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Marketing Communications Management

MSc

Key facts
Overview
How to apply
Tuition fees
Learning and assessment
Research
After you graduate
Our Staff

Key facts

Start dates

September 2023

Location

Headington

Course length

Full time: 1 year or 2 years in sandwich mode which includes one year's full-time paid supervised work experience (a work placement). Sandwich mode is only available for September entry.

Part time: MSc: 24 months for UK and EU students (teaching normally structured to provide one whole day or two half days each week in the semester)

Department

Oxford Brookes Business School

Accreditation(s)

Chartered Institute of Marketing, Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing

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  • Chartered Institute of Marketing
  • Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing

Overview

Develop your knowledge and skills with our Marketing Communications Management MSc. 

This is a conversion course designed for students with limited marketing experience. However, if you have some marketing background you can develop your knowledge and skills particularly in the following areas:

  • brand communication strategies
  • the use of branded and content management
  • and the more traditional methods such as advertising and public relations.

You will work on live projects for real clients. And if you start in September you can opt to take a year's paid supervised work placement in a marketing role. This work experience you will prepare you for your future career in areas such as:

  • advertising 
  • public relations 
  • social media marketing
  • influencer marketing 
  • branded content
  • content marketing 
  • media planning. 

View our work placement FAQs here.

Our graduates have found employment with large brands such as; Amazon, Jaguar, KPMG and LinkedIn. As well as agencies such as; BBDO, Havas, JWT and M&C Saatchi.

This course is now closed for January 2023 entry

Female student looking at phone in the courtyard

How to apply

Entry requirements

Specific entry requirements

This programme is designed to attract students from a wide range of backgrounds, disciplines and nationalities. Applicants are welcome from any academic discipline. Admission is normally open to those with:

  • a minimum of a second-class honours degree
  • or equivalent overseas degree from a recognised institution
  • or equivalent professional or other qualification.

Those who do not meet any of the above criteria may be eligible for entry, provided they have compensatory work experience. This should include, in particular, further professional training and accreditation and the demonstration of appropriate career development. 

Entry will also be subject to two satisfactory references (one of these must be an academic reference).

Please also see the University's general entry requirements.

English language requirements

If English is not your first language you will need to satisfy the university's English language requirements:

  • IELTS minimum 6.0 (with a minimum of 6.0 in reading and writing and 5.5 in listening and speaking)
  • if you have completed your undergraduate degree in the UK (at least one full year of study) you will automatically meet our English language requirements.

Please also see the University's standard English language requirements.

International qualifications and equivalences

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English requirements for visas

If you need a student visa to enter the UK you will need to meet the UK Visas and Immigration minimum language requirements as well as the University's requirements. Find out more about English language requirements.

Pathways courses for international and EU students

We offer a range of courses to help you meet the entry requirements for your postgraduate course and also familiarise you with university life in the UK.

Take a Pre-Master's course to develop your subject knowledge, study skills and academic language level in preparation for your master's course.

If you need to improve your English language, we offer pre-sessional English language courses to help you meet the English language requirements of your chosen master’s course.

Terms and Conditions of Enrolment

When you accept our offer, you agree to the Terms and Conditions of Enrolment. You should therefore read those conditions before accepting the offer.

Application process

Apply now

Tuition fees

Please see the fees note
Home (UK) full time
£10,400
Home (UK) part time
£5,200
Home (UK) sandwich (placement)
£2,000
International full time
£16,200
International sandwich (placement)
£2,000
Home (UK) full time
£10,800
Home (UK) part time
£5,400
Home (UK) sandwich (placement)
£2,000
International full time
£16,800
International sandwich (placement)
£2,000

Questions about fees?

