Overview
Our Masters in Marketing gives you the opportunity to gain a theoretical and practical understanding of marketing, and its role within organisations. You’ll learn about the practice and theory of modern marketing, as well as current business trends in the areas of brand identity creation, multi-channel marketing and digital marketing.
The MSc Marketing course was one of the first in the country to be accredited by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM). CIM accreditation means that when you successfully complete the course, it's easier to gain a Professional Diploma in Marketing. Two of the Diploma modules will be waived and to gain the CIM Professional Diploma you'll only need to undertake two CIM modules rather than the usual four, giving you a competitive edge in your career.
Our research-led teaching combined with a focus on practical applications is a key strength of this course. In addition to consistently engaging in academic literature through weekly readings and module assessments, the course gives you a number of opportunities to apply concepts, theories and frameworks to practical aspects. You'll collaborate during your studies with a wide variety of organisations including not-for-profit, third sector and small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).
We are AACSB accredited
The University of Stirling is accredited by AACSB International in recognition of our excellence in business education. This puts the University of Stirling Management School among the top 6% of business schools globally.
Preparing business leaders of the future
Postgraduate education at the University of Stirling Management School goes beyond textbooks and lecture rooms, we also focus on your personal and professional development.
Our unique Flying Start Leadership Programme equips you with the awareness, knowledge and techniques essential for building a successful career. These range from practical skills, like effective public speaking, to developing ways to work under pressure in difficult situations and manage conflict. Find out more about Flying Start.
Developing your brand
You'll be encouraged to reflect on your overall strengths, identify weaknesses, and explore the directions in which you want to develop. You'll learn about:
- your approach to decision-making;
- your key strengths and weaknesses in working relationships;
- your value to the team;
- your communication style;
- you will then develop your personal brand to be marketed to future employers.
The MSc Marketing provides you with an understanding of the concepts and systems underlying marketing practice and allows you to develop your skills of diagnosis and implementation in marketing management and research processes. At the end of the course you’ll be able to:
- nurture and consolidate a customer-focused management approach in a variety of different market settings, organisation types and policy situations;
- design, plan, implement and evaluate research-based marketing strategies;
- gain exposure to ethical issues that arise from marketing activities and to understand the impact marketing has on society in general;
- conduct research into contemporary marketing practice.
Industry connections
The University of Stirling Management School has excellent links with local and national organisations. Guest speakers from across the private, public and third sectors regularly engage with our MSc Marketing students, providing a practical perspective on contemporary marketing topics through a series of guest lectures and workshops.
In recent years, students have worked on consultancy projects with organisations such as the National Wallace Monument, Waterski Scotland, Strathearn Strategic Consulting, Stirling Albion Football Club, Scottish Biomedical, Snowsports Scotland, EASA Training Ltd, and Stirling Art.
Our students have also benefitted from site visits to external organisations such as ASDA and New Lanark Visitor Centre.
We’ve been running our core Consultancy Project module for over twenty years, with the aim to provide you with an experience similar to an industry placement, to help you prepare for a future career in marketing. You’ll gain knowledge and increase your confidence working on a ‘live’ marketing topic, operating within the management boundaries and budget of a client organisation.
Our Masters course is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), the world’s leading professional marketing body, and counts towards the CIM Professional Diploma in Marketing. Graduates of the course gain exemption from half of the CIM Professional Diploma modules.
The University of Stirling is accredited by AACSB International in recognition of our excellence in business education.
You'll work on real-world projects with key organisations who are using marketing for strategic development. Our extensive network of external organisations across all sectors provides opportunities to build your knowledge, skills and experience for a successful career in marketing roles.
80% of our research impact in Business and Management Studies is classed as world leading or internationally excellent (REF 2021).
Members of our academic staff regularly publish in journals such as:
- British Journal of Management
- Journal of Marketing Management
- European Journal of Marketing
- Journal of Business Ethics
- Journal of Advertising
- Industrial Marketing Management
- Marketing Intelligence and Planning
- Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services
Our staff consistently serve as conference and track chairs at international marketing conferences and hold editorial posts across a wide variety of academic journals. Members of staff regularly provide consultation to industry in high-profile issues such as the horse meat scandal, the role of marketing towards children, and the issues facing the high street retailers across the UK.
Entry requirements
A minimum of a second class honours degree, or equivalent. Applicants without these formal qualifications but with significant appropriate/relevant work experience are encouraged to apply.
No background in business is required but you will need to have a strong interest in marketing to get the most from the course.
Other routes of entry
If you don't currently meet our academic requirements, INTO University of Stirling offers a variety of preparation programmes that can earn you the qualifications and skills you need to progress onto some of our courses. Explore INTO University of Stirling to see the pathway and pre-masters routes available.
