Marketing (Masters) old | University of Bedfordshire

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About the course

At the University of Bedfordshire we see the marketer’s role as that of a change maker able to respond agilely across many contexts and platforms in an increasingly global market. This course strengthens your ability to lead tactically strategically and creatively as an inspirational marketing professional.

Marketing today calls for a wide reach: you need to feel confident in the core aspects such as brand engagement reputational management and consumer behaviour while also being able to analyse data spot data patterns and plan creatively to respond to them answering questions like ‘How do I inspire the digital consumer?’

On this course you develop the skills required to adopt appropriate strategic responses to different market environments particularly when it comes to using branding to compete internationally. You also examine more nuanced aspects of marketing such as purpose and ethics; the management and development of people in cross-cultural organisations; and environmental issues.

Every taught unit on this course is delivered in a six-week block with six entry points through the year allowing you to start at a time that suits you.

Intermediate qualifications available:

Postgraduate diploma – 120 credits at Master’s level

Why choose this course?

Gain an appreciation of the integrated nature of marketing communications across a variety of channels and contexts
Study aspects of global brand communications and reputation; marketing in the digital landscape; intercultural issues in marketing; and strategy and brand management
Undertake a placement with the opportunity to work on a live project
Improve your team-working self-management negotiation skills confidence and ability to apply critical and creative thinking to complex and unclear problems
Benefit from studying with a Business School that has partners across the world increasing your opportunities to develop essential cross-cultural perspectives

What will you study?

Performance Achievement Planning

This short course is a professional development course that is designed to support all PG students in the University of Bedfordshire Business School to enhance their employability and develop a professional profile through their journey in the Masters. The specific aims are to:

Enhance students’ professional, personal development and communication skills.
To support students to evidence how their experience at masters level has contributed to the development of their professional profile as required after graduation.
To support students to develop the necessary academic skill required for successful completion of postgraduate research

Brand Communication And Reputation Management

The central aim of this Unit is to provide you with a thorough understanding of the role that Communications plays within the marketing strategy of any organisation and be able to critically analyse and reflect upon the relationship between buyer behaviour and the development of a Marketing Communications Strategy. The unit will enable you to understand the main functions of the marketing communications mix including key areas of integrated marketing communications systems: public relations, advertising, and digital media. In addition, the unit will seek to develop a critical appreciation of the role of Public Relations and Digital Marketing as a key tool for ‘reputation management’ and the mechanisms for developing successful digital campaigns.

Intercultural Business Competencies

Aims:

To appraise and develop writing and written communication skills appropriate to a manager

To evaluate team building and interpersonal skills and critically analyse and employ non-verbal and verbal communication and listening skills

To integrate cultural frameworks with theories from other disciplines in producing a justification for propositions or ventures

To investigate developments in international business, focusing on issues of polarity, dependence and interdependence in respect of socialization processes and interaction rules that foster a normative basis for interdependency

To critically evaluate personal models of effectiveness in management contexts

To identify, reflect upon and evidence key areas for your personal development

Relevance:

International business demands managing strategies in international markets, with considerations of interdependencies of intercultural competence in managing differences in interpersonal interactions, which is key for successful business operations.

In this unit you will evaluate the major dimensions of the international markets and the different strategies. You will explore the application of oral and written communication theories within the context of a technological and international business environment. Additionally, you will demonstrate expertise in formulating and evaluating business strategies for different business environments.

Emphasis is placed on developing your competences as an international manager. You will determine key aspects of the work environment and its implications for interactive work behaviour.

Excellent high performing international marketing managers exhibit self-awareness and engage in decision making with an understanding of their own and others’ capabilities. These abilities enable visionary approaches to problem solving and effective development of others. This unit gives you the opportunity to better understand your personal performance, get insight into working in international markets and across cultures, manage yourself effectively and become a more reflective learner.

This will help prepare you for the ever-changing and increasingly global working environment.

Marketing And The Digital Future

Digital marketing has become an increasingly vital ingredient for business success. Organisations that neglect their digital marketing activities and operations are doomed to failure.

Digital platforms are not only revolutionising marketing, but creating new business models and new methods of social interaction. This unit explores the effects on management, business, economics, sociology and ethics.

For organisations some of the key questions are: what do my customers want; how do potential and actual customers view my offering; how do I make my product or service different; how much shall I charge for it and where/how do I 'talk about' it and make it available?