Contact Student Finance on:

financefees@brookes.ac.uk

Tuition fees

2022 / 23
Home (UK) full time
£10,400
Home (UK) part time
£5,200
Home (UK) sandwich (placement)
£2,000
International full time
£16,200
International sandwich (placement)
£2,000
2023 / 24
Home (UK) full time
£10,800
Home (UK) part time
£5,400
Home (UK) sandwich (placement)
£2,000
International full time
£16,800
International sandwich (placement)
£2,000

Questions about fees?

Contact Student Finance on:

+44 (0)1865 483088

financefees@brookes.ac.uk

The full-time fees quoted are for the taught Year 1. Fees will be charged for the placement year in Year 2 and are available on request from finance-fees@brookes.ac.uk. For approximate fee levels of the placement year see the placement fee above.

Additional costs

Please be aware that some courses will involve some additional costs that are not covered by your fees. Specific additional costs for this course are detailed below.

Funding your studies

Financial support and scholarships

Featured funding opportunities available for this course.

Postgraduate Master's Loan - England

All financial support and scholarships

View all funding opportunities for this course

Learning and assessment

You will study a series of compulsory modules, including a module which will help you develop your professional and academic skills. You then choose either a dissertation or client project. 

If you start in September, you can choose the sandwich mode, which gives you the opportunity to apply for one year's paid supervised work experience in a marketing role. 

Lecturer presenting to class

Start this course in January

You have the option to start this course in January. You will study a range of modules between January and May. During the summer months of June, July and August you will study further modules and begin work on your dissertation. Between September and December you will complete your final modules and focus on your dissertation.

Find out more about January entry

Study modules

Taught modules

Compulsory modules

Introduction to the Principles of Marketing

This module introduces the key principles of marketing by studying the theories that underpin the subject. You will explore the roles of buyers, the marketing environment, and the ways in which marketers plan, manage, implement and monitor marketing programmes in the context of the international environment of the 21st century.

Understanding Customer Behaviour

You will critically appraise the behaviours of customers and their interactions with marketing. Informed by behavioural science, you will analyse why customers behave as they do and how marketing activity influences their behaviours. This analysis informs your critical understanding and implementation of both strategic and responsible marketing practice. An innovative dimension of this course is the investigation of change agents that will significantly influence the behaviours of customers in the future, for example neuroscience, climate change and technology innovation. This is an analytical module that utilises research evidence to inform evaluation, behavioural and communications research.

Research Methods for Events and Marketing

This module delivers the skills that enable you to conduct marketing research independently. Students on the MSc programmes are expected to undertake effective research drawing upon a range of secondary and primary data sources in the preparation of coursework. It is important that you are exposed to a range of methodological issues, data collection techniques and study skills. In addition, this module is geared towards the preparation for, and successful completion of, high quality, rigorous and systematic research for business and management.

Professional and Academic Development

This professional and academic skills development module helps you to become a lifelong learner, develop career focus and enhances your employability. Starting with a focus on how to achieve your best academically, you then develop your skills for employment and career planning. You will work through a self-development plan, taking the lead in your own learning and development. You will be coached in identifying, engaging in and reflecting on how you can gain from developmental activities within the university and externally.

Strategic Brand Management

You will examine how brands are created and successfully managed. You will explore the latest research and practice in strategic brand management and focus on innovative approaches to new product development. Key ethical, environmental and socio-cultural implications for contemporary brand management are analysed within regional, national and global contexts. The latest research and practice in strategic brand management and the use of social media and digital communications technology, is investigated. On completing this module, you will have gained an advanced knowledge of the latest tools, techniques and broader societal implications of contemporary strategic brand management.

Brand and Marketing Communications

You will explore the role and usage of contemporary brand and marketing communications and the fundamental insight that an organisation's brand strategy needs to be at the heart of all its marketing communications activities. A professional and ethically responsible focus will help you to consider multiple stakeholders' needs – eg consumers, businesses, the media, pressure groups – in a global context. A broad range of marketing communications channels and tools will be critically assessed. This includes advertising, public relations, sponsorship and digital marketing communications. Creative and strategic insights from current practice will help your understanding and application of marketing communications skills.

