BA (Hons) Digital Marketing (with Foundation Year)

You’ll look at finance for marketing and focus on its importance in a variety of business contexts. You will learn how to interpret and analyse simple financial statements in order to assess an organisation's performance and its financial strength. You’ll understand the basics of planning and budgeting, as well as short-term decision making. You’ll also develop confidence in your ability to deal with the internal and external financial information that is important to marketing.

This module will support your transition from your school/college to studying an honours level undergraduate course. Through the lens of real business problems, you will acquire the necessary research, critical analysis, team working and communication skills that will be the foundation of your academic and future professional success. You’ll have the opportunity to develop your skills in specific areas, based on tutor feedback. This module will prepare you for your other first year modules, helping you to flourish in an academic environment.

You will gain the key management and leadership skills you’ll need in a marketing environment. You will actively engage with the study of key management and leadership approaches by being exposed to the essential characteristics of organisations operating in a global context and the role of management within this.

You will also explore the functions of business, their interrelatedness and the impact of management and leadership styles on their operations. By examining how theoretical concepts and frameworks are applied in practice, you will be exposed to a number of different scenarios which will build your awareness of how management decision making impacts business performance. You'll also look at and learn the skills successful managers and leaders use to meet the challenges of a dynamic marketing environment.

This is your introduction to the general principles of marketing. Through practical activities supported by lectures, you will learn to apply the tools and techniques used by professional marketers. You’ll gain understanding and appreciate the inter-relationships between different marketing and business concepts and be able to build upon the knowledge you develop in your subsequent second year modules.

To understand customer needs and market trends is intrinsic to the success of any business. On this module, you will look at the concepts and tools required by professional marketers to understand customer and market needs, including a brief overview of consumer behaviour. Through traditional and contemporary techniques, you’ll explore the process of marketing research and its role in gaining understanding of consumers and markets to meet organisational objectives.

You’ll learn the academic concepts underlying marketing research and develop practical research and analytical skills. You will gain sufficient grounding in marketing research techniques and data analysis, and its interpretation, to enable you to carry out projects involving marketing research and data analysis.

You are the marketers of tomorrow, so it is key you understand and are able to respond to the ethical and environmental sustainability challenges that will be faced. As such, your learning is tied to the Business School’s commitment to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management.

You will discuss the meaning of ethical marketing and key environmental issues, such as:

• global warming
• pollution
• biodiversity loss
• freshwater depletion.

You'll examine the role of marketing in causing, as well as responding to, such issues. You’ll look at a variety of stakeholder perspectives and frameworks to aid the analysis of marketing responses.

The communications environment is rapidly changing and you’ll look at contemporary approaches to integrated marketing communications in a wide range of contexts. You’ll also be introduced to digital asset management as a concept for curation of digital artefacts and assets in the context of marketing communications. This will build your understanding of marketing communicative methods.

You’ll develop your skills to identify and evaluate the latest developments in digital consumer behaviour, including emerging consumer behaviour trends across different consumption contexts. You’ll progress your application of appropriate research methods and tools to collect your findings.

You’ll progress your existing marketing and business knowledge into the sphere of product branding (physical goods, services, and business to business). You’ll look at contemporary brand literature, both academic and professional, which will build your understanding of the brand knowledge that underpins the core themes you will cover. You will investigate the function of brand management within the various stages of the brand positioning process, such as

• brand analysis
• strategy development
• implementation.

This is your introduction to marketing consultancy, through action (or experiential) based learning methods. In action learning, you’ll be part of a team to solve a real and relevant problem for a client. Through this approach to learning, you’ll experience and analyse marketing as it happens in a work-based context.

In the lectures, you’ll develop marketing theory, skills and knowledge to support you in the second part of the module (i.e. workshops, lab work and field work) to work on behalf of a client organisation.

You'll get to grips with social media marketing. You'll learn how and why it has become one of the most important tools used by businesses to find and engage with customers and the increasingly key role that Influencer Marketing plays. Through both a strategic and practical approach, you will build a Social Media and Influencer Marketing Plan for a real business. This will help you to gain an understanding of:

• the changing face of Social Media and Influencer Marketing
• how to choose and find influencers
• how to use influencers to improve customer engagement and ultimately drive sales.

This is your introduction to the world of digital marketing in a global context. It builds on your earlier module, Contemporary Marketing Communications, and will help give you insights into a range of contexts, including mobile advertising, in-game advertising and user generated advertising.

This will help to prepare you for your final year modules and will also enhance your employability skills with the opportunity for you to engage with practical and written assessments linked to creative industry scenarios.

This is your introduction to the nature, scope and characteristics of the various marketing and sales strategies used in the retail industry. You'll explore how these strategies are evolving, in line with changing customer buying habits and expectations.

You will look at the drivers impacting on the sector and the interaction between digital platforms and physical outlets, combined with new technologies, to enhance the customer experience and bring new efficiencies to retail sales and marketing. You’ll build your knowledge of how these various factors can combine to create the ideal Omnichannel retail experience for the customer.

On this placement, you will be able to access a 40-52 week work-based learning or placement opportunity to help develop your employability and enterprise skills. You will gain first-hand knowledge and experience of making applications to, and working in, a placement role. You will set your own work-based targets and reflect upon your progress in the role you have on your placement. Halfway through your placement, you will make a presentation to your line manager and placement tutor which summarises your gained knowledge on your placement and the tasks you have/will complete in your placement role.

This is an opportunity for you to study Business topics abroad in order to experience a different national, educational and business culture and to build on your knowledge, understanding, skills and competencies you have acquired during the earlier part of your course. This will help you to develop those skills to a higher level and to acquire new skills. All the topics studied will be relevant to your degree.

