International Marketing (Taught)

Suited to people from a wide range of backgrounds, this MSc International Marketing course is designed to give you the skills and confidence to succeed in marketing across different areas and countries. Inspiring you with hands-on experiential learning, we will teach you a broad range of marketing techniques and business skills.

Our course was designed to suit you, whether you have a degree in a subject other than marketing or a relevant undergraduate degree/professional experience and are looking to develop your skills and knowledge to give you the professional edge.

On this course, you will gain the optimal balance of marketing theory and practice, including academic enquiry and the practical application of transferable skills valued by large global corporations, small businesses, and the public sector.

By the end of the course, you will have in-depth knowledge of consumer behaviour, global branding, digital marketing, data analytics, innovation, strategy development, campaign management and more.

By encouraging you to become critically reflective, the course will deepen your understanding of contemporary issues in marketing management and equip you with the practical skills essential to developing a career in this field.

A distinctive feature of the course is the opportunity to choose from a choice of three ‘capstone’ modules (Business Consultancy in Practice, Business Incubation or Dissertation), each of which is designed to build your skills, knowledge, and employability in a way that meets your individual needs.

If you choose the Business Impact and Practice module, you will engage in real-life marketing consultancy agreed between you, a client and tutors at QMU. This ‘real world’ practical experience in a marketing context will enable you to apply your theoretical knowledge in effective commercial action. This module was designed to build your confidence and your ability to reflect on both your past actions and future direction, as well as to develop your networking skills.

**This course is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Marketing**

Course Modules

• Contemporary Issues in Business and Society: This module is taken in your first semester by all students as an introductory Business School postgraduate module and explores what it is to be a master’s student. It is designed so that all students enrolled onto the course can access this higher level of postgraduate education in an effective manner. This module aims to enable you to reach a well-grounded understanding of the theory and practice of international management and relate it to events taking place at a global and national level.

• International Marketing: Marketing is often perceived as being primarily entwined with advertising or convincing consumers to purchase items they may not know they need. However, we would highlight that marketing must be looked at much more holistically within an organisation. Having a critical oversight and direction toward who you are, what you have to say and connecting this with your target audience is an ongoing challenge.

• Digital Communications: The evolution, diffusion, and adoption of digital technologies have fundamentally altered the way we live, work, relate to one another, and conduct business. These technological and societal changes are having a far-reaching impact on the communications, public relations and marketing disciplines, presenting huge challenges as well as opportunities to the industry.

• Consumer Behaviour and Global Branding: The module is designed to provide an in-depth and critical understanding of consumer behaviour and how it informs organisational branding set within a global context. You will be introduced to the concept of consumer behaviour and its role in developing a targeted and coordinated brand strategy.

• Data Analytics for Management Decision-Making: This module explores the sources of data, how that data is collected, processed, and presented, and then continues the data lifecycle by considering how this is used within informed decision-making processes within contemporary enterprises. With so much data noise, how can business be certain that the data they are using is reliable and valid? How can they then link that to a primary function within management and leadership, making decisions?

• Marketing Innovation and Campaign Management: This module is designed to provide an in depth and critical understanding of market-driven product/service innovation. The characteristics of products/services and new product development are examined and critiqued.

• Strategic Management: This concerns itself with assessing what’s important, determining how to get there, and avoiding the potential pitfalls. By focusing on long-term sustainable success, practitioners can avoid the noise of the day-to-day.

• Research Methods: Problems and Solutions: Research has an important role within academic studies but is also a core skill for managers and leaders within contemporary enterprises.

If studying for an MSc, you will also complete one of the following Capstone modules:

1. International Marketing Master's Dissertation: This is designed to enable you to develop, plan and critically evaluate a piece of research in the relevant degree subject related area, written up in the form of a dissertation.

2. Business Consultancy in Practice: This option will provide the opportunity to design and deliver a live project for a client. You will critically evaluate the consultancy role and practice through a live consultancy project. You will research, develop and deliver the project in collaboration with a business/organisation.

3. Business Incubation Programme: If you have an entrepreneurial spirit and have always dreamed of starting your own business, then our Business Incubation Programme will best match your ambitions. Throughout your studies, this module will challenge you to critically evaluate a range of nascent, micro and family businesses.