Marketing Management

This highly regarded MSc Marketing Management will increase your understanding of what marketing is – and isn’t – and how it can be applied effectively and creatively in real-world scenarios.

Take your knowledge to a strategic level

Leading employers worldwide increasingly expect their marketing staff – experienced professionals and new recruits alike – to have a specialist degree such as an MSc.

Our course is designed to give you a thorough understanding of the core concepts of marketing and to practise these in safe but realistic business and marketing situations.

Building on the broad contextual aspects of marketing, you’ll focus on how to create and implement strategic marketing plans and how to manage brands. Our emphasis is on fostering your creativity, helping you to address marketing challenges in new and original ways. Every module has an international dimension to enhance your global perspectives too. We also aim to develop your practical and creative skills beyond the operational and functional so that you gain a more strategic level of understanding. 

Influential partnerships

Our MSc Marketing Management is designed and delivered in collaboration with highly respected companies and organisations operating at local, national and international levels. The partnerships span many areas from retail to the not-for-profit sector.

You’ll meet industry experts from our thriving professional and business networks, many of whom contribute thought-provoking guest lectures and masterclasses. You’ll hear first hand what happens at the sharp end of the marketing business across vastly different organisational cultures.

You can also extend your professional contacts through networking at showcase events such as prestige conferences and meetings of the University’s own Network of Entrepreneurs. Our annual Marketing Festival – a rare opportunity to hear from some of the country’s leading marketers – sets the scene for the future of the profession.

Our graduates regularly return to take part in these events and share their career experiences. Their feedback also helps shape the continuing development of the course.

Put your learning into action

We give you every opportunity to apply latest marketing concepts and theories to real-world business scenarios. Internships, company visits and mini-projects are a cornerstone of this course and most modules use real businesses as case studies.

You’ll gain vital experience by working in a team of marketing consultants for our partner companies. Recent projects have seen our students developing branding ideas for Haddon Hall; creating a marketing strategy for the English Wine Project; advising supply chain compliance firm Altius on new markets in Europe and beyond; and undertaking customer research for the Derwent Rural Counselling Service to help raise greater awareness of its work.

The internship opportunities on offer are equally wide-ranging. Our students have worked with organisations as diverse as an eating disorder charity and the British Occupational Hygiene Society.

Attuned to latest industry thinking

Our teaching team has extensive experience in marketing for a broad spectrum of organisations and an excellent network of contacts. They also draw on the influential market sensing research underway at the University, giving you access to the latest thinking in areas such as customer behaviour, marketing strategy, branding, communications, social media management, internal marketing and customer relationship management.

We pride ourselves on delivering a challenging but fun learning environment to set you on your way to career success. Feedback shows that our current and former students particularly value the support they receive from our approachable and inspirational tutors.

Pursue your specialist interests

The culmination of the MSc Marketing Management is your Independent Study where you select a sector or aspect of marketing which reflects your professional interests and career ambitions.

This is your chance to conduct in-depth research, using critical thinking, investigative and problem-solving skills which will serve you well in your future career. You’ll ask searching questions, review literature, undertake research, draw conclusions and make recommendations.

The range of topics covered is vast. Among recent examples, our students have investigated how SMEs accept and use social media; how consumers become ‘fans’; effective marketing communications for the charity sector; differentiation in women’s magazines leading to a new typology of consumers; social media strategies for reaching international students; and the impact of marketing messages from organisations offering weight-loss services.

You will enrol on the 180-credit MSc Marketing Management. However, if you leave before completing the full programme, you will gain a Postgraduate Certificate with 60 credits and a Postgraduate Diploma with 120 credits.

To complete the MSc Marketing Management, you'll study modules such as:

Please note that our modules are subject to change - we review the content of our courses regularly, making changes where necessary to improve your experience and graduate prospects.

Each module is studied on campus through a blend of lectures, seminars, tutorials and self-study. Modules are supported with e-learning materials via our electronic platform ‘Blackboard’ as well as text-based resources.

You’ll receive high-quality support from academic staff throughout the MSc Marketing Management programme, going far beyond the contact you have in lectures and seminars. We remain accessible to our students via email, phone and office visits. Your learning will also be enriched by the exchange of ideas and experiences with your peer group of students.

How you are assessed

All assessment is rooted in professional practice, demonstrating the link between academic theory and marketing in the real world.

Types of assessment range from reports, online tests and presentations - in person and on video - to mood boards, posters and infographics. Assessments are practical and creative, developing your skills as a marketer and as a manager.

A widely respected postgraduate qualification, our MSc Marketing Management is a powerful way to set yourself apart in an increasingly competitive job market.

You will benefit not only from a broad training in the key marketing concepts but also from our strong focus on marketing management and leadership skills. It means you can differentiate yourself further still from graduates with general marketing degrees.

By the time you complete your MSc Marketing Management, you will have experienced many different aspects of marketing and will be ideally placed to start or resume your career in the profession or even to move into broader business and management spheres.

Our graduates are now succeeding in senior marketing roles worldwide with companies such as Unilever in Malawi and UBS in Poland. Others are working with leading agencies or have even set up their own businesses.

Ongoing careers support

Throughout your studies, you will benefit from Personal Development Planning with your personal tutor, who will help you to reflect on your learning and refine your career aspirations. They will point you in the right direction towards further training and internship opportunities so that you can gain any additional experience you need to pursue your ambitions.

Our support continues once you’ve completed your course too: you are entitled to further help and guidance from the Careers and Employment Service for up to three years after leaving the University.

You'll usually need:

• A degree of at least a 2:2, or equivalent
• If English is not your first language, you will also need IELTs 6.5 with 5.5 in each skills area.

2025/26 (August 2025 - July 2026)

Please note fees normally increase in line with inflation and the University's strategic approach to fees, which is reviewed on an annual basis. The total fee you pay may therefore increase after one year of study.

* UK full-time fees paid within one academic year are rounded down to the nearest £50 if applicable

Additional costs and optional extras

About postgraduate awards

Please note at postgraduate level, you’ll need to gain the following number of credits in total to obtain the respective awards. If you have any questions please contact us.

This means you will gain 180 credits in total to complete the full MA or MSc. If you are studying part time you will normally complete your studies over two or three years, depending on the course structure.

Funding your studies

Find out more about fees, postgraduate loans and support you may be entitled to.

Find out about funding your studiesFind out about funding your studies

Alumni discount for Derby graduates

We offer a discount on postgraduate course fees for all Derby alumni.

Find out about the Alumni discountFind out about the Alumni discount

Additional information about your studies

Teaching hours

Like most universities, we operate extended teaching hours at the University of Derby, so contact time with your lecturers and tutors could be anytime between 9am and 9pm. Your timetable will usually be available on the website 24 hours after enrolment on to your course.