Content Marketing Management

This module investigates the concepts of branded content and content marketing. You will particularly focus on the role and application of content marketing as a new managerial approach in marketing communications. The module critically examines the fundamental paradigm shift within the marketing communications landscape from push to pull marketing which has led to the rise of branded content and content marketing. Furthermore, this module clarifies what differentiates branded content and content marketing from other key marketing communications concepts and management approaches. You will learn to develop ethically responsible content marketing management practices across a variety of sectors and consider multiple stakeholders on a regional, national and international level.

Digital and Social Media Marketing Strategy

Digital technologies have transformed marketing, they offer new sources of customer insight, they have dramatically changed customer behaviour, enabled new business models and impacted how organisations interact with their customers and key stakeholders. This module aims to take a strategic perspective of the digital and social media environment. It focuses on the interaction between consumers, businesses and other organisations and how thinking digitally can assist in effective marketing. Web based media, mobile platforms, social media and digital tools are reviewed, practised and critically evaluated to identify successful performance and to create contemporary digital marketing strategies.

Final project - choose one of:

Compulsory modules

Dissertation

The dissertation is an opportunity for you to explore and develop expertise in marketing communications. You are encouraged to choose a topic that will be valuable in your future career. This is a self-managed activity, with you driving your own research project, with guidance and advice by a supervisor, based on the proposal developed in the Research Methods in Marketing module.

Client Project

You have the opportunity to link theory to practice by analysing a real organisational issue. Having identified a project (with the approval of both the client company and the Module Leader) you investigate a particular issue, one that can be supported through the relevant literature and by conducting primary research with the client. This module is not an internship but can be taken in conjunction with an internship you have identified and are participating in. The 'issue' in question may be current management problem for the client organisation or related to future strategic choices. The Client Project provides you with a significant learning and personal development experience.

Work placement

Optional modules

Marketing Practice (sandwich mode)

This module is a great opportunity to gain one year’s supervised full time paid work experience in the UK or internationally in a marketing role. You will investigate a marketing  challenge in a commercial or non-profit organisation. Throughout this placement, you apply the practical concepts you are learning on the course. When you are working for the organisation, you will be responsible for managing a large proportion of your own learning, including tracking and recording your progress.

We provide lots of support to help you find a paid work experience and gain connections with various organisations. Our placements team (WAVES) has a database which records work placement opportunities and they run numerous placements fairs where you could meet potential employers. Securing a work experience placement is your responsibility and does take a lot of effort, but this gives you valuable experience. You would need to cover your own living and travel costs throughout this duration.

Please note: As our courses are reviewed regularly as part of our quality assurance framework, the modules you can choose from may vary from those shown here. The structure of the course may also mean some modules are not available to you.

Download course structure chart

Learning and teaching

Most of the teaching on this course takes the form of interactive workshops. You will strengthen your practical analysis and decision-making skills with:

  • lectures
  • discussions
  • role-play exercises.

These are linked with selected case studies and assessments.

Structured group assignments allow you to develop your skills in working as part of a team.

Your final project, a dissertation or client project will allow you to develop specialist skills and knowledge in an area of particular interest.

Our teaching staff are engaged in academic research or come from an industry background. You also will meet top marketing professionals and learn from visiting speakers from business and industry. Recent guest speakers have included representatives from:

  • Rolls Royce
  • Tesco
  • the Branded Context Marketing Association
  • the Chartered Institute of Marketing
  • Ipsos MORI
  • Fremantle (The X Factor)
  • Oxfam
  • Amazon
  • Lego
  • Facebook.


 

Field trips

The International Business in Practice Study Trip module allows you to experience ideas and practices of global business. During the trip you will have direct interaction with management executives and practices. You will: attend presentations from local management executives and experts go on site visits to major corporations and agencies. This study trip is voluntary and you will need to fund all costs associated with the trip. It is not linked to university assessments in any way.

