluate key concepts within the broader digital marketing landscape.
- Drive success factors: Identify the strategies and technologies behind high-performing online retail.
- Navigate operational realities: Understand the legal, logistical and organisational aspects of running an eCommerce business.
- Leverage platforms effectively: Explore the role of marketplaces like Amazon and eBay in shaping global commerce.
- Adapt to consumer power: Analyse how shifting buyer behaviour influences online retail strategy.
Sales Management (5 ECTS)
Master the art and science of selling in a digital-first world. Learn how to lead high-performing sales teams, convert leads into loyal customers, and navigate shifting buyer behaviours with proven, real-world strategies. Gain practical skills in SPIN selling, sales pipeline management, and go-to-market execution.
How this fits your MSc journey: Build strategic sales capabilities and leadership insight essential for driving business growth in modern markets.
Learning outcomes:
- Apply modern selling techniques: Use proven frameworks like SPIN selling to convert leads into opportunities.
- Understand evolving buyer behaviour: Analyse how technology and shifting preferences shape customer engagement.
- Lead with purpose and ethics: Evaluate the role of leadership and ethical decision-making in sales performance.
- Bridge sales and marketing: Examine how alignment drives value throughout the customer journey.
- Design effective go-to-market strategies: Craft integrated sales and marketing plans that deliver results.
Dissertation or Company Project (ECTS 30)
Bring your learning to life with a self-directed research or consultancy experience that reflects your personal interests and professional ambitions. Choose between a traditional academic dissertation or a company-based project, both designed to test your ability to think critically, work independently, and apply advanced marketing knowledge in a meaningful way.
How this fits your MSc journey: Serves as the final, integrative challenge of your degree, demonstrating your capacity for research, strategic thinking, and real-world application.
Learning outcomes:
- Frame a research challenge: Define and contextualise a relevant academic or business question with clear motivation and purpose.
- Draw on the literature: Critically engage with academic theory and practitioner sources to underpin your work.
- Design the right method: Select and justify research approaches that align with your goals and data needs.
- Analyse with insight: Collect and interpret primary or secondary data to deliver evidence-based conclusions.
- Manage independently: Plan and execute a substantial project with autonomy and professionalism.
- Deliver impact: Produce a polished dissertation or report that meets academic standards and/or adds value to a partner organisation.