MA Advertising, Marketing and the Media - Advertising, Marketing and the Media Degree

Program Overview

The MA Advertising, Marketing, and the Media program at the University of Essex delves into the critical interplay between cultural values, creativity, and commercial innovation in the advertising and marketing industries. It offers a comprehensive exploration of key theoretical and practical aspects, preparing students for careers in various sectors, including advertising, marketing, media, and related fields. The program emphasizes ethics, sustainable business practices, and research skills, fostering critical thinking and analytical abilities.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

The MA Advertising, Marketing and the Media is a one-year, full-time program offered by the University of Essex. It is based in the Department of Sociology and Criminology and is supported by expertise from the Essex Business School. The program critically explores the commercial and sociological aspects of the advertising and marketing industries, probing the way they link cultural values to creative and commercial innovation. It investigates key theoretical and substantive debates in the critical study of advertising, marketing and media, and analyses the advertising industries in Britain, North America and newly emerging economies like India.

Objectives:

The program aims to:

• Provide a critical understanding of the advertising and marketing industries.
• Analyze the advertising industries in different global contexts.
• Develop research skills and critical thinking abilities.
• Prepare students for careers in advertising, marketing, media, and related fields.

Outline:

Year 1

• Component 01: CORE
• Postgraduate Taught Project and Academic Skills (60 CREDITS)
• This component allows students to deepen their knowledge, build invaluable research skills and develop their academic freedom.
Students will undertake a dissertation on a topic of their choosing, with supervision and guidance from academics.
• Component 02: CORE
• Advertising: Commerce and Creativity (20 CREDITS)
• This component explores the history of advertising in Britain and North America, and teaches students how to analyze and theorize about advertising and the wider creative industries.
• Component 03: CORE
• Perspectives on Marketing (20 CREDITS)
• This component explores the foundational principles of marketing as an academic subject and practice, by considering marketing from different perspectives including consumer behaviour, the marketing mix perspective, services marketing, retail and place marketing, marketing communications, ethical marketing, and global marketing.
• Component 04: COMPULSORY
• Digital Economy (20 CREDITS)
• This component explores key features of the contemporary digital economy and addresses questions about digital cultures, the role of consumers in producing the digital economy, the differences between legacy media and social media, and the impact of mobile phones on our lives.
• Component 05: COMPULSORY
• Sociological Research Design (20 CREDITS)
• This component examines the research process, from forming initial research questions through to writing up findings.
Students will develop their own research ideas and build a critical perspective on empirical research.
• Component 06: COMPULSORY
• Consumer Behaviour (20 CREDITS)
• This component evidences how buyer behaviour plays an essential role in marketing strategy.
Students will consider how marketers use consumer insights and behaviour theory and look beyond the act of buying to consider the entire consumption cycle.
• BE559-7-AU or BE467-7-SP or Sociology option (20 CREDITS)
• Students can choose from a range of optional modules offered by the Department of Sociology and Criminology or the Essex Business School.

Teaching:

• Postgraduate students typically have 2 hours of contact time per week for each module.
• Teaching methods include seminars, lectures, and classes.
• The department has a strong research group culture and encourages graduate students to participate in weekly departmental seminars.

Assessment:

• Modules are assessed by coursework and a dissertation.
• The dissertation is a 15,000-word piece of work that allows students to focus in-depth on their chosen topic.
• Many graduates go on to successful academic careers in the UK and overseas.
• Other graduates have established careers in non-governmental organisations, local authorities, specialist think tanks, government departments, charities, media production, and market intelligence.
• The university's Employability and Careers Centre helps students find work experience, internships, placements, and voluntary opportunities.

Other:

• The program emphasizes ethics and sustainable business practice in the global economy.
• The Department of Sociology and Criminology is 1st for research environment in sociology (Grade Point Average, Research Excellence Framework 2021).
• The Essex Business School building on the Colchester Campus is the first zero carbon business school in the UK.
• The Sociology common room is open all day Monday-Friday and is stocked with daily newspapers, magazines and journals, and has free drinks available.
• The University of Essex has a Graduate Conference that takes place every February.
• The University of Essex has a Student Resource Centre where students can get help with their studies, access examples of previous students' work, and attend workshops on research skills.
• The University of Essex has links with the Institute of Social and Economic Research and the UK Data Archive.
• The University of Essex has a Sociology Society that provides a forum for the exchange of ideas, arranges talks by visiting speakers, introduces students to various career pathways, and organizes debates.

Home/UK fee:

£10,000

International fee:

£21,700