All of these questions are of course posed in a context of competition and in a political, economic, socio-cultural and technological framework that is constantly evolving. The motto for organisations often is 'change or die'. A key component of any digital marketing is the ability to communicate effectively online via social media, thus bringing together new technological developments as well as economic, sociological and political changes combined with the extent to which academic theory matches practice.

The unit therefore aims to engage you with a critical understanding of 21st century digital marketing and communication in practice.

Strategy And Brand Management

In today’s global economy a strategic approach is vital for both companies and organisations in order to compete and reach their goals. The unit introduces you to the marketing strategy concept at functional and corporate levels by critically reviewing theoretical models as well as practical associations. Following the premise of the brand as a main strategic asset, the unit will guide you through brand management by identifying the brand as the knowledge bridge between the costumer and the company.

Business Dissertation

Aims:

To bring theory and practice together to formulate a topic of your interest whether it is a research-oriented topic or a more clinical topic that is relevant to the context of business and conduct research on your choice of topic relevant to your field of study
To stimulate you to reflect on issues critically and to identify aspects that need further research
To provide you with the opportunity to explore a topic and appreciate the importance of literature review in the learning process
To critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of other people’s research to formulate your own study
To enhance skills in time-management, research management, project organisation and decision-making
To apply and reflect on the practicalities of research including access to sources and ethical considerations

Relevance

An important aim of a Master’s degree is to master and apply your knowledge and skills independently so that you can successfully carry out research. This dissertation provides you with the opportunity for sustained independent study that builds on your research proposal and represents the culmination of your Master’s level studies.

Strategy

The aims of the Unit are:

To enable students to develop a critical and informed understanding of the business environment in which organisations operate and of the business opportunities.
To equip students with a range of tools and concepts of strategic analysis and business modelling that will enable them to assess the strategic position of business organisations.
To develop strategic thinking and vision that can be utilised in formulating strategies, evaluating options and implementing strategic decisions

Capstone

The aims of the Unit are:

To bring theory and practice together to formulate a topic of your choice relevant to your field of study
To provide you with the opportunity to explore a topic and appreciate the importance of literature review in the learning process
To reflect on research methodology and implement the suitable approach for the selected research
To enhance skills in time-management, research management, project organisation and decision-making for a relevant research outcome
To apply and reflect on the practicalities of research including access to sources and ethical consideration

How will you be assessed?

A range of assessments are used on this course including:

Written Examination or Class Test
Individual Written Report or Essays
Case Study Examination
Oral Presentation
Reflective Report
Dissertation / Professional Practice / Live Project Risk Assessment statement

To protect the integrity of our awards for any submission we may use one or more of the following to ensure that a student is submitting their own work:

Submission of your work to Turnitin or other software for similarity checks
Recorded or non-recorded review of draft work with a tutor in formative sessions
Viva voce examination; you may be asked to discuss aspects of your submission and/or to provide evidence of draft work. A viva will follow the procedures set out in the Quality Handbook.

We recognise that formative feedback is essential to supporting you to submit your best attempt. Formative feedback can take many different forms but may include:

In-class exercises exploring aspects of the assignment with feedback given collectively or individually during the class
Assessment brief dialogue
Zero-rated assignments that should be completed but carry no formal mark
The opportunity to informally submit part of the work for brief comments from your tutor
A document in the unit Assessment & Feedback folder that reflects on common errors on similar assignments
Assignment Q&A sessions
Summative and formative feedback from preceding units

Careers

On successful completion this course opens up a world of career opportunities in the public private and not-for-profit sectors from large global organisations to small and medium enterprises nationally and locally. You may also wish to work freelance or set up your own agency.

You will have the skills to follow a career in brand management; advertising; sales; account management; media management; media buying; marketing research; or public relations.

You will also be well prepared for further academic study at MPhil or PhD level.

Entry Requirements

2.2 honours degree or equivalent in a related subject area2.2 honours degree or equivalent in a related subject area2.2 honours degree or equivalent in a related subject area

Entry Requirements

2.2 honours degree or equivalent in a related subject area2.2 honours degree or equivalent in a related subject area2.2 honours degree or equivalent in a related subject area2.2 honours degree or equivalent in a related subject area2.2 honours degree or equivalent in a related subject area

Entry Requirements

2.2 honours degree or equivalent in a related subject area

Entry Requirements

2.2 honours degree or equivalent in a related subject area2.2 honours degree or equivalent in a related subject area

Fees for this course

UK

The full-time standard fee for a taught Master's degree for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £10,000 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees and living costs. Visit www.gov.uk/postgraduate-loan

Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding, please email admission@beds.ac.uk