International Marketing (Top-up) - BA (Hons)

“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~ Sun Tzu (5th Century BC).

Whilst the great strategist was discussing military strategy in his influential treatise, The Art of War, the quotation is perfectly valid for organisations today - without a well-defined marketing strategy, organisations run the very real risk of losing market share to competitors and potentially going out of business.

As such, an understanding of the strategic marketing planning process is essential for marketing professionals, as it enables them to make informed strategic decisions that support achievement of the organisation’s overall mission and objectives. The Marketing Strategy and Planning module aims to give you...

The Digital Marketing Performance and Analytics module equips you with the skills and knowledge to thrive in the data-driven digital marketing landscape. It explores how digital transformation has reshaped industry practices, emphasising the shift from traditional methods to analytics-powered strategies. The module offers a comprehensive understanding of how data and analytics optimise marketing performance and inform strategic decision-making.

You will delve into key areas of digital marketing analytics, including website and social media analytics, data visualisation and the creation of dashboards to track and communicate performance effectively. Additionally, you will explore ways to enhance user experiences through data-driven insights, integrate analytics into CRM systems for personalised marketing, and leverage predictive analysis and artificial intelligence to anticipate trends and optimise campaigns.

Ethical considerations surrounding big data and privacy are addressed, alongside practical skills for planning, managing and measuring digital campaign success. By transforming raw data into actionable intelligence, you will gain the expertise to develop and refine strategies aligned with modern marketing demands.

Studies suggest that acquiring a new customer can cost up to seven times more than retaining an old one, as customers tend to buy from brands that they trust. Because of this, relationship marketing has become a necessity for those organisations who are striving to build loyalty and trust with their customers in order to grow their businesses.

Unlike traditional transactional marketing, which focuses solely on individual sales, relationship marketing goes beyond the purchase decision to create long-term engagement, personalised interactions and value creation to address the growing demand from consumers for more meaningful connections with brands. As a result, many organisations have turned to Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems and strategies to manage and nurture these relationships effectively.

The Customer Relationship Management module will explore the principles and practices of relationship marketing, looking at how it has evolved from simple tools for managing customer contact information to comprehensive platforms that integrate data, analytics and automation. You will learn about the key perspectives of CRM – strategic, analytical and operational – and identify how each can be configured to support relationship marketing goals.

In the modern age, organisations are increasingly facing pressure to act more responsibly, driven by a growing awareness amongst consumers, investors and governments about the impact of business operations on society and the environment. In this evolving landscape, organisations are now expected to act as agents of positive change, looking beyond profit-driven motives and operating in a way that is transparent, ethical and sustainable.

Whilst marketing has contributed to many of the issues faced by today’s society, the Sustainable Marketing module offers an alternative perspective of marketing and the critical role that it has to play in facilitating a sustainable future. During this module, you will explore some of the key drivers of the sustainability agenda, as reflected in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and develop an understanding of how marketing can develop strategies to support this agenda whilst still meeting the commercial needs of the business.

The module provides you with an introduction to the main issues of international business. This module deals with the cultural, administrative, geographical and economic differences around the world and how these differences shape businesses today. Three fundamental issues that this module addresses are: (i) the differences among domestic, international and global firms; (ii) the attributes of multinational corporations (MNCs) and finally; (iii) the determinants of success in international business.

The Sales and Channel Management module brings together two critical commercial areas: crafting an effective channel strategy, and mastering the sales, promotion, and negotiation techniques essential for delivering products or services to customers.

This module is designed to equip you with the necessary skills to plan and execute a robust channel strategy, including selecting and evaluating the right intermediaries, creating sales strategies to engage customers, and developing channel support plans that incorporate shopper marketing, account management and negotiation tactics. You will also explore how marketing integrates with other key business functions, such as category planning, and dive into the dynamics of business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) relationships, both in local and international markets.