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MSc Marketing and Brand Management

The MSc Marketing and Brand Management provides you with a thorough knowledge of current marketing theories and practices with a specialist focus on brand management in a variety of national and international contexts.

Key facts

  • Award Masters / MSc, Postgraduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma
  • Start date September 2024
  • Duration MSc full-time 12 months, MSc part-time 24 months
  • Mode of study full time, part time
  • Delivery on campus

Accreditations

Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM)

CIM accredited degree logo

Overview

With the rise of new communication channels, predominantly online, and the ability of consumers to impact on brand reputation, more businesses than ever are identifying value in effective brand management strategies to protect and enhance their brand.

The MSc Marketing and Brand Management course is 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 Masters in Marketing and Brand Management gives you a thorough and in-depth understanding of marketing and brand management within commercial and non-commercial organisations. You'll learn about the practice and theory of sustainable marketing, strategic brand management and digital marketing. Our course also gives the choice to further explore the role of brands and branding in specialist marketing areas such as supply chain marketing, retailing, or social marketing.

Our research-led teaching combined with a focus on practical applications is a key strength of this course and you'll be taught by top researchers. In addition to consistently engaging in academic literature through weekly readings and module assessments, the course gives you 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).

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, such as effective public speaking, to developing ways to work under pressure in difficult situations and manage conflict.

Top reasons to study with us

Course objectives

The MSc Marketing and Brand Management will provide you with a comprehensive knowledge of core marketing principles, along with an additional focus on brands and branding, that will prepare you for a career in marketing and brand management. The course has been designed to develop your knowledge and understanding of the strategic importance of branding at both national and international levels. At the end of the course you'll be able to:

  • assess and develop brands in  a variety of different market settings, organisation types and policy situations;
  • analyse and apply marketing and brand communication theories;
  • consider the social, political and cultural context of brands and the role that they can play in areas such retail, social marketing, and marketing ethics;
  • recognise the ethical issues that arise from marketing activities and to understand the impact marketing has on society in general.

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 Masters students, providing a practical perspective on contemporary marketing topics through a series of guest lectures and workshops.

Students have recently worked on projects with representatives from the National Wallace Monument, Strathearn Strategic Consulting, Stirling Albion Football Club, EASA Training Ltd, Snowsports Scotland, Scottish Biomedical, Stirling Art and Waterski Scotland.

Our students have also benefitted from recent site visits to external organisations such as ASDA and New Lanark Visitor Centre.

You'll also participate in our core Consultancy Project module, with the aim to provide you with an experience similar to an industry placement, helping 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. 

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 will learn about:

  • your approach to decision-making;
  • your key strengths and weaknesses in working relationships;
  • your value to the team;
  • your communication style;
  • You'll then develop your personal brand to be marketed to future employers. 

Professional accreditation

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.

Work placements

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 analytics roles.

Research overview

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

Academic requirements

A minimum of a second class honours degree or equivalent. Applicants without these formal qualifications but with significant appropriate/relevant work/life experience are encouraged to apply. No background in business is required but you will need to have a strong interest in marketing and brand management 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

View the entry requirements for your country.

English language 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) 56 overall with a minimum of 51 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.

Pre-sessional English language courses

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 four core modules of study in Semester 1, three 20-credit and one 10-credit, which will provide you with a depth of relevant and up-to-date knowledge. In Semester 2 you'll take four compulsory modules that provide you with an appreciation of contemporary issues in brand marketing, such as youth marketing, brand marketing, and the marketing of sport. You'll also choose one elective module; the pool of elective subjects is refreshed on a regular basis. Over the summer, you’ll then complete the Masters by showcasing your learning through a business consultancy project in the area of branding and marketing.

 

Modules

The module information below provides an example of the types of course module you may study. The details listed are for the current academic year (September 2023). Modules and start dates are regularly reviewed and may be subject to change in future years.

Course Details

Teaching

The taught modules of the 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 is a good balance between theory and practice.