International entry requirements
If English is not your first language you must have one of the following qualifications as evidence of your English language skills:
- IELTS Academic or UKVI 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each sub-skill.
- Pearson Test of English (Academic) 60 overall with a minimum of 59 in each sub-skill.
- IBT TOEFL 78 overall with a minimum of 17 in listening, 18 in reading, 20 in speaking and 17 in writing.
See our information on English language requirements for more details on the language tests we accept and options to waive these requirements.
If you need to improve your English language skills before you enter this course, our partner INTO University of Stirling offers a range of English language courses. These intensive and flexible courses are designed to improve your English ability for entry to this degree.
Find out more about our pre-sessional English language courses.
Course details
There are three core 20-credit modules in Semester 1; these will provide you with the basic frameworks of modern marketing thought and show you how they apply in practice through a wide range of relevant and up-to-date examples. You'll also start to practice the skills required of a marketing professional.
In your three core Semester 2 modules, you’ll practice the key quantitative and qualitative data analysis techniques required of a new marketer. Being able to apply these skills will be very important for the work on your consultancy project. You can also gain an appreciation of contemporary issues in marketing as you study strategic marketing practice and omnichannel marketing.
Over the summer, you’ll then complete the Masters course by showcasing your learning through a group-based business consultancy project in the area of marketing.
Modules
The module information below provides an example of the types of course module you may study. The details listed are for the academic year that starts in September 2024. Modules and start dates are regularly reviewed and may be subject to change in future years.
Course Details
The taught modules of the MSc Marketing course are delivered using a variety of methods such as lectures, tutorials, case studies, computer simulations, fieldwork exercises, site visits, guest speakers and company projects. There’s a good balance between theory and practice.
In the Strategic Marketing Practice module, you’ll have access to the Markstrat simulation platform, a web-based approach to developing marketing strategy and planning practice in a competitive environment. You’ll test and improve your skills in market analytics, decision-making, budgeting, planning and performance assessment.
Consultancy project
You'll have the opportunity to gain first-hand practical experience by working on consultancy projects with external clients over the summer. The consultancy module aims to provide you with an equivalent experience to an industry placement. You'll increase your confidence working on a ‘live’ marketing topic as you operate within the management boundaries and budget of an external client organisation.
Each group has a client organisation that sets a real-world task and asks the group to explore that topic before presenting solutions. We work with a range of private, public and third sector organisations, such as charities and social enterprises. The projects cover a host of subjects, from identifying potential customers through to the opportunities for international expansion. It'll be up to you, working with an academic mentor, to set up the study, to investigate the issues that arise and to present your findings back to the client.
The combination of academic frameworks and theories within the constraints of what can feasibly be done by the organisation within its own resources, will prepare you for similar tasks that will be required of you in your future career. In some cases, a student conducting a project has been employed subsequently by the organisation with which they partnered during the module.
Malcolm McGregor, Director, Broadbreach provided the following feedback after completion of a student project with his company:
I can honestly say that I found the whole experience to be extremely useful. The students were highly intelligent and really switched on. The most useful aspect was their knowledge on how to use social media technology effectively, where to go to get essential knowledge, how to access analytics on traffic coming and leaving your website etc. The students were not afraid to provide a brutally honest appraisal of the business' marketing, how it compared to competitors and provide useful, simple and fast solutions.
It’s very easy to become blind to all of the elements the students highlighted. The potential to make simple changes to create commercial returns is clearly very high. Altogether fantastic value for money. Thank you very much for permitting us to benefit!
Malcolm McGregor, Director, Broadbreach
And one of our alumni, Ms. Katy McKay says of the valuable experienced she gained from her group project for European Turfgrass Laboratories:
“The Consultancy Project module is like no other and was by far the best learning technique I experienced while studying my Masters. With the project having ‘purpose’, you are motivated to deliver the highest quality and best value of work to your real-life client. Personally, the practical experience I gained whilst working with my client organisation during the module, undoubtedly helped in preparing me to enter my current job. The fundamental basics that you are taught such as how to develop a professional relationship with a client and manage their expectations is essential in most places of work. Both of which I am regularly required to do in my position as Marketing Executive at The National Wallace Monument. As tour operators and agents look to bring their clients from around the world to visit the Monument, the establishment of a relationship between them and I is vital in securing their business. Once I’ve formed this relationship and understand their requirements, I’m able to manage their expectation of what we can offer as a visitor attraction to their clients. This scenario is one of many that is reflected in the Consultancy module and that you are likely to encounter in your future career. Experiencing how to manage and prepare for these situations in a safe environment is invaluable.”
