Digital Marketing MSc

University of Surrey

Information and communication technology is changing the way companies interact with consumers. Technological evolution continues apace and marketers are seeking to exploit it in new, creative ways. This module provides a comprehensive framework for understanding the contextual, strategic and operational issues involved in the application of digital transformation to marketing. The course will be of particular value to students planning careers in digital marketing and marketing consulting.

The dissertation is compulsory to all the three MSc Marketing programmes; International Marketing (IM), Strategic Management (SM) and Digital Marketing (DM). This module provides an opportunity for a sustained period of independent study and research. It allows students to concentrate on marketing and retail topics that are of particular interest to them. It also gives an opportunity for students to work independently with individual supervisors.

In this module, students develop a holistic understanding of the theory and tools for Entrepreneurship which has a particular relevance in the context of the Digital Economy. This begins with discussion of key concepts around the Entrepreneur, Opportunity Recognition and the Entrepreneurial Process. During the initial stages, the individual acts on ideas to develop them into business opportunities through deliberate actions. In turn, students review the key elements for a start-up including resources, the founding team and business modelling. A start-up is an experiment to find a business model.

This module introduces students to the concept and current practices in marketing analytics. Technology advances of the past decade have dramatically enhanced marketers means of collecting and analysing data to measure the effectiveness of their marketing strategies. This module is designed to provide students with an overview of state-of-the-art marketing analytics practices that guide marketing executives in their strategic decisions. The module focuses on introducing students to key analytical techniques with an emphasis on interpreting results and generating strategic insights for marketing decision-making.

The main aim of this module is to get students ready for conducting professional and academic (dissertation) research. Whereas all stages of a research process are covered in this module, the clear focus is on conducting qualitative and quantitative studies to support marketing decisions in response to business opportunities or problems. More specifically, this module offers the relevant framework for making the informed marketing decisions. The module is organized around the stages of a marketing research project (e.g. problem definition, design, data collection, data analysis, and documentation). The course will be of particular value for students planning careers in marketing research and marketing consulting.

Consumer Behaviour is evident in everyday life, therefore knowledge and understanding of this subject can be beneficial to personal decision-making as well as to marketing and strategy formulation, both in offline and online environments. The module Perspectives on Consumer Behaviour deals with a range of theoretical, practical techniques in understanding and researching consumer consumption behaviour and how such an understanding can be used to create successful and viable marketing strategies. This module gives students the opportunity to explore theories and leading-edge research findings and apply knowledge by conducting small group discussion and/or activities. Thus, reflective, and critical applications of relevant behavioural, cognitive, and socio-cultural approaches to consumption are discussed.

Social media marketing is an emerging and rapidly developing discipline with substantive changes periodically occurring in industry and academic research. While much of social media marketing is focused on the promotional mix, it also is used for customer care, research and more. The field has shifted from one focused on the influence of individual consumers in social channels to one including bots, AI, and influencers. This module provides students with both academic (theories and concepts) and practical grounding underlying strategic decisions for the use of social media for marketing and the implications of the emerging developments in the area. Discussions, study cases and examples will bring these theories to life.

This module aims to help students recognize the role of web analytics within the digital marketing landscape, and practically apply web analytics tools and technologies to monitor performance of web-based marketing activities. The module involves both conceptual and practical aspects.