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 Marketing and Retail Consultancy core module aims to provide you with an equivalent experience to an industry placement. It gives you the opportunity to gain knowledge and 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 a mentor, to set up the study, investigate the issues that arise and 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'll 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

Ms. Katy McKay (MSc Marketing 2019) stated, about the valuable experienced she gained for European Turfgrass Laboratories for the Marketing and Retail Consultancy Project:

“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

Be a successful team member

There's a significant amount of required team work on this Masters 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've been learning.

Fieldwork

  • For your consultancy project, market research needs to be conducted in order to provide client organisations with a sound diagnosis of their issue, and to develop for them useful strategies and recommendations. Both secondary and primary data collection (e.g. interviews, focus groups, participant observation, surveys, etc) must be conducted for the consultancy project.
  • Other modules might include fieldwork as part of the assignment (e.g. Social Marketing).

Assessment

Much of the assessment is continuous and may include individual or group essays, briefings, management reports, case analyses, debates, literature reviews, marketing communication plans, and presentations. Group work is considered important as it contributes in developing teamwork and communication skills. In your final semester, you will undertake a consultancy style 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.

Classroom hours

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, 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.

Key staff

Dr Mona Moufahim

Dr Mona Moufahim is a Senior Lecturer and the course Director for the MSc Marketing and Brand Management. 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 142 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 a number of chapters to scholarly books on political marketing, critical marketing and Islamic marketing; and in 2022 she published a book on Political Branding in turbulent times (Palgrave Studies in Political Marketing and Management).

Professor Julie Tinson

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 exposure. For example, in addition to providing 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. The contexts for this work have included rituals e.g. high school prom, as well as sport fandom and music. Her work often involves practitioners (e.g. The National Wallace Monument), and she has been successful in securing project funding from a range of organisations including Barclays, Associa, Tpoll and Channel 4.

Dr Keri Davies

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 Ines Branco-Illodo

Dr Ines Branco-Illodo is a Lecturer in Marketing and teaches the Brand Marketing module for postgraduate students. She has previously worked for Nottingham Trent University, and the University of Nottingham, Prior to my academic job, she worked in the real estate industry. Her main area of expertise is on consumer research, with a main focus on gift giving behaviour, its different manifestations and the diverse contexts where gift giving happens. She is also interested in consumer coping, evolutionary marketing and the application of attachment theory to consumption contexts. She has published her research in the Journal of Travel Research, Journal of Business Research, European Journal of Marketing and Industrial Marketing Management and regularly present her work at international events including the AMS World Marketing Congress and the ACR North American conference.

Fees and funding

Fees and costs

2023/242024/25
Students from the UK and Republic of Ireland£10,350£10,900
International (including EU) students£19,645£20,600

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

Fees shown are for a full-time, one-year Masters course. 

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.

Fees shown are for a full-time, one-year Masters course. 

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 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.

Scholarships and funding

Funding 

Eligible international students could receive a scholarship worth between £4,000-£7,000. See our range of generous scholarships for international postgraduate students.

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 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 £5,500 from Student Finance NI.

Cost of living

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.

Find out about the cost of living for students at Stirling

Payment options

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

Brand Managers are central to brand protection in many organisations across a wide variety of industries and sectors, with glassdoor.com reporting the average Brand Manager salary in the UK as £48,779 in 2023.

Career opportunities exist not only in manufacturing and services but increasingly in public, social and non-profit sectors. There is high demand for marketing professionals with specialist qualifications throughout the world across virtually every sector of business. As a Stirling graduate in Marketing and Brand Management you have excellent career prospects.

Employability skills

You’ll have the opportunity to gain first-hand practical experience by working on consultancy projects with external clients. The University of Stirling Management School has a dedicated Employability Manager and from the very beginning of the course your career is our focus.

Companies we work with

Typical roles for graduates with this qualification include:

  • marketing manager
  • brand manager
  • brand marketing executive
  • product marketing manager
  • consultant

Graduates from our existing 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 (South 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)

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