Marketing Communications and Advertising

Marketing communications and advertising is the discipline of connecting brands and organisations with their audiences through strategic and creative means. Marketing communications encompasses the full range of channels and methods through which organisations communicate their value propositions, including advertising, digital marketing, social media, public relations, branding and customer engagement. Advertising, at its most effective, is both a creative craft and a strategic discipline, translating insight about audiences and markets into compelling messages that change perceptions and behaviour.

At Sheffield Hallam University, this three-year full-time programme includes a foundation year, a sandwich year in professional placement and a work placement, giving you a supported entry route into higher education and substantial industry experience before you graduate. You will develop skills across digital and social media marketing, campaign planning and management, branding, customer insights, creative development and the evaluation of communications effectiveness. The programme is designed to produce graduates who are creative, resourceful and adaptable, with both the theoretical grounding and the practical skills that employers in marketing and advertising actually require.

The sandwich placement gives you direct industry experience in a professional marketing or advertising context.

Graduates from marketing communications and advertising programmes pursue careers as marketing executives, account managers, brand managers, digital marketing specialists, media planners, content creators and campaign managers. Many find roles in advertising agencies, media agencies, brand teams, public relations firms, digital marketing companies and in-house communications teams across every sector. The combination of creative thinking, strategic understanding and digital skills is highly valued by employers in a field that continues to evolve as new platforms and technologies emerge.

Postgraduate study in marketing, advertising, communications or digital marketing is a route for those who want to specialise further.