Business and Marketing BA (Hons)

Course overview

The Business and Marketing BA (Hons) course aims to provide a solid understanding of areas such as business planning and management, alongside specialist marketing skills for potential careers in category management, marketing, customer insight, business development, sales and corporate communications. This course aims to:

• give you the confidence and business acumen necessary to develop, position and build businesses in the most strategically effective way.
• develop a solid understanding of business analysis, marketing planning and management, including exploring topics such as leadership, alongside specialist marketing skills, such as understanding customer behaviour, developing creative solutions and promoting competitive advantage.
• hone a broad range of practical and transferrable skills – creative, analytical, interpersonal and communications.

The January start for this course is condensed in Year 1. Please see the ‘How you’ll learn’ section below for more details.

Why you should study this course

• Real-world applications - a distinctive feature of this course is the focus on real-world engagement and authentic assessments in a range of business and marketing situations. The course aims to offer you the opportunity to work on live projects and case studies from local and international organisations2 and possibly participate in Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) projects². Your business skills are further developed s through simulation games, role-play activities, and scenario-based learning by putting theory into practice⁴.
• Highly flexible and transferable course options - this course is part of a suite of marketing courses that share a common first year, this enables you to gain a broad understanding of business and management concepts and practice before continuing your chosen specialism.
• DigiComm Lab⁴ - our DigiComm Lab supports and develops your digital literacy skills through using industry-standard marketing platforms and software.
• Prepare for your future - prepare for a future career in business and marketing with a work placement². Past students have secured placements at IBM, L'Oreal, Rolls Royce and Warner Brothers.
• Real-world insights and professional network development - you will be presented with opportunities to experience presentations and networking opportunities with practitioners, from both global businesses and small, niche advertising agencies, together with both real and virtual field trips².

If you choose to start this course in January you will study exactly the same course but over a slightly shorter timescale in Year 1. This is ideal if you missed the September start, want to transfer from a different university or course or just need a bit more time to prepare for life at university.

Careers and opportunities

Upon successful completion of the course, you will be able to:

• apply appropriate business concepts, models or techniques to analyse marketing problems.
• source, analyse and apply appropriate marketing information to support decision making.
• present ideas and findings and communicate effectively to an audience in written, verbal or electronic format, using appropriate business media and IT applications.
• identify and analyse relevant sources of marketing information and research techniques across different contexts and cultures.
• appreciate current contemporary issues including sustainability, ethics and CSR in marketing and digital marketing.
• effectively use specialist tools in digital and social media marketing using appropriate software⁴.
• apply appropriate techniques to solve a range of different business management problems, including those of a financial nature.

Our Business and Marketing BA (Hons) aims to provide a highly flexible degree, which can easily facilitate entrance into general business management roles or act as a springboard for roles such as a Sales Manager, Category Manager, Market Research Manager or Marketing Manager. You can expect to develop a critical and reflective understanding of marketing and its relationship with the wider international business environment. It could lead to potential future specialist career options in such areas as advertising, digital marketing and project coordination, as well as more general roles in business analysis, project management or sales management.

Through completing the degree you will gain expertise and confidence in search engine optimisation, content management, creative integrated communications, social media marketing, big data analysis, campaign planning and channel management as well as knowledge and application of key concepts and practice within the broader marketing discipline.