Advertising, Marketing and the Media

The University of Essex is one of the UK's leading academic institutions, ranked ninth nationally for research excellence following the most recent Research Assessment Exercise (RAE).

We are surrounded by advertising, marketing and media campaigns in a hugely competitive world-wide marketplace and these areas form an important commercial function within businesses and organisations. The study of advertising and marketing is an established and important area within business and management studies and the sociology of consumption and consumer culture. MA Marketing, Advertising and the Media will investigate key theoretical and substantive debates in the critical study of advertising, marketing and media.

You will analyse the advertising industries in Britain, North America and newly emerging economies like India, examine the use of branding and developing brand cultures and examine the wider concept of advertising, marketing and consumption. You will also look at recent developments from actor network theory on market devices. You will be introduced to primary research materials, like market research data. You will explore debates about the historical rise of marketing-orientated businesses and the growth of the advertising agency and broader expansion of marketing-led innovations in economic life.

As part of the course you will have the opportunity to work at CREDOS, the think-tank for the Advertising Association, for a one- or two-day internship. Your dissertation is a key part of the course and will be linked to the new master's thesis award scheme run by CREDOS. This new course brings together expertise from our top-rated Department of Sociology and Essex Business School.

A Masters course is an academically rigorous programme during which you explore your subject in depth, reaching a high level of specialist knowledge. You draw on knowledge and skills from your undergraduate study or your professional life to produce work of a high academic standard, informed by current thinking and debate.
A Masters course lasts for twelve months (full-time), starting in October, and consists of taught modules during your autumn and spring terms, and normally a research-based dissertation or other project-based work submitted in September. Your balance of modules and research varies according to the subject but, typically, your research counts for 60 credits and there are 120 credits of modules, varying from 10 to 40 credits each. (If you are from the EU, then our Masters courses are regarded as second-cycle qualifications under the Bologna Declaration and consist of 90 ECTS credits).
In some subjects, Postgraduate or Graduate Certificates and Diplomas are available, which last for six to nine months (full-time) and consist of 60 or 120 credits, respectively. These include the modules and assessed work of a Masters, without a dissertation. Our Graduate Diplomas equip those with a Bachelors with knowledge to proceed to a Masters in a different subject.
Please note that module information on our course finder provides a guide to course content and may be subject to review on an annual basis.

Modules
Core modules
* Advertising: Commerce And Creativity
* Dissertation
* Strategic Brand Communication

Compulsory modules
* Critical Marketing
* Media Theory

Compulsory with options modules
* Sociological Research Design
* Texts And Documents

Optional modules
* Citizenship, International Migration And Human Rights
* Contemporary Debates In Sociology
* Critical Perspectives On Terrorism And Counter-Terrorism
* Current Controversies In Criminology And Criminal Justice Policy
* Digital Economy
* Dynamics Of Home And Work
* Ethnography
* Interviewing And Qualitative Data Analysis
* Managing Across Cultures
* Panel Data Methods
* Sociology Of Human Rights

Core modules must be taken and passed.
Core with options modules selected from limited lists must be taken and passed.
Compulsory modules must be taken.
Compulsory with options modules selected from limited lists must be taken.
Optional modules are selected from course specific lists.

Upper second class honours degree, or equivalent, in relevant subject area.IELTS 6.5. English Language Requirements IELTS band: 6.5 IMPORTANT NOTE: Since April 2014 the ETS tests (including TOEFL and TOEIC) are no longer accepted for Tier 4 visa applications to the United Kingdom. The university might still accept these tests to admit you to the university, but if you require a Tier 4 visa to enter the UK and begin your degree programme, these tests will not be sufficient to obtain your Visa. The IELTS test is most widely accepted by universities and is also accepted for Tier 4 visas to the UK- learn more.

For up-to-date information on funding opportunities at Essex, please visit: