International Marketing BA Honours

If you’re seeking a career within the marketing function of an organisation, our degree, with its focus on international marketing, will prepare you for a broad range of roles working abroad or for companies that trade all over the world. It is designed to develop your analytical and problem-solving, providing you with a breadth of knowledge in business, along with the specialist knowledge required to carry out strategic marketing in challenging new contexts.

Past graduates of this degree have found successful employment in marketing roles such as management trainee, retail manager, marketing trainee, market research assistant, advertising trainee, PR assistant, sales promotion executive, trainee brand manager, and global brand assistant. Increasing numbers of students progress to further study on graduation: either taking professional qualifications or staying on for postgraduate study.

The University's Careers and Employability Service has built up a network of over 3,000 employers around the world, helping all our students explore and connect with exciting opportunities and careers.

• Develop your innovation and entrepreneurial skills
  Develop your innovation and entrepreneurial skills in The Big Idea competition, sponsored by Santander.
• Kickstart your career
  Learn how to use social media in your job hunt or LinkedIn to kickstart your career.
• Develop your CQ
  Develop your cultural intelligence – or ‘CQ’ – by studying alongside students and staff representing more than 100 nationalities.

Industry links

As well as the links the institution and individual staff have with professional bodies, including the CIM and IDM, many of the staff who currently teach on this course have extensive professional experience in a range of business sectors, with many staff maintaining links with industry through consultancy and training work.

During the course, you will have numerous opportunities to hear from guest speakers and through our Alumni Voices series, where former postgraduate Marketing students will share experiences, including those who work for global media groups or have established their own marketing consultancies.

Job roles

The course will prepare you for a wide variety of roles in business in an international context.

Examples of these from our recent graduates are:

• Advertising executive
• Brand manager
• Management trainee
• Market researcher
• Marketing associate/manager
• Product development officer
• PR officer
• Social media executive/manager

Westminster Employability Award

Employers value graduates who have invested in their personal and professional development – and our Westminster Employability Award gives you the chance to formally document and demonstrate these activities and achievements.

The award is flexible and can be completed in your own time, comprising a set of core and optional extracurricular activities.

Activities might include gaining experience through a part-time job or placement, signing up to a University-run scheme – such as mentoring or teaching in a school – or completing online exercises.

Our degrees in marketing have a shared first year which allows you to experience all the main areas in marketing before you finalise your degree to match your career choice, focusing on either international marketing, marketing management or marketing communications.

The following subjects are indicative of what you will study on this course.

Year 1

You are introduced to key marketing theories, concepts and emerging marketing tools and techniques. We focus on the customer, examining buyer behaviour and the factors which affect perceptions and purchase decisions.

Subjects of study include:

• Understanding Consumers
• Fundamentals of Marketing
• Employment Academic Skills
• Digital Marketing Essentials
• International Business Environment

You will also have the opportunity to take an optional module that broadens your skills or helps you to gain more in-depth knowledge of your specialist area; your option module may be a foreign language.

Credit Level 4

Year 2

You’ll learn how to deliver a marketing research project abroad, taking into account potential difficulties in accessing market samples or language barriers and cultural issues, such as speaking directly to women or the restrictions of discussing taboo topics, for example. You’ll design appropriate research, understand primary and secondary data, conduct both qualitative and quantitative data analysis, and use the findings to improve marketing decision-making. Optional modules allow you to choose topics that interest you most. For example, retail marketing examines the challenges facing online and store-based retail multiples and the drivers behind industry change, drawing on real-life experiences from the worlds of fashion and food retailing. In B2B marketing, you’ll be introduced to the complex buying and selling relationships between organisations and marketing issues, such as e-commerce, key account management and supply-chain ethics.

Subjects of study include:

• Global Market Strategies
• Consumer Insights
• Data Analytics

Plus, three options from: Ethics and Social Responsibility in Marketing, Marketing B2B, Marketing Services, Global Consumer Engagement or other areas of business including languages.

Alternatively, in place of the option modules listed above, you may be able to take the WBS Study Abroad Experience (subject to eligibility) or the WBS Work Experience.

Credit Level 5

Placement Year

Professional experience or Study Abroad year

Between Years 2 and 3, you may choose to study English-taught courses for a year at one of our overseas partner institutions. Currently, you can take a Year Abroad studying (or combining work and study) in Berlin, Copenhagen, Madrid, Paris, and other locations including Brisbane, Sydney (Australia), Japan, Canada and the USA. There are also many opportunities for those with appropriate language skills to study in the local language in France, Germany and Spain, among others.

You can also choose to split your year abroad into a first-semester exchange and a second-semester work placement, both conducted overseas. Or undertake a placement year overseas.

Alternatively, between Years 2 and 3, you can undertake a one-year, full-time business placement as a Professional Experience Year within the UK. Past students have completed placements in a variety of prestigious organisations, including Barclays Bank, British Airways, Disney UK, IBM and the NHS, as well as in smaller businesses.

Year 3

You continue to expand your knowledge of international marketing planning strategy and consider the diverse communications channels open to marketers, considering, for example, how customer needs might differ and the perceptions of foreign brands in different countries. You have the opportunity to undertake a dissertation where you will research a topic of your choice. As an example, you might analyse how a brand has repositioned in a foreign market or consider an example of a ‘glocalised’ company, which develops and distributes globally, but adjusts its product, services, and marketing to accommodate local markets. You will also further your knowledge in an international context by studying the cross-cultural studies in marketing module, where you will explore local culture, foreign business and meet alumni.

Subjects of study include:

• Cross Cultural Studies in Marketing
• International Market Planning and Strategy
• Marketing Communications
• Final Major Project

Plus two options from: Interactive and Digital Marketing, Managing Brands, New Product Development, and Sustainability Marketing or other business areas including languages.

Credit Level 6

International Opportunities

Many of our courses offer international study and work experiences, and the University provides other global opportunities that all students can apply for - so whatever you're studying, you'll have the chance to go abroad.

Opportunities could include:

• Taking part in semester or year-long exchanges at institutions around the world
• Attending an international summer school or field trip
• Developing your CV through volunteering or work placements abroad

International experience broadens horizons, boosts self-confidence, and improves global understanding, alongside being fantastic for your career.