We also run a study trip to Chengdu, China. If you choose the study trip (which runs in July), we will give you all the details by March so that you can make your decisions ahead of the trip in July.

If you successfully complete this non-credit bearing module, it will be recorded on your transcript as P58335 International Business in Practice: Study Trip.

Assessment

Assessment methods used on this course

You will be assessed in a number of ways which will encourage your creativity. These include: 

  • individual and group reports and presentations
  • Portfolios
  • reflective statements
  • examinations 
  • open briefs. 

You'll be encouraged to work in teams to facilitate and enhance your own and collective learning. Group work is assessed through two modules.

Classroom activities will prepare you for the assessment process. This is through structured engagement with both peer and tutor feedback. You will be supported by a tutor in a supervisor role, who will provide regular feedback on your progress. 

Research

Studying for your MSc in Marketing or Events Management at Oxford Brookes Business School offers you a first class experience to engage with our excellent researchers. They investigate core challenges facing contemporary societies, ranging from sustainable tourism and events management to pro-environmental behaviour in a changing world. We also have expertise in Coaching and Mentoring (leadership development) and Diversity (gender, ethnicity, class) and are keen to include students into our projects where possible. Please visit our research pages to learn about our three research centres: The Centre for Business, Society and Global Challenges; The Centre for Diversity Policy Research and Practice and the International Centre for Coaching and Mentoring Studies (https://www.brookes.ac.uk/business/research/). Being a master student offers great opportunities to be part of research culture and to discuss your own research ideas with us. 

Researcher using a laptop in a quiet space

After you graduate

Career prospects

The MSc Marketing Communications Management Programme provides essential knowledge through the core modules:

  • Introduction to the Principles of Marketing
  • Understanding Customer Behaviour
  • Digital and Social Media Marketing Strategy
  • Research Methods for Events
  • Marketing and Professional and Academic Development.


The programme further develops specialist content through: 

  • Brands and Marketing Communications,
  • Strategic Brand Management
  • Content Marketing Management
  • Dissertation or Client Project.


This learning enables our graduates to choose career pathways in a range of marketing generalist and specialist areas as follows:

Marketing/Business Sector (which covers both Business to Business and Business to Customer disciplines)

  • Marketing Communications
  • Communications Agencies (e.g. Advertising, PR, Media, Digital, Integrated, Social Media)
  • Market/ Marketing Research
  • Business Consultancy
  • Retailing (online/ offline)
  • Customer Relationship Management
  • Ethical/ Green Marketing
  • Non- Profit Organisations
  • International Marketing

Employers include:

  • Johnson & Johnson
  • Hitachi
  • DK
  • Avis
  • PWC
  • Nielsen

Our graduates positions in marketing communications are:

  • communications manager
  • advertising manager
  • public relations executive
  • media planner
  • media buyer
  • content marketing executive
  • marketing researcher
  • customer relationship manager
  • strategic planner
  • creative planner
  • partnership manager,
  • sponsorship coordinator
  • account manager
  • social media executive
  • sales manager

These roles are across commercial and non-commercial sectors as well as communications agencies. In addition, some of our students go on to start their own companies..

We have strong relationships with companies in a range of industries that inform the programme design and delivery, and provide opportunities for placements and employment. Our Careers Service helps students gain the ‘competitive edge’ when applying for jobs by offering help with CVs, and mock assessment centres and interviews.

Our Staff

Dr Bjoern Asmussen

Bjoern has developed and teaches several modules on brand management and marketing communications which involve collaborations with Rolls-Royce, Lego, Amazon, Facebook and more.

Read more about Bjoern
Left
Right

Dr Bjoern Asmussen

Bjoern has developed and teaches several modules on brand management and marketing communications which involve collaborations with Rolls-Royce, Lego, Amazon, Facebook and more.

Read more about Bjoern

Programme changes:
On rare occasions we may need to make changes to our course programmes after they have been published on the website. For more information, please visit our changes to programmes page.