Katy McKay (MSc Marketing 2019), Marketing Executive at The National Wallace Monument
Find out more about what's involved on this consultancy project in our video:
Be a successful team member
There’s a significant amount of required team work on the course. You’ll be encouraged to become more effective communicators and supportive team members in a professional business environment. To help you, you receive feedback from other group members through formal peer assessment procedures and you’ll write reflective statements that consider why and how you made certain decisions and how they relate to the concepts you have been learning.
Much of the assessment is continuous and may include research reports, essays, briefings, management reports, case analyses, debates, literature reviews, marketing communication plans and presentations. Assessed work is often conducted in groups, as developing teamwork and communication skills are seen as important.
In your final semester, you'll undertake a consultancy project and submit a reflective learning piece of work that considers what you have learnt over the year and any areas where you still need to develop further skills or experience for your future career.
You can expect to have around 20 contact hours per 10-credit module each semester and 40 contact hours per 20-credit module. This can add up to between 10 and 15 hours of classroom contact in any week. Please remember that you'll be expected to work, either on your own or in a group, for at least another 20 hours a week to be able to complete all of the tasks expected of you. A timetable for all classes will be made available shortly before each semester begins.
Dr Mona Moufahim is a Senior Lecturer and the Course Director for the MSc Brand Management and the MSc Retail Marketing. She is also involved in teaching on the course. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has been teaching a range of marketing-related modules over the past 12 years. Her research interests include: religion, travel and consumption; cultural heritages sites and pilgrimage; identity (organisational, ethnic/racial, religious or political); immigration and extreme right politics. Her research has been published in top-rated international academic journals in marketing and Management. She has also contributed chapters to scholarly books on political marketing, critical marketing and Islamic marketing.
Professor Steve Burt is the Associate Dean of Research for the Stirling Management School and is involved in teaching on the course. His research interests lie in the field of retailing. Specific interests include the patterns and processes of retail internationalisation; the implications of international retailing for structural change; the role of branding within the internationalisation process; and failure and divestment in international retailing. His research pursued with colleagues at Stirling and in Europe has been funded by a range of commercial and public agencies including the ESRC, European Commission and retail industry associations.
Professor Tinson’s research interests focus on generating insight into youth consumer behaviour. This research is both international and national as evidenced in her published work and conference presentations. Wider dissemination of and interest in her research has also been demonstrated by invited presentations as well as media attention and expert opinion to practitioner publications, she is often in the press e.g. The Times, The Scotsman, The Herald, Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday and on radio (e.g. BBC Business, You and Yours and BBC Radio Scotland, BBC News drive). She also appeared on Channel 4 SuperShoppers in May 2019. Her research is motivated by an interest in how transition impacts consumption and identity formation within families/groups.
Dr Keri Davies is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing and a member of the Institute for Retail Studies at the University of Stirling. He is currently the Programme Director for the MSc Marketing. In addition to his academic credentials, Dr Davies has worked for the Town and Country Planning Association and he was elected to the Scottish Regional Board of the Cooperative Group in 2011-2012. His research interests include the retail change in Pacific Asia, and the development and role of community and food cooperatives in different regions of the world.
Dr Lisa Qixun Siebers was born in the Northeast of China and educated in both China and the UK. Her first degree was BSc in Economics, completed in China (1995). Before coming to the UK, she worked as a marketing and sales manager in Northern China (1995-2001). She completed her MBA degree at Leeds University Business School, UK (2003). She obtained her PhD at the University of Brighton on Foreign Retailers' Expansion in China (2009). Prior to joining the University of Stirling (Aug. 2019), she worked at Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University as Associate Professor of International Business (2011-2019). Before that, she worked at Birmingham City University Business School as a Senior Lecturer in International Business (2010-2011).
Dr George Maglaras is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing and Retail. His research interests focus on the areas of marketing channels, supplier-retailer relationships, food supply chains and consumer behaviour. His current research and consultancy projects include the examination of the concept of power in retailer-supplier relationships; supply chain performance & sustainability; consumer behaviour concerning food products; customer journeys & customer experience. His research has been published in top journals such as the Industrial Marketing Management and the International Journal of Production Economics.
Dr Dimitrios Kolyperas is a Lecturer in Marketing and the Programme Director of BA Sport Studies and Marketing in Stirling and Singapore. He has taught Sport Marketing at the University of Stirling at an undergraduate and postgraduate level over the past 8 years. His research interests revolve around sport marketing, corporate social responsibility, sport branding, sport governance, fan value co-creation and consumer culture theory with a focus on sports. He has published in a number of internationally recognised journals in the areas of sport management/marketing and general marketing and consumption, with several of his publications focusing on corporate social responsibility of sport organizations, and football clubs in particular.
Fees and funding
University of Stirling alumni will automatically be awarded a fee waiver for the first year of Masters studies through our Stirling Alumni Scholarship.
Applicants from the UK or Republic of Ireland who hold a first-class honours degree or equivalent will automatically be awarded a £2,000 scholarship through our Postgraduate Merit Scholarship.
