This introductory class covers key tools and theories used within marketing management. Moving through the Marketing Planning Process, you will learn how to undertake market evaluation, make informed decisions and implement strategies to succeed in competitive markets.

By the end of this class, you should be able to apply marketing knowledge in a management capacity to develop and defend marketing plans.

This class provides you with an understanding of the principal concepts of consumer behaviour. This acknowledges the central role of consumers in marketing strategy but expands beyond traditional buyer behaviour to explore ‘having’ and ‘being’ as value formation processes that influence the way we feel and live.

By the end of this class, you should be able to analyse consumer behaviour, drawing on theoretical constructs and models to analyse and explain consumption across a range of contexts.

This class provides a detailed understanding of brand theory and application of key brand strategies. Class content is rich in branding theory, and you'll put the theory to practice applying key branding applications to major global brands. You'll gain a clear appreciation of the role of brand strategy within the corporation’s operating plan. This will entail consideration of environmental factors causing changes to the structure and composition of the brand portfolio as well as discussion of conceptual issues surrounding the strategic roles of brand management.

By the end of the class, you'll have the skills required to manage effectively in a global brand environment.

This class explores sustainability and the role of marketing in society as an agent of change. Marketing has a substantial role to play in tackling the biggest challenges in our society, and in particular, driving societal discourse and market change towards the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A number of different techniques are explored to identify and exploit vectors for change through different approaches to understanding market systems, targeting key stakeholders to drive change, and marketing tactics for reshaping market, organisational and consumer behaviour.

By the end of the class, you should be equipped to challenge marketing roles, particularly around product–service development, business models, positioning and communication, to engage in greater levels of sustainability.

This class provides you with practical skills required to design and lead research in marketing. This builds on the need to understand the market, competitors and customers and the role of secondary, qualitative and quantitative research in doing so. Underpinned by the Marketing Research process, students will move through problem formulation, research design, data collection, data analysis and presentation of findings.

By the end of the class, you should be able to utilise a range of traditional and digital data collection methods to address marketing problems, devise solutions and assess outcomes.

Given the rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI) as a transformative force in how we work, live, and create value, this class explores its growing role in marketing. You will examine key concepts within the marketing AI ecosystem, including strategy, ethics, regulation, and the idea that AI can perform a range of tasks through multiple intelligences. The class also looks at how AI creates new value-creation opportunities across the marketing mix and considers the future of AI-enabled marketing. In response to shifting job markets, where some roles are becoming redundant while new AI-supported opportunities emerge, you will gain the knowledge and skills needed to navigate these changes, in line with the University of Strathclyde’s commitment to useful learning.

By the end of this class, you will be equipped with the theoretical insight and practical skills needed to navigate and thrive in a world where AI is playing an increasingly influential role in marketing.

This class provides you with an understanding of strategies for selecting, entering, developing and leaving international markets. This covers motivations for internationalisation, market selection decisions, market entry modes and market divestment, considering small, medium and large firms. The theoretical context of international business underpins class discussions.

By the end of the class you'll have a grasp of the main theories of international marketing, and be able to apply these to support decision making and strategy in foreign market entry and development.

The class aims to equip you with a detailed understanding of a wide range of digital marketing theories and frameworks, together with online tools and techniques used in the process of strategy development and implementation. This is critical because, regardless of size of sector, every company utilizes digital technologies in its daily operations and this must be managed effectively. Digital marketing strategies help marketers face challenges arising from digital transformation as well as leveraging success from the growing opportunities of digital platforms.

By the end of the class you'll have the skills required to create digital marketing strategies and make appropriate use of marketing tools across a broad spectrum of multi-channel marketing activities.

This class equips you with the analytical skills needed to turn marketing data into actionable insight and strategic decisions. Using real-world digital analytics datasets, you will learn how to interpret key performance metrics, prepare and manage data, and apply core quantitative techniques to evaluate campaigns, content strategies, and customer segments. Topics include research design, regression and hierarchical regression, experimental design and analysis, cluster analysis for segmentation, and introductory text and image analytics for marketing.