You will undertake an international study exchange at a university outside the UK, arranged by the University’s exchanges office. This international study exchange lasts for one academic year and is taken after the conclusion of your second year of studies (Level 5).

This 24-week placement is your opportunity to develop your employability and enterprise skills, within the UK or Europe. You will gain first-hand knowledge and experience of making applications to, and working in, a placement role. You will set your work-based targets and reflect upon your success in your placement role. At the end of the placement, you will make a presentation to your line manager and placement tutor which summarises the knowledge and skills you have developed on your placement.

This module aims to begin to develop Pre-Master’s students’ academic reading, research and critical thinking skills in preparation for postgraduate study and to support the development of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) literacy skills.

The three main purposes of the module are to:

1. begin to develop academic reading skills to prepare for postgraduate study in the UK
2. to begin to develop skills in locating, evaluating and using appropriate sources with appropriate citation, and
3. to begin to develop the skill of responding critically to the content and context of reading.

Harness your knowledge of brands, communication strategies and business types gained through your degree. This module will help you to understand your potential future career paths, based on your strengths, skills and interests. You’ll get the support to be focused, differentiated and successful in planning your future career, through developing your:

• personal brand purpose
• brand story
• brand communication plan.

You'll do this in a way that is consistent and authentic. You’ll also look at theoretical and professional perspectives relating to management, professional ethics and other areas relevant to careers in business, marketing, events and more.

You'll look at the emerging digital environment and future trends, which will help you to develop a critical understanding of the research and practice trajectory of digital marketing. You’ll also progress your critical understanding of how consumers engage with brands online and the ethical dilemmas that may require critical consideration with the further adoption of future digital developments.

Big data is generated from various sources, including social media, websites, mobile devices, and customer interactions. In today's competitive market, the application of harnessing big data is highly useful.

This module is your introduction to harnessing big data, and how it can be used in a marketing context. You will look at data collection, storage, and processing, as well as data mining and machine learning techniques for marketing applications. You’ll also learn how to analyse large datasets to gain insights into consumer behaviour and preferences, and how to use these insights to inform marketing strategies.

You will focus on the use of social media platforms as a key part of digital marketing strategies. You’ll actively engage with current trends of social media management by evaluating relevant social media campaigns and applying learned theories and approaches to understand their effectiveness. This will help you think critically about how to design, plan and manage successful social media campaigns. You will also critically evaluate and implement various stages of managing social media platforms for marketing purposes.

Enhance your ability to design, plan, and execute marketing campaigns that are both evidence based and practical. You'll undertake academic research through a literature review, critically assessing theory and marketing trends to inform strategic campaign development. Alongside this research, you'll put your insights into practice by responding to live client briefs from guest speakers in the marketing industry.

The authentic, real-world briefs will cover a variety of sectors and marketing types, including B2C, agencies and social marketing, offering you first-hand experience of professional marketing challenges. You'll develop professional skills in pitching, presenting, and communicating ideas effectively to stakeholders.

By combining academic research with practical campaign development and direct engagement with industry, you'll be equipped to perform confidently in professional marketing roles, showcasing both strategic insight and practical skills.

Through this module you'll take a comprehensive and critical examination of the principles, theories, and practices central to marketing sport sponsorship. You'll learn how to design and execute partnerships to meet key branding, communication, and engagement goals. Examining in detail, sponsorship as a core marketing communication function.

You’ll receive appropriate supervision and guidance as you study a topic in depth that you have selected from your course. You will engage in research and employ methodologies which will progress your understanding of the process of research. You’ll also use material that is at the forefront of the topic you’ve selected.

Marketing Analytics uses data and advanced methods to solve marketing and business problems. It is one of the fastest growing areas of application and as a consequence, competition and value generation has moved quite fast from the use of general theories towards a data-driven approach.

Through this module, you’ll examine and equip yourself with the knowledge of how to best use this data in order to reach business, economic and societal and ecological objectives for a sustainable future.

This module provides you with an in-depth focus on the skills involved in evaluating business ideas, the practical steps involved in launching a business and the necessary processes of winning the finance. The module also addresses those issues that ventures must consider when planning an exit strategy and so focuses attention on the purpose of business enterprise. In Semester 1, this module explores contemporary theories of entrepreneurship and applies them to real life case studies. In Semester 2, the module focuses upon the preparation of a complete plan for a new business, capable of attracting funding.

On successful completion of this module, you will be able to:

• apply appropriate analytical concepts to provide support for untried venture proposals
• understand the range of technical issues faced by those in start-up ventures
• reflect on application of entrepreneurship theory, based on experience in a practical setting.

This module will help you apply previously acquired marketing knowledge within an international context. Brands operating in international markets need to be mindful of the various challenges posed by an ever changing and dynamic global market. Proactively understanding these global market dynamics helps brands establish a sustainable competitive advantage. Being successful is not enough, brands must also be mindful of the various ethical and sustainable issues in a global context and respect cultural differences in different markets.

An effective society is arguably one where people are civically engaged. It is one where they not only know about and are conscious of social and environmental issues and imbalances, but are also motivated to step forward. This could be through managing nonprofit organisations, leading social campaigns, or through consumer behaviour, such as donating, volunteering or boycotting.

On this module, you will deepen your knowledge of the role of marketing in strengthening engagement with the nonprofit sector. You'll also examine how behaviour change is achieved through social marketing campaigns.

You will practise marketing problem solving using marketing communications throughout this module. Your taught input and practical exercises will help you develop a holistic view of marketing communications campaigns. You'll examine their role and how they are developed, managed, and evaluated in a variety of organisational and social contexts, cultures, and communities.

You’ll build on your knowledge of marketing communications tools, along with your ability to conduct independent research into a variety of markets and sectors. You will further develop and hone your knowledge and skills, which will be utilised throughout this module in a way that prepares you to be effective within a marketing communications-focused area.