MSc Brand Leadership
Key Details
- Attendance
- Full Time
- Award
- Degree of Master of Science
- Course Length
- 1 years
- Course Start Date
- September 2024
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Course Overview
Kick-start a fast-moving career in branding with this unique Master’s course. From Chanel to Nike, Tesco to Tesla, Disney to Extinction Rebellion, and much more. Organisations today invest massively in branding, to attract and keep customers, employees and influencers.
Companies need the brightest people to help build their brands. With this course, you can be one of them. Our students go on to work for businesses like Unilever, Nestlé, Google and TikTok – and for creative agencies like Superunion and Saatchi & Saatchi.
Through the year, you’ll learn the theory of branding – and put it into practice on live projects for real clients. You’ll gain all the skills, frameworks and experience you need to start a spectacular career at the cutting edge of business – in branding.
On this course you’ll learn how to excel in the world of branding. You’ll discover how to create your own brands, and how to take existing brands to new and exciting places. And thanks to our links with industry, you won’t just graduate ready to launch brands, you’ll graduate ready to launch your career too.
The course blends theory with practice and gives you the chance to build your knowledge and skills through working with real clients. Throughout all our activities, we emphasise developing your soft skills such as communication, decision-making, teamwork and leadership.
We typically take 20–30 students from around the world and we like to have a mix of ages and experience. Some students come directly from university with a management degree, a real passion for branding and some work experience. Others have several years’ experience in industry and may be looking to take their branding career further or change direction. Whatever your background you’ll work closely together as a group – our students call it the ‘brand family’.
The course has become well known in the industry for creating great graduates, and our branding contacts regularly offer internships and jobs to our students.
Study and Modules
Structure
You’ll build your theoretical knowledge, critical skills and hands-on practical experience over seven taught modules and a research project. By the end of this intense year of study you’ll be ready to create new brands and take existing ones to places they haven’t been before.
In your first semester you’ll learn everything you need to know to get your career in branding moving. You’ll discover how brands are created and managed, and how they can change organisations.
In your second semester you’ll explore new frontiers of branding and examine how brands are adapting to the new digital world. And you’ll work in a team on an exciting real client project. Recent clients have included an electric truck company, a visitor destination, a food producer, a charity, and several tech start-ups.
In the third semester you’ll complete your dissertation, conducting a substantial piece of research on a branding topic of your choice, with guidance from an academic adviser. Your dissertation is a chance to delve deeper into an area that you’re really interested in, and to begin to establish yourself as a specialist. Your finished piece of work will act as a calling card, showing potential employers what you’re capable of. Past dissertations have covered topics as diverse as examining what it’s like to interact with brands if you are blind, how to brand places, and the challenges facing luxury brands.
Over the year you’ll visit several companies. You might get to go behind the scenes at iconic brands such as Kraft Heinz and TikTok, and challenger brands such as Wonderbly (the personalised children’s bookmakers who raised the largest ever stake on the television show Dragon’s Den). You could visit branding agencies such as Wolff Olins and SuperUnion, or design agencies like Foolproof, where you could have the chance to work on a live brief for a real client. Past students have been tasked with designing a brand experience for Halifax for Rufus Leonard before presenting their work to the brand. This resulted in internships for two of the participating students.
You’ll also have the chance to take part in several conferences, where you’ll learn from leading industry experts. Recent speakers include Jayne-Anne Gadhia (Virgin Money), Michelle McEttrick (Tesco), Susann Johnsson (Telia) and Richard Houston (Zoopla).
Compulsory Modules
Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring, review and update of modules. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes and their constituent modules, the University will endeavour to consult with students and others. It is also possible that the University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. In some cases optional modules can have limited places available and so you may be asked to make additional module choices in the event you do not gain a place on your first choice. Where this is the case, the University will inform students.
Teaching and Learning
You’ll learn via blended learning, with great content online, and highly interactive discussions in class. You’ll learn by doing, and you’ll learn from your fellow students. You’ll discover how to critically assess the work and ideas of others, as well as how to present, defend and develop your own work. This includes how to give and respond to feedback productively, an essential skill in the branding industry.
You’ll learn from business experts based in UEA’s Norwich Business School, senior brand professionals, and internationally-recognised speakers like Marty Neumeier.
Your dissertation is a chance to deepen your ability to do your own thinking, backed up by research.
Assessment
We’ll assess your knowledge and understanding through coursework, assessed presentations and exams.
Throughout the course you’ll hand in project work, from which you’ll get extensive feedback to help you identify areas of strength and areas for improvement.
Entry Requirements
- Degree Classification
- UK Bachelor degree - 2.1 or equivalent
- Degree Subject
- Business, Management or Economics
- English Foreign Language
Applications from students whose first language is not English are welcome. We require evidence of proficiency in English (including writing, speaking, listening and reading):
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IELTS: 6.5 overall with a minimum of 6.5 in all components.
Test dates should be within 2 years of the course start date.
We also accept a number of other English language tests. Review our English Language Equivalencies for a list of qualifications that we may accept to meet this requirement.
If you do not yet meet the English language requirements for this course, INTO UEA offer a variety of English language programmes which are designed to help you develop the English skills necessary for successful undergraduate study:
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- Interviews
We will ask applicants who meet our requirements to take part in a telephone interview with one of our professional course directors. They will be looking for enthusiasm about, and some knowledge of brands.
- Intakes
This course is open to UK and International applicants. The annual intake for this course is in September each year .
Additional Information or Requirements
Additional Entry Requirements
This course is designed for people with some experience of the subject, either in their undergraduate degree, or in working life. We will help you build on your existing knowledge and prepare you for a successful career in branding.
For that reason, we ask you to be either:
a new graduate who has studied business, management or economics, with at least 25% of your overall degree in one of these three subjects, or
a graduate in any subject, with three or more years' experience in marketing or strategy work.
Either way, you must have an upper second class honours degree (2:1) or its international equivalent.
If you are applying and you have not yet completed your degree, please send us an official copy of your most recent marks statement. When you send us your marks statement, please make sure that you include details of the marking system that your university uses.
Admissions Policy
Our Admissions Policy applies to the admissions of all postgraduate applicants.
Fees and Funding
Tuition fees for the Academic Year 2024/25 are:
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UK Students: £17,700 (full time)
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International Students: £23,850 (full time)
If you choose to study part-time, the fee per annum will be half the annual fee for that year, or a pro-rata fee for the module credit you are taking (only available for Home students).
We estimate living expenses at £1,023 per month.
Further Information on tuition fees can be found here.
Scholarships and Bursaries
The University of East Anglia offers a range of Scholarships; please click the link for eligibility, details of how to apply and closing dates.
Course Related Costs
Please see Additional Course Fees for details of course-related costs.
How to Apply
Applications for Postgraduate Taught programmes at the University of East Anglia should be made directly to the University.
To apply please use our online application form.
FURTHER INFORMATION
If you would like to discuss your individual circumstances prior to applying, please do contact us:
Postgraduate Admissions Office
Tel: +44 (0)1603 591515
Email: admissions@uea.ac.uk
International candidates are also encouraged to access the International Students section of our website.
Employability
After the Course
You’ll graduate ready to launch an