Marketing and Public Relations (PR)

Marketing and Public Relations (PR) are closely aligned subjects. The main difference is that marketing focuses on selling or promoting a product or service, whereas PR is concerned with maintaining a positive reputation for a company, organisation or person as a whole.

Marketing is a wide ranging subject including areas such as digital marketing, brand, advertising, retail, marketing communications, research and analytics, supply chain and consumer behaviour.

PR includes public communications theories, strategic public relations planning, media relations, public diplomacy and strategic communication, digital media, public affairs and advocacy, and research methods.

Marketing and Public Relations courses at Stirling help you to prepare for a career in the rapidly-shifting professional landscape in an age of 24/7 connectivity. Our range of courses include Marketing, Retail Marketing, Event Management and PR, with many offering work experience or consultancy project opportunities.

Marketing and Public Relations courses

Courses labelled  are available for online study only.

Undergraduate courses
Course	Start date
BA (Hons) Marketing	January 2025, September 2025, January 2026
BA (Hons) Retail Marketing	January 2025, September 2025, January 2026

Postgraduate courses
Course	Start date
MSc Digital Marketing and Brand Management	September 2025
MSc Marketing	September 2025
MSc Marketing Analytics	January 2025, September 2025, January 2026
MSc Public Relations and Strategic Communication	September 2025
MSc Public Relations and Strategic Communication (Online)	January 2025, September 2025, January 2026
MSc Strategic Communication and Public Relations (Joint Degree UPF Barcelona)	September 2025

Scholarships

We offer a variety of scholarship and funding options to help you finance your studies at the University of Stirling.

Undergraduate scholarships

See more undergraduate scholarships

Postgraduate scholarships

See more postgraduate scholarships

Graduate careers in Marketing and Public Relations

Graduates can head towards a specialist career in marketing, PR or events management, or can take a more general route to a management career in the public, private or voluntary sectors. The skills gained from a marketing or PR course at Stirling give you a wide range of analytical, problem-solving and professional skills which are highly valued by employers.

Graduates from Stirling have gone into roles such as:

Digital Marketing Manager
Marketing and Sales Executive
Press Officer
Visual Merchandiser
UK Retail Marketing Graduate Programme
Graduate Management Scheme
Public Relations Officer

Our graduates have gone on to work for organisations such as Adidas, Tesco, Heineken, Scottish Media Group, Marks and Spencer, BBC, Nestle and Hewlett Packard.

Partnerships and industry

The University of Stirling has joined up with The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) to give Marketing students the opportunity to gain professional qualifications through the CIM Graduate Gateway.

The University of Stirling Management School is accredited by the Small Business Charter (SBC) for our work supporting small businesses, local economies and student enterprise.

Marketing and Public Relations research

The University of Stirling’s research in Marketing and Retail looks at consumptions patterns and consumer behaviour in an evolving social landscape.

The Consumers, Cultures and Society research group specialises in bringing the experiences of consumers (and those driving the market) to wider audiences through the evolving character and social structure of the 'consumer society'.

The Institute for Retail Studies is involved with local, national and global research, exploring topics such as how the retail brand has evolved, the processes involved in retail internationalisation and different retail spaces. They carry out many research projects for public and private sector bodies.

Public relations research at the University of Stirling is carried out by the Communications, Media and Culture division. They are committed to wide-ranging research which crosses boundaries between arts and humanities, social sciences and management.

Postgraduate research opportunities

Our Marketing and Retail PhD programme is accredited by the Economic and Social Research Council and is affiliated with the prestigious Business and Management Pathway of the Scottish Graduate School. Our expertise in Public Relations has helped us build strong links with industry, giving PhD students the chance to both learn from and contribute to the latest thinking in the arena. See our PhD and MPhil opportunities in Marketing and Retail and our PhD and MPhil opportunities in Public Relations.