Master of Arts in Marketing Communications

at University of Westminster - Marylebone Campus United Kingdom

Looking for a business management degree with a difference? The opportunity to work in sports management is a dream for anyone with a passion for sport, but you don’t have to be a sports fanatic to take this degree. One of the most exciting industries, sport and leisure in the UK alone employs 580,000 people. In 2019, more than a third of those employed in the field of sport in the EU-27 was aged between 15-29.

Developed in partnership with some of London’s leading sports clubs, agencies and governing bodies, including Queens Park Rangers and the MCC at Lords, our BA includes practical, professional work experience with a sports club or agency to get you work-ready.

Whether you go on to work as a marketing manager for a Premiership club, a sports analyst, sponsorship executive or diversity advisor, the career pathways are varied and rewarding.

Our degree provides an innovative, industry-focused programme that develops your knowledge of contemporary business management within the context of the wider sports industry. You will gain an in-depth knowledge of how the industry works. You will also learn to appreciate the internal and external challenges facing sports organisations, such as sustainability, diversity, and the impact of new technologies on sports marketing, management and customer engagement.

Specialist optional modules allow you to tailor your studies to match your interests. They include marketing and management, entrepreneurial enterprise, event management, sustainability, and social media innovation.

Where better to study than a centre of sports excellence? With 12 professional football teams, two premiership rugby team, and two country cricket sides, London is home to iconic sporting venues such as Wembley Stadium, Twickenham, Lord’s Cricket Ground and the Olympic Park in East London.

Internationalisation and evolution of markets have created opportunities for companies to focus on marketing from a global perspective. On our degree, you’ll explore the complexity and diversity facing marketers in the highly competitive and continually evolving world marketplace, incorporating the latest marketing strategy, tools and techniques.

You can also boost your employability by gaining additional qualifications with the Institute of Data and Marketing (IDM) and/or the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM). Our status as a CIM Graduate Gateway institution entitles you to apply for exemptions from modules on its professional qualifications, while you can gain IDM’s Award in Digital Marketing during the Digital Essentials of Marketing module.

Since our marketing degrees share a common first year, you get to experience all the main areas in marketing whilst retaining the flexibility to change course at the start of your second year.

Focusing on marketing within an international context, you will gain awareness of the global, cultural, social, economic and ethical professional environment within which marketers now operate, and the connections with other functional business areas needed for overall corporate success.

Top reasons to study with us

• Professionally focused course with chance to gain additional professional qualifications from the Institute of Data and Marketing (IDM) and the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM)
• Marketing degrees share a common first year, giving greater flexibility when choosing your specialism
• Option to spend one semester or one year studying abroad at one of our partner institutions, gain valuable work experience, or a combination of both. For example, one previous student worked as a marketing executive for ICG Medical
• Opportunity to study a foreign language as an optional module in each year of study
• Hear from experts and mingle with marketing students by joining the student-run Westminster Marketing Society or gain professional experience working for Westminster Business Consultants
• Guest lectures from industry practitioners have previously included speakers on Google analytics and from organisations such as IBM, Tableau, Coca Cola and LinkedIn
• Programmes are delivered by a multicultural and international teaching body, who come from professional practice and/or regularly publish in top international journals

Digital transformation is one of the most important strategic challenges facing businesses. Creating new ways to connect, collaborate and conduct business, digital technologies have the power to transform the delivery of existing products and services and inspire new. By combining digital business with general management, our degree prepares you to guide businesses through digital evolution.

We offer an all-round business education, deepening your understanding of business essentials including accounting, business management, data analysis, marketing, HR and supply chain. At the same time, you’ll explore how to take advantage of technology and effectively manage business functions from both traditional and digital perspectives: the business process; the supply chain; systems integration; and the management of information, quality, demand, capacity and resources.

You’ll develop the skills and knowledge to analyse the role of digital business models based on disruptive technologies, digital and social media marketing, digital transformation and project management. We’ll look at current digital trends, emerging technologies and their implication for business practice, such as the importance of developing a holistic approach, including big data, blockchain and mobile computing.

Developing a mix of business and technical skills, you’ll gain hands-on experience of problem-solving within the digital business area, solving real-world business problems with 21st century technology. We’ll also look at best practice in existing digitally-powered and disruptive businesses like Uber and Amazon, with the opportunity to attend guest lecturers and field trips within the degree programme.

Taught by academics with professional experience, there is an emphasis on learning through practice, so you graduate with the breadth of knowledge and capabilities to respond proactively and creatively to contemporary business issues and challenges. Throughout the course, you’ll also develop a range of transferrable skills highly prized by employers, such as critical evaluation, self-direction, professional presentation, team working, leadership, communication and problem solving.

There is a global shortage of digital skills, so the demand for graduates who possess them is high.

Our course was designed with input from a range of industry professionals from industry sectors including– retail, public relations, marketing, pharmaceuticals, government and the NHS. Students are prepared for problem-solving disciplines, such as digital analytics, web analytics, business analysis and consultancy.

As globalisation encourages companies to operate and trade in multiple locations, and provides more opportunities for staff to work abroad, managing and developing people has never been more critical – or complex. On our MA, you’ll learn to appreciate the unique challenges of international HRM – from the cultural, legal and economic differences to remote relationship building.

Our problem-based approach to teaching means you’ll get to apply what you learn to management problems through assignments and projects based on actual situations. We’ll draw on everyday HR issues in the news, case studies and current examples, at times addressing some of our own students’ workplace experiences. Demonstrating evidence-based HRM, you’ll learn to collect and analyse relevant data and information, developing your ability to identify, evaluate and propose the most appropriate solutions, looking at issues ranging from expatriate employment, employee engagement, managing change and reward management.

