Study options
- Starting in
- September 2025
- Location
- Mile End
- Fees
- Home: £15,250
Overseas: £33,500
EU/EEA/Swiss students
What you'll study
You will study the principles of marketing tailored to creative industries and the cultural sector and you will explore how arts, heritage and culture are linked to business and society. Using real case studies from around the world and building on a network of London-based practitioners, creatives, well-established cultural organizations and strategic arts collaborators, the course offers a complex view of arts marketing and consumption and their relationship to social change. The programme also offers insights into the often precarious forms of work and organisation that have emerged in the creative sectors, and the relationship between cultural production and movements for environmental sustainability and economic and social justice.
You will have the opportunity to delve into subjects at the heart of marketing and communication for the creative industries, including:
- Arts marketing and cultural consumption
- Audience development and community engagement strategies
- Ethical/Social marketing for the creative sector
- Advertising, digital and social media marketing
- The management and administration of art and culture
- Inclusion, equality and diversity in the cultural/creative marketplace
- Sustainability in cultural production
You will research the practices of cultural organisations and creative businesses through lectures and seminars, open discussions, debates, and guest lectures from artists, creatives, arts marketers and administrators and cultural organisers.
You will also have the opportunity to visit and meet innovative creative organisations and SMEs to learn how they operate in London’s cultural scene and get a glimpse of the work that is done backstage.
Structure
- Six compulsory modules
- Two optional modules
- Compulsory dissertation module (with choice of topic) running between semesters 2 and 3.
Compulsory/Core modules
The dissertation forms an important part of the assessment of the MSc Marketing Programme, carrying a weighting of 60 credits. The dissertation involves demonstration of ability to execute a research plan and independent investigation. The investigation can rely on primary data collected by the student, on secondary data available in the literature, or a mix of both. The dissertation will reflect skills of formulating research questions, synthesising information and analysing data, drawing insights and conclusions, and written communication.
This module provides an outlook on marketing as a sub-discipline of management studies. It offers students (MSc in Management and Management and Organisational Innovation) a theoretical foundation of marketing concepts (e.g., consumer behaviour, pricing, product management, branding) and different ways that these concepts can be integrated within the broader field of management. Special emphasis is given to understanding practical implications of marketing and consumer behaviour theories.
Explores the multiple organisational forms in the creative and cultural industries to give students critical and practical tools to organise in the creative economies. Rooted in the ethical mission of the School of Business and Management, the organising methods and organisational forms and behaviours common and emergent in the creative industries and cultural sector will be explored through an interdisciplinary understanding of creative ecologies and their political and economic networks.
This module focuses on the relevant methods of analysis and applied research into the organisation history of the creative industries. What are the interdisciplinary methods that generate innovation and leadership in the creative industries and arts and cultural sector, and which methods are more or less appropriate for engaging these different sectors of society? This module will provide students key methodological knowledge to be able to engage critically with creative industries practice and organisation, and prepares students to undertake dissertation and practice-based projects in the third semester.
This module explores the foundational concepts and theories of the creative industries. This module provides students with the relevant theories, conceptual tools and factual information necessary to gain an understanding of, and be able to engage critically with, the realities of managing, working and progressing within the cultural and creative industries.
The purpose of this module is to examine how marketing can help cultural professionals to employ art in order to catalyse and support positive social change. It further aims at enabling students understand cultural audiences as well as their motivations and barriers to participating in the arts so that they can develop more accessible, meaningful and inclusive cultural experiences for diverse and marginalised communities.
This module seeks to enrich your understanding around the concepts of marketing and communication strategy in relation to the arts, creative and cultural industries. It will help you develop your strategic skills, marketing and media knowledge and creative capabilities in a critical, analytic and internationally-focused manner.
Elective modules
In this course, students will learn the art and science of storytelling as a strategic and tactical language of brand communication to break the information clutter and inform, connect, inspire, persuade and engage the consumers. Storytelling in the digital age fosters brand-consumer conversation, co-creating deeper symbolic meaning and brand tribes.
This module examines the relationship between the cultural and creative industries and the environment from a range of perspectives and in a number of contexts. It addresses the environmental impacts of cultural production, as well as the opportunities for more socially just and environmentally sustainable arts and cultural ecologies.
This module examines networked and influencer marketing with the aim of understanding and applying key conceptual ideas to the platformed economy. These include the idea of celebrity endorsements, social influence and social capital as these transpire onto the platform economics.
The module will provide an appreciative overview of the digital communications landscape and how digital platforms and technologies have/are transformed(-ing) marketing communications and campaigns. Students will learn to leverage digital channels to create an integrated marketing campaign.
Assessment
Learning outcomes are assessed using a mix of coursework, essays, projects, creative portfolios, presentations and exams. There will be variation across modules, and some are wholly examined by coursework. Teaching staff will aim to provide students with constructive feedback on assessments.
Teaching
This programme draws on the experience of an advisory panel of creatives, researchers, and organisational innovators. Staff contributing to this programme bring a wide range of experience and have previously worked as creative and cultural organisers, as well as consultants to government agencies.
You will gain invaluable insight from guest speakers and develop communication skills through practically oriented seminars, presentations and lively group discussions.
You will actively participate in your learning by reading designated material, producing written assignments and completing projects.
We invest in your educational and personal development, and you will be assigned an Academic Advisor to support you throughout your time at Queen Mary.
Where you'll learn
Facilities
- ThinkPod interactive collaboration space with presentation, recording and video conferencing facilities.
- Media suite with industry-standard design and editing software (QUBE).
- Brand new Graduate Centre, offering purpose-built study spaces and an exclusive rooftop common room.
- 24-hour library on campus.
Campus
Teaching is based at Queen Mary’s Mile End campus, one of the largest self-contained residential campuses in the capital. Our location in the heart of London’s East End offers a rich cultural environment.
We have invested £105m in new facilities over the past five years, to offer our students an exceptional learning environment. Recent developments include the £39m Graduate Centre, providing 7,700 square metres of learning and teaching space.
The campus is 15 minutes from Central London by tube, where you will have access to many of the University of London’s facilities, such as the Senate House library.
About the School
School of Business and Management
The School of Business and Management has a reputation as a socially engaged management school, with an innovative, multidisciplinary, mindful and responsible approach. We invite our students to ask incisive questions, to challenge their assumptions, and to search for solutions to real-world challenges.
We ensure students experience innovative and engaging educational pathways, alongside supportive staff and excellent research facilities.
The School is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), which ensures that the highest standards of excellence in teaching, research, curriculum, and learner success are met.
In the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021), the School of Business and Management dramatically moved up the Times Higher Education rankings. Among 108 UK business schools, the School now ranks:
- 22nd for overall research quality (up from 39th in REF2014)
- 28th for research outputs (up from 34th)
- 12th for research impact (up from 24th)
- 21st for research environment (up from 59th)
Queen Mary is also part of the Russell Group - a body of leading UK universities dedicated to research and teaching excellence.
Career paths
This programme is ideal for students wishing to enter or further their careers in arts and cultural management, creative business, or creative industry policy settings.
Graduates of this programme have gone on to work at galleries, media production companies and in creative and non-creative roles in a wide range of businesses.
Fees and funding
Full-time study
September 2025 | 1 year
- Home: £15,250
- Overseas: £33,500
EU/EEA/Swiss students
Conditional deposit
Home: Not applicable
Overseas: £2000
Information about deposits
Queen Mary alumni can get a £1000, 10% or 20% discount on their fees depending on the programme of study. Find out more about the Alumni Loyalty Award
Funding
There are a number of ways you can fund your postgraduate degree.
- Scholarships and bursaries
- Postgraduate loans (UK students)
- Country-specific scholarships for international students
Our Advice and Counselling service offers specialist support on financial issues, which you can access as soon as you apply for a place at Queen Mary. Before you apply, you can access our funding guides and advice on managing your money:
Entry requirements
UK
Degree requirements
A 2:1 or above at undergraduate level in any subject.
Find out more about how to apply for our postgraduate taught courses.
International
English language requirements
The English language requirements for our programmes are indicated by English bands, and therefore the specific test and score acceptable is based on the band assigned to the academic department within which your chosen course of study is administered. Note that for some academic departments there are programmes with non-standard English language requirements.
The English Language requirements for entry to postgraduate taught in the School of Business and Management falls within the following English band:
Band 4: IELTS (Academic) minimum score 6.5 overall with 6.0 in each of Writing, Listening, Reading and Speaking
We accept a range of English tests and qualifications categorised in our English bands for you to demonstrate your level of English Language proficiency. See all accepted English tests that we deem equivalent to these IELTS scores.
Visas and immigration
Find out how to apply for a student visa.