If you need to extend your period of study, you may be liable for additional fees.
If you are studying part time, the total course fee will be split over the years that you study. The total fee will remain the same and will be held at the rate set in your year of entry.
For more information on courses invoiced on an annual fee basis, please read our tuition fee policy.
Eligible students could receive a scholarship worth between £4,000-£7,000. See our range of generous scholarships for international postgraduate students.
If you need to extend your period of study, you may be liable for additional fees.
If you are studying part time, the total course fee will be split over the years that you study. The total fee will remain the same and will be held at the rate set in your year of entry.
For more information on courses invoiced on an annual fee basis, please read our tuition fee policy.
Postgraduate tuition fee loans
This course is eligible for a postgraduate tuition fee loan from one of the UK’s governments. See the Scholarships and funding section, below, for more details.
Additional costs
There are some instances where additional fees may apply. Depending on your chosen course, you may need to pay additional costs, for example for field trips. Learn more about additional fees.
Funding
If you have the talent, ability and drive to study with us, we want to make sure you make the most of the opportunity – regardless of your financial circumstances.
Learn more about available funding opportunities or use our scholarship finder to explore our range of scholarships.
Postgraduate tuition fee loans
Scottish students may be eligible to apply to the Students Award Agency for Scotland (SAAS) for loans of up to £11,500 to cover tuition fees and associated living costs.
English students can apply for a loan of up to £12,167 each year as part of the Postgraduate Masters Loan Scheme.
Welsh students can apply for financial support of up to £18,770 as a combination of grant and loan from Student Finance Wales.
Northern Irish students can apply for a postgraduate tuition fee loan of up to £6,500 from Student Finance NI.
International students may be able to gain additional funding from loan providers.
If you’re domiciled in the UK, you can typically apply to your relevant funding body for help with living costs. This usually takes the form of student loans, grants or bursaries, and the amount awarded depends upon your personal circumstances and household income.
International (including EU) students won’t normally be able to claim living support through SAAS or other UK public funding bodies. You should contact the relevant authority in your country to find out if you’re eligible to receive support.
We aim to be as flexible as possible, and offer a wide range of payment methods - including the option to pay fees by instalments. Learn more about how to pay
After you graduate
Marketing is a popular graduate career, particularly with a national average salary of £29,394 in the UK for graduate marketing roles in 2023 (glassdoor.com). Work experience is hugely important to help graduates stand out and our Masters includes a real-world projects to give our students the vital experience needed to enter the job market. You'll build not only your marketing skills, but your business connections through networking and project work. As a Stirling graduate in Marketing you have excellent career prospects.
Career opportunities exist not only in manufacturing and services but increasingly in public, social and non-profit sectors. There’s high demand for marketing professionals with specialist qualifications throughout the world across virtually every sector of business.
Typical roles for graduates with this qualification include:
- marketing manager
- brand manager
- brand marketing executive
- product marketing manager
- consultant
Graduates from the MSc Marketing have gone on to work with well-known brands and with organisations in countries such as Japan, China, Netherlands, Australia, South Africa, Switzerland, Germany, Mexico and India.
MSc Marketing graduates in the past three years are currently employed as:
- Marketing and Communications Officer, Stirling Council (UK)
- Sales Consultant, Yves Saint Laurent (UK)
- Marketing Communications Associate, Eugenides Foundation (Greece)
- Global Sales, Karma Medical Products (Taiwan)
- Social Media Manager, Liquorice - Digital Innovation for Brands (Africa)
Building on that foundation, alumni of the University of Stirling’s MSc Marketing course who graduated between five and ten years ago have since advanced into some of the following positions:
- Brand Manager, Unilever (Greece)
- Senior PR Specialist, National Education Association (USA)
- Sales and Marketing Executive, Alma Lasers (Japan)
- Senior Marketing Specialist, Symantec (Mexico)
- Account Manager, Cheil (Taiwan)
- Account Executive, McCann Erickson (Greece)
- Senior Lecturer, University of Roehampton (UK)
Some of our more established alumni are currently leading and shaping marketing strategy across many different sectors:
- Marketing Manager, Nestle (Greece)
- Supply Chain Manager, Aibel Pte Ltd (Singapore)
- Director of Marketing and E-Business, Elsevier (Hong Kong)
- International Sales Manager, Importaco, S.A. (Spain)
The University of Stirling Management School has a dedicated Employability Manager and from the very beginning of the course your career is our focus.
You’ll have the opportunity to gain first-hand practical experience by working on consultancy projects with external clients.
Before you start your course, you'll participate in our unique Flying Start leadership Programme. Throughout our two-week programme, we'll challenge your perspective of culture and develop your self-awareness, as well as team-working, problem-solving and presentation skills.
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