Program Overview
Bournemouth University's MA Advertising program empowers students with the skills to navigate emerging challenges in the industry. Through live briefs, industry connections, and a focus on strategy as a creative practice, the program prepares graduates for leadership roles in advertising, branding, and corporate communication, enabling them to drive change and make meaningful contributions to brands and society.
Program Outline
Degree Overview:
The MA Advertising program at Bournemouth University is designed to equip students with the skills and knowledge needed to lead brands in meeting the demands of consumers to address urgent social and environmental challenges.
Objectives:
- Develop knowledge and skills by working on live briefs set by a network of advertising agencies.
- Enhance the ability to devise, articulate, and interrogate ideas.
- Gain an in-depth understanding of the issues and challenges facing the advertising industry.
- Learn to see strategy as a powerful creative practice.
- Make contacts and connections with a network of agencies and leading industry speakers.
- Enter the Data & Marketing Association (DMA) Talent Marketing Challenge and attend creative and data workshops.
Outline:
The MA Advertising program is a one-year full-time program (September start) or a 16-month full-time program (January start). Students can also choose to complete the program over two years with an optional 30-week placement.
Course Schedule:
The program is structured around a series of core units: Students learn to develop creative briefs, define communication objectives, and create a clear campaign plan. This unit also prepares students for the IPA Foundation Certificate. Students gain a critical appreciation of the role of theory in generating commercially viable insights and marketing communications practice.
- Digital Media Strategies: This unit explores emerging digital technologies and media strategies for advertising and promotional purposes. Students evaluate and assimilate new digital trends in a constantly evolving field.
- Research in Action: This unit challenges students' understanding of academic and applied research in the communications industries. Students gain a broad grounding in social science research methods and develop the skills needed to design, conduct, report, and evaluate research.
- Creative Practice in Advertising: This unit extends students' critical awareness of and ability to apply a range of creative problem-solving strategies and techniques to creative ideation. Students develop a Creative Portfolio through the conception, development, and production of effective and affective advertising and branding materials. This unit is supported by workshops that provide training in industry software and key digital skills.
- Creative Advertising Management: This unit provides students with the knowledge, skills, and sensibilities necessary to manage an advertising, branding, or corporate communication agency or department in a contemporary global setting. Students reflect critically on the implications of practices intended to shape the perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors of a wide range of publics. They also engage with and demonstrate competency in the challenges and opportunities involved in managing creative processes and organizations in a context of increasing expectations of corporate environmental and social responsibility. This unit includes a co-creation learning opportunity where students collaborate with media production specialists to produce media materials in accordance with the creative brief developed in the Creative Strategy for Advertising unit.
- Final Project: The Final Project allows students to explore in depth a particular area of advertising and/or branding based on their interests. Students can choose between an Academic Dissertation or a Consultancy Project.
Assessment:
Assessment methods vary depending on the unit. The program specification provides details of the assessment methods and contact hours for each unit.
Teaching:
The program is taught by a range of staff with relevant expertise and knowledge, including senior academic staff, qualified professional practitioners, demonstrators, technicians, and research students. Students also benefit from regular guest lectures from the industry.
Careers:
The MA Advertising program prepares students for a variety of careers in advertising, branding, and corporate communication. Graduates are equipped to work agency-side and client-side in roles such as:
- Market research
- Public relations
- Campaign planning
- Account management
- Marketing communications
- Advertising & Branding
- Brand Management
- Creative Direction
- Corporate Communication for a wide range of organizations (private, public, and third sector)
Other:
The MA Advertising program is accredited by the Institute of Data & Marketing (IDM) and aligned to the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA). Students have the opportunity to achieve the IPA Foundation Certificate, the base-level qualification for anyone who wants to work in an IPA member agency. The program also offers students the opportunity to take the Certificate in Digital Marketing exam and to apply to the summer school, where they can spend a week working and networking with agencies. Students are also entitled to enter the DMA Talent Marketing Challenge and to attend creative and data workshops held throughout the year. The program has an excellent reputation within the UK marketing, branding, and corporate communications sector. It was redesigned in 2020 to respond to three important trends:
- The demand by consumers that brands and companies change their practices to address urgent social and environmental challenges.
- The demand by brands and agencies for graduates able to respond effectively and creatively to these challenges.
- The demand by students for the knowledge and skills needed to pursue rewarding careers that enable them to "make a difference."
