MK9531 - Communications and Content Marketing

You will learn through a combination of formal sessions (lectures, seminars and webinars), tutor-directed study and independent reading. The seminars and webinars will be highly interactive and will draw upon the directed learning undertaken, your own marketing-related experiences and discipline expertise of the academic team. These interactive sessions will centre on high levels of participation, both individually and within small groups.

Directed learning will centre upon a range of activities including pre-reading and preparation for interactive activities. Independent learning will
centre upon you reading around the subject matter covered within seminars and lectures. Critical reflection on knowledge, experience and practice underpins the learning and teaching philosophy on this module along with the explicit development of competence, both of which you will develop into a reflective statement as part of the module’s summative assessment.

You will be supported by the module tutor who is an academic lead for the module, in addition to an academic teaching comprising subject
experts from the marketing discipline. This academic team will deliver lectures, seminars and webinars. The seminars will be in small groups so that there is opportunity for exploring the subject matter in detail with both the academic staff and your fellow students.

A comprehensive eLP site will store the materials needed for the lectures and seminars, alongside a detailed week-by-week learning and teaching plan to guide you through the module. There is an electronic reading list indicating the core texts with cover research methods and data analysis, alongside reference to various recommended marketing-related journals and business and management databases, which you should access as the module progresses.

You will be supplied with formative feedback through seminar discussion and reflection, further supported by the weekly webinar. Formative feedback will be provided throughout the module, particularly in relation to seminar tasks where the practical aspects of the module will offer you opportunities to give and receive feedback from your tutors and fellow students.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge & Understanding:
* Develop the theoretical and application-based knowledge of various marketing communications methods, media and development of marketing messages. [MLO1]

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
* Develop team working skills in the context of communications marketing and presenting the findings of this analysis. [MLO2]

* Develop the attributes of a digital marketer, or a marketing specialist operating in a digital-communications environment. [MLO3]


Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
* Develop the foundational skills needed to analyse and evaluate a marketing communications campaign based on appropriate metrics, with an appreciation of the global environment, and potential ethical implications. [MLO4]

You will receive formative feedback from marketing academics. This will involve face-to-face feedback and will take place during the seminars on the programme, where you will also be able to share ideas with fellow students. The weekly webinar will also provide further opportunity for academic and peer discussion and formative feedback.

The summative assessment is comprised of two elements:

(i) Group Presentation (30%) student groups will present an analysis of the communications and content of a major brand and an improved strategy to be adopted in the future to target a key stakeholder group, and create an infographic of the brand’s main KPIs in this area. This will cover learning outcomes MLO1 and MLO3

(ii) Individual Report (70%) individuals will compile a portfolio which will include a proposed user-generated content campaign, digital advertisement, PR campaign and web page for the brand, with a reflective report providing theoretical and commercial justification for the recommendations. This will cover learning outcomes MLO2 and MLO4.

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Marketers have an important job: to create exciting marketing communications and online content which grabs their target audiences’
attention. But their campaigns must also effectively convey the brand and fuel customer desire to interact with the organisation and make a
purchase. Using a hands-on approach, this module introduces you to a range of key marketing methods, inviting you to analyse and critique
the content and communications strategies of well-known organisations. You’ll consider the effectiveness of these strategies through the lens
of theory and best practice, and create alternative approaches. In particular, the module focuses on the importance of understanding the
needs and wants of Generation Y & Z consumers, and the media and messages most likely to appeal to them.