BA Joint Hons French & Marketing

Students take two combined classes: French 1A (semester 1), French 1B (semester 2). These courses are mainly organised around a linguistic progression towards level B1 in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. There is a regular input of cultural background which takes the form of three lectures in semester 1 and two in semester 2 covering the following topics:

• The Making of Modern France
• France in a Global Context
• Understanding the French Republic
• French Identities
• Contemporary French Society 

In addition, there is an introductory lecture in semester 2 entitled ‘What is translation about?’

Marketing is a key part of any successful business, and a good theoretical and practical knowledge of the subject will be of immense benefit to an aspiring manager or entrepreneur. In this class, you'll be exposed to concepts and ideas from economics, sociology, psychology, geography and other social sciences, all in the context of the competitive business environment.

Cultural focus: time (35 hour week, RTT and ‘ponts’, paternity/maternity leave, …) & ‘human resources’ (hierarchical organisation, discrimination, unions, relocation,…)

Linguistic focus: the negation, asking questions, using pronouns.

Cultural focus: the origins of the European ideal, Europe and the EU viewed from France.

Linguistic focus: subjunctive mood.

Cultural focus: a historical view of immigration in France and a look at the specificity of the French ‘integration’ system.

Linguistic focus: the system of tenses in French (concentrating on past tenses).

Cultural focus: a further look (after first year) at French politics, concentrating on topical issues.

Linguistic focus: modal verbs.

Cultural focus: decentralisation, importance of regions in France.

Linguistic focus: the passive voice.

Cultural focus: the French economy (role of the state, …), marketing à la française

Linguistic focus: equivalent of –ing in French.

In addition, students specialising in French take the French Culture and History 2 class. This class focuses on the Occupation and French Colonialism/Decolonisation. The historical context for each topic is first set, and documents from the two periods studied, before discussion moves on to the cultural domain, via analysis of the following texts and films:

• Au Revoir les Enfants (film, Malle)
• Stupeur et Tremblements (text, Nothomb)
• L'Étranger (text, Camus)
• Le Samourai (film, Melville)
• Anthology of historical texts relating to the Second World War
• Anthology of historical texts relating to French Colonialism/Immigration

Many of the fundamental concepts of marketing are based on an ability to understand consumers and the marketing concept can be implemented more effectively when adequate information about the market and potential consumer behaviour is available. Marketing Research and customer information provide a critical input to the planning and development of a company's marketing strategy in relation to marketing communications, strategic marketing and branding.

At the heart of this class is the recognition that services present unique challenges, and that building customer relationships through quality service is fundamental to marketing success in every organisation. Over the past decade the retail sector has been one of the most dynamic areas in business. The retail sector also provides a very clear indication of the overall health and robustness of the economy. The rise or fall of the individual’s disposable income is very quickly reflected in terms of expenditure on items. In this respect, the retail sector acts as the weather vane for the economy.

Cultural focus: a historical review of slavery and a look at modern forms of slavery.

Linguistic focus: reinforcement work on subjunctive mood, passive voice and negative forms.

Cultural focus: the impact of consumerism on the environment.

Linguistic focus: adjectives and comparative, hypothesis, conditional mood.

Cultural focus: a look at current issues in the French education system.

Linguistic focus: reported speech, imperative mood, a further look at pronouns.

Cultural focus: practical module aiming at preparing students for the year abroad.

There is also a French Studies 3 class: Freedom and Identity in France and the Francophone world. This class is based on the study of the following texts and films as examples of the treatment of the class’s twin themes:

• Milou en mai (film, Malle)
• Poverty (various texts)
• The Dreyfus Affair (various historical texts)
• Monsieur Klein (film, Losey)
• Rue des Boutiques Obscures (text, Modiano)
• National Identity in the Third Republic (various historical texts)

This core class addresses the strategy formulation and planning aspects associated with strategic marketing management as it is applied in domestic and international contexts. The class offers students an analytic decision oriented approach for the development and implementation of international marketing strategy.

This class will outline and discuss the strategic role of marketing in a digital context, and further elaborate on the integration of digital marketing, social media marketing, mobile marketing and traditional and digital marketing communications. You will learn about the enduring strategic power of marketing communications in a digital world and learn how to plan for effective, strategic communications which integrate a wide range of channels including the traditional communications mix and the extended mix including all the assets of the brand and digital opportunities.

The language course is based on a series of thematic dossiers dealing with current issues in France and the Francophone world. The focus of the class is on reinforcing and developing key professional language skills, such as translation into English, translation into French, liaison interpreting, and 'exposé' (formal oral presentation).

Students in Joint Honours French will additionally have one or more French Studies 4 classes. Everyone will take the Core Class, Images of Women, which considers the changing portrayal of women over the centuries, using the following texts as the basis of discussion:

• Madame Bovary (novel, Flaubert)
• Fatale (novel, Manchette)
• L’événement (Ernaux, novel)
• Women in the Paris Commune of 1871 (various historical documents)

Joint Honours students not writing a dissertation in French will take these two further classes:

• The Occupation and its portrayal in French films
• France since 1945

The importance of brands raises significant questions of how to develop brand equity and how to communicate a branding strategy of differentiation, value and identification. The role of the Brand Manager is reviewed along with formulating the necessary communication strategies to build brand equity and secure market share.

More recent approaches in this vein suggest that the traditional Brand Management approach is all too limited, leaving many questions unanswered. Consequently more recent approaches address the co-construction of brand value, through viral branding, using social media, co-branding and brand extensions. In this respect, the principles of branding are now being applied beyond simply new product development, to such strategies as places, communities and countries.

Other key strategies that may be discussed include, luxury branding, nation branding, business-to-business branding and corporate brands.

This course aims to build foundational knowledge of traditional commercial-oriented Marketing, by examining applications of Marketing in a social context. Each year millions of pounds are spent world-wide to combat health and social problems such as HIV/AIDS, smoking, drug and alcohol abuse and rising obesity levels. At the same time excessive consumptions burdens society with building landfills and increasing pollution. Meanwhile there are still people who consume 'too little' and who suffer from hunger.

The class considers recent research in a variety of Social Marketing contexts and material is continuously updated to ensure that students gain an understanding of the most relevant and critical Social Marketing trends.

This class provides students with an understanding of some of the contemporary issues and challenges in understanding consumers. Building on the undergraduate Consumer Behaviour class, this module aims to develop students’ ability to analyse consumer behaviour in a variety of situations and to explore the complexity of 21st century consumption.

The class reviews consumer trends and the significance of consumer culture, and then explores topics that are the focus of recent research attention. Current topics include consumer identity (possessions and body image); consumer vulnerability; postmodern consumers; consumer tribes; consumption spaces; consumers and celebrities and consumers and ethics.

This class examines the theoretical underpinnings which help explain the operations of such enterprises, covering both international business strategy and international business management. This will be achieved by exploring contemporary issues in academic thought and international business practice.

The class will create a learning environment in which students can enhance their knowledge of relevant marketing communications theories and develop the necessary analytical, creative and decision-making skills required to effectively manage IMC in a variety of contexts.

This class provides you with an opportunity to study and apply marketing principles and concepts to a sector that has gained increasing significance in society world-wide. We’ve witnessed the emergence of a sports culture in many countries. This, in turn, has led to the emergence of sport as a global industry.

Sport is one of the most important sectors in the UK in terms of spectator interest, participation and consumer spending. It is also a varied industry consisting of sports products as well as sports services, spectator sports, sports media and sport-related travel.

Given the evolving nature of the job market, evidence suggests that 40% of graduates are now working in 'graduate level' jobs within SMEs. Alongside this, evidence suggests that SME graduate jobs show a concentration towards niche sectors such as marketing. As such, the aim of this class is to provide a theoretical grounding in marketing through the lens of small business organisations.

By focusing on SMEs rather than larger organisations it will provide a contrast with the prevailing focus of marketing and highlight how marketing is different in a small firm and how this translates into SME marketing competencies. Upon completion of this class student will be able to pitch themselves more favourably towards SME employers.

This class explores underlying marketing processes and builds on traditional marketing elements in the context of tourism, considering both supply (destination/ community) and demand (consumer) perspectives. The class will explore a number of theories related to both marketing and tourism, as well of the application of these theories to real world cases, to ensure students gain an enhanced understanding of the tourism industry.