Course units
UAL is committed to ensuring that its students’ knowledge and skills are set within a contemporary personal and professional ethical framework so that they may make a positive impact in practice, particularly in relation to UAL’s Principles for Climate, Racial and Social Justice. The UAL Principles help inform the course’s approach to ethical awareness and application within the curriculum, leading to advocacy, mitigation, and urgency in developed practice. Ethical behaviours and values are embedded in course aims and are assessed throughout. Aligned with this is our expectation that students will be ready to apply these to their careers and to respond and adapt to societal change and emerging technologies, including AI.
Block 1
Marketing and Communications Industries (20 credits)
As the foundation of your postgraduate studies, this unit considers the history and contemporary development of the marketing communications industry and its continued integration with media and platforms. You’ll consider the relationship between brands, marketers and audiences and the marketing and advertising agencies on which they are built. The unit also addresses the changing nature of technology, media and platforms with a focus on AI integration. You will also develop an advanced understanding of media communications work in relation to global, regional and national political economies, social and cultural contexts and regulatory compliance.
Brand Management (20 credits)
This unit examines how brands are strategically developed, positioned, and sustained in competitive and rapidly evolving markets. It provides an in-depth understanding of brand identity, equity, and value creation, equipping you to craft coherent brand strategies that resonate with target audiences across diverse platforms. You will develop a critical and contextual understanding of the concept of brand and develop content creation skills in areas such as brand storytelling, portfolio management, digital brand experience, and reputation management. The course also addresses global and cultural dimensions of branding, alongside ethical considerations and responsible leadership, preparing graduates to manage brands with both commercial impact and long-term integrity.
Researching Marketing Communications (20 credits)
You’ll be introduced to the research process by learning methods for data gathering and data analysis. With a focus on research outcomes, you’ll be supported to then apply these techniques to your written work and creative practice, and to propose a research project for your independent study for your Final Major Project.
Block 2
Data Insight and Consumer Behaviour (20 credits)
This unit explores how data is used to understand, predict, and influence the ways people make decisions as consumers. It introduces you to key concepts in behavioural science, marketing analytics, and data interpretation, equipping you to uncover patterns in consumer attitudes and actions in digital and physical environments. Through a combination of theory and practical application, students develop their skills in collecting, analysing, and translating data into meaningful insights that inform strategy, enhance customer experience, and support ethical decision-making and the responsible use of data.
Collaborative Unit (20 credits)
This unit develops your skills in teamworking, business and innovation. Working in partnership with industry and with postgraduate students from your course and beyond, you will research and deliver a collaborative project that meets objectives outlined by a marketing opportunity, industry imperative or public engagement.
Option Unit (20 credits)
You’ll have the opportunity to choose from a range of specialist research-based and creative practice topics to develop your skills and interests in marketing communications and to further develop your approach to your Final Major Project. Options could include Content Creation for Professional Communications, Media Futures, Media Business & Entrepreneurship.
Block 3
Final Major Project (60 credits)
Your Final Major Project is your opportunity to design and undertake a major piece of self-generated, self-directed research, which demonstrates your advanced critical, analytical and practical skills, aligned to your knowledge of marketing communications and the wider media and business environment. You’ll apply an appropriate method of enquiry from a range learned on the course to a portfolio, research-based investigation or industry report. The Final Major Project is your major statement calling card– reflecting innovative work that will form part of your future. It will support you to launch a career in the marketing communications and media industries, or prepare you for further study.