By the end of this class, you should be able to select appropriate analytical approaches for different marketing questions, conduct and interpret statistical analyses (in SPSS), and communicate clear, evidence-based recommendations in a professional marketing report.

The module offers students an opportunity to apply marketing strategy and concepts from core classes to a focused business-to-business and supply chain management context. This will be underpinned by knowledge and scholarship from the B2B, Relationship Marketing, Networking and Supply Chain literatures and their application to contemporary marketing practice. 

This class will explore relevant marketing communications theories, consider the role and purpose of marketing communications, critically review constituent components of the marketing communications mix and consider how marketing communication tools are used in practice. The role of Marketing Communications in bridging the gap between an organisation and its many stakeholders and providing a face voice for organisations will be emphasised. In particular, the class will consider the need for and management of Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)

By the end of the class, you will be able to identify factors that impact upon the selection, implementation and evaluation of effective IMC and use this to develop communications strategy. This is an exciting, vibrant and contemporary topic that can contribute to laying the foundations for future careers in marketing.

This class emphasises the need to adopt a different approach when marketing services rather than products. Services represent more than a quarter of all world trade and the world market for services is growing at more than twice the rate of the product sector. Many companies producing products are turning to services to provide their differentiation.

By the end of this class, you will recognise that services present unique challenges. Understanding this will enable you to build customer relationships through quality service, which is fundamental to marketing success in every organisation.

This class assesses the role of retailing within the context of the overall supply chain and within the economy. We look at key operational issues such as store design and layout, location and customer service. The class also focuses on changing trends for retail and how technology has played a role in shaping the retail industry. We place this in the global context, demonstrating how important the retail sector is in driving the global economy.

By the end of the class, you will be familiar with the various tools and techniques used by retailers and be able to apply these to develop retail strategy in international and global contexts, addressing cultural, social, economic, and legal issues.

This class covers the key strategic and operational aspects of export marketing. It situates export marketing within the wider spectrum of foreign market entry modes and justifies the selection of export modes from amongst a wider range of options. You'll build knowledge and understanding of a variety of driving forces behind selecting export modes and gain a better understanding of the international dynamics that influence companies export performance in different sociocultural contexts.

By the end of the class, you'll be able to prepare export marketing plans, building on readiness to export, operating conditions, behaviour and export strategy.

This class explores central consumer behaviour theories in a cross-cultural perspective. You will develop an understanding of the importance of culture. Marketers increasingly operate in global and multicultural contexts, and the key to managing this is a thorough understanding of both the similarities and differences in consumer needs and desires across different cultures.

By the end of the class, you'll have an understanding of consumer behaviour theory and research that is sensitive to cultural dynamics, which is critical for any international marketing strategy.

This class explores how marketing principles are applied within one of the world’s largest and most dynamic service industries. Focusing on international tourism contexts, you will examine how destinations, tourism organisations, and global travel brands engage audiences, build competitive positions, and create value in increasingly complex and sustainability-driven markets. Through applied, problem-based learning and real-world scenarios, the class emphasises consumer insight, destination branding, digital responsiveness, and responsible marketing practice.

By the end of this class, you should be able to analyse tourism markets, apply core marketing concepts to real-world tourism challenges, and develop evidence-based marketing strategies that balance commercial, social, and environmental considerations.

The MSc Marketing Dissertation offers you an opportunity to study, in-depth, a specific marketing problem in an area of your own interest.

Working individually, you will be expected to conduct a literature review, develop an appropriate research methodology, undertake empirical research and present findings with implications for marketing theory and practice. You will be assigned a supervisor from the Department to oversee progress.  Key skills development is embedded and supported throughout the dissertation.

The Marketing Works (Industry Project) provides you with a challenging organisation-based, action-learning opportunity to advise a company on a marketing problem or opportunity.

You will consult your client organisation with the objective of delivering realistic recommendations which, if implemented, could reasonably be expected to help generate strategic marketing plans. You will be expected to consult relevant theory, design and execute appropriate data collection and analysis, and present key outcomes and recommendations to the client. You'll be assigned a supervisor from the Department to oversee progress. Key academic skills development is embedded and supported throughout the dissertation.