Each year, our annual HRM conference offers you the chance to hear direct from a range of guest speakers, who have previously covered issues such as immigration and labour supply, and the impact of EU legislation on employee relations post-Brexit. You’ll also have the opportunity to develop essential HR practitioner skills through a series of practical workshops in areas such as finance, employment law, interviewing, disciplinary and grievance handling, counselling and negotiating. Working in teams, you might simulate dealing with a disciplinary hearing, for example, or conducting a job evaluation exercise. When studying people resourcing, you may participate in an assessment centre or practise your interviewing skills.

With momentum around the United Nation’s (UN) sustainable development goals and the rise of a collaborative effort to reduce or eliminate poverty in developing countries, never has there been a more exciting time to get involved with international development.

Whether your future lies in practical aid, emergency response, fundraising, research, education or policy development, this Master’s degree will build your knowledge and expertise in a range of development disciplines. It will give you a firm understanding of development theory in an international context, with a particular focus on how to bring theory into practice deriving solutions to issues or problems for developing nations. That’s one of many reasons why we attract students from countries around the world including Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Brazil, Columbia and the Philippines.

Experienced field practitioners working in international development organisations and NGOs contribute regularly to course content. You will learn from examples across the globe, studying real-life case studies, using official project materials and survey data from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and other development agencies. You also have a unique opportunity to participate in a study visit to the United Nations (UN) in Geneva, where you will hear from experts and discuss topics, such as international trade policy, migration and poverty reduction.

This course is aimed at built environment professionals and others with a relevant background who wish to gain an in-depth understanding of planning and sustainable development, whether to improve career prospects in their country or enter international practice. Through the course you will examine the growing problems of sustainable development facing cities, regions and communities in a rapidly urbanising world, subject to growing climate change and other environmental, economic and social pressures and risks.

The course benefits from having strong links with the Research Community for Sustainable Cities and Urban Environments. This vibrant research community focuses on the planning of cities towards a sustainable and low-energy future and the exploration of the environmental and social impact of concentrating people and economic activity in cities and urban areas.

This course addresses the growing problems of sustainable development facing cities and communities in a rapidly urbanising world. It explores contemporary theories, public policy thinking and good practice in planning that spans both developed and developing world contexts, and offers you the opportunity to explore one area of specialism in a related field in some depth.

Underpinned by company visits, field trips and the chance to tackle real-life business challenges, our exciting Master’s programme provides a practice-driven understanding of the global business environment. You’ll study in the heart of London, one of the world’s major cities and international business hubs.

Our comprehensive curriculum will equip you with the competencies, analytical, professional and problem-solving skills needed to successfully manage operations, tactical activities and direct strategy within organisations that are based overseas or trade globally.

You’ll develop your knowledge of a broad range of business and management disciplines in the context of international cultural perspectives, challenges and global contemporary business and commerce practices. Topics covered include economics, finance, international trade, branding, corporate social responsibility, strategy and sustainability, marketing and digital communication, leadership and managing people. The course is ideally suited for recent graduates and ambitious early-career professionals who may not have a business education background, but who are determined to pursue business and management careers.

Our teaching focuses on experiential learning, integrating theory with practice and real-world problem-solving. You’ll interact directly with businesses and be exposed to ‘live’ business situations through field trips, case studies, business simulations, special talks and seminars given by leading business practitioners.

Incorporating the latest digital and analytic marketing practices, the broad curriculum of our Master’s degree reflects the rapidly changing global marketing environment. Whilst at Westminster, you can also secure two internationally-recognised professional qualifications – the Institute of Data and Marketing (IDM) Certificate in Digital Marketing and the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) Global Foundation Certificate, as well as joining the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR).

Here at Westminster, we’ve been teaching postgraduate degrees in marketing communications for over 20 years. Our goal is to prepare you for professional life in the increasingly complex and dynamic marketing communications industry, incorporating the growing content of digital marketing and new innovations.

Commercial managers play a key role in the commercial and financial success of construction projects, by monitoring activities to ensure projects are delivered on time, on budget and on quality. Our innovative course delivers the people and project management skills, professional and technical knowledge required to tackle the technical, organisational, commercial, legal and financial issues that can arise.

Fully accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), this course will be of interest if you are a graduate in or with previous construction-related employment and if you are seeking a senior position in the field of commercial management.

It will develop your awareness of the importance of construction projects to clients, and the context within which projects are procured and undertaken, in particular the economic, financial, corporate, legal and regulatory constraints. You'll gain greater knowledge and understanding of the theories, concepts, principles, techniques, and intellectual and practical skills needed for effective procurement, financial control, risk assessment, supply chain management and more.

Financial economics is all about managing financial assets such as trade and share prices, interest rates and exchange rates. You’ll not only be introduced to financial economics, but also gain a solid foundation in general economic concepts, principles, analysis, techniques and knowledge.

Learning how to predict and advise on the impact of economic, social and public policy issues on monetary activities, you’ll develop your analytical and decision-making abilities, expanding your skills in data gathering, handling and interpretation, quantitative analysis and forecasting.

In our state-of-the-art Bloomberg virtual trading room, you will use industry-standard software, including Bloomberg, SAGE, FAME, Excel and other statistical packages, to analyse data, build models and produce forecasts. You will also develop key soft skills such as communicating complex economic ideas to a non-expert, presentation skills and teamwork.

We enjoy strong links with employers, including the Government Economic Service and Society of Professional Economists, which was relaunched here at Westminster Business School in 2018. Membership of the Society is offered to all final-year economic students and there are opportunities to attend their monthly meetings, conferences and continuous professional development courses.