Member Article

Newcastle Business School’s first Digital Marketing graduates celebrate their success

The first graduates from a cutting-edge new Masters programme in Digital Marketing at Northumbria University’s award-winning Business School, are about to embark on exciting careers in a rapidly growing industry.

The Digital Marketing MSc attracted a great deal of interest when it launched in September 2016. The programme combines experiential learning and input from real world businesses. The first cohort attracted 24 students from a range of backgrounds, many of whom had never studied marketing before.

The diverse intake included students with experience in journalism, sociology and engineering. Local companies which partnered with Newcastle Business School in the delivery of the programme, holding workshops and information sessions, included Virgin Money and Websand Marketing Automation Agency.

This Digital Marketing MSc is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and the Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing (IDM), two of the world’s leading professional bodies in the marketing field. As part of their support, each body recognised one of the graduating students with a prize celebrating their hard work.

Doctor David Hart, Principal Lecturer in Marketing at Newcastle Business School and member of the digital team which developed the new MSc in Digital Marketing, said:

“It was great to have such strong interest in this course from such a wide variety of students in its first year.

“We are thrilled to see them all do so well in their studies. The increasing importance of digital channels to all aspects of modern business means the focus of this programme is much needed and clearly in demand. The intake of students for its second year has more than doubled, with 50 starting this time around. It’s fantastic to see it proving so successful.”

The 24 students who started the programme graduated at an official ceremony in Newcastle on the 4th December.

Graduate Sanae Usui was recognised by the IDM for best specialist marketing/dissertation work, while Kristina Kramer received an award from the CIM as best MSc Digital Marketing student. Both are full of praise for the Digital Marketing MSc and would recommend it to others.

Sanae feels that the course has given her an exceptional start in her chosen career, she said:

“I’ve gained so much in terms of practical skills, the project based learning, the different software we’ve trained with and the knowledge gained from solving real-business issues.

“In addition to this I was also able to establish a great network of contacts, working in various teams and with such a diverse range of individuals, all with unique specialisms. It’s been an intense and extremely worthwhile experience.”

Kristina agrees, saying:

“I enjoyed in particular the practice-oriented approach of the course. The multiple workshops with practitioners helped me to gain a deep understanding of crucial aspects of Digital Marketing such as E-Mail and Social Media Marketing, Marketing Analytics or the Customer Journey. Taking part in the IDM challenge with the course was a great opportunity to bring the theories we learned into practice. Pitching our campaign idea to members of The Economist and the Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing in London as finalists of the competition was an unforgettable experience for our team.”

The students are now looking forward to building their careers, with several already securing jobs in digital marketing roles. They range from marketing executives and assistants to social media analysts, social advertising specialists and a website manager.

Northumbria University’s award-winning Business School was recognised as Business School of the Year in 2015 and Northumbria itself was shortlisted for University of the Year in the Times Higher Education (THE) Awards 2017. It is also the first North East Business School to win the Small Business Charter for services to SMEs.

Newcastle Business School is globally recognised for delivering some of the best business management education in the UK. For more information on the Digital Marketing MSc, business courses and all other courses on offer at Northumbria University, visit: www.northumbria.ac.uk/study-at-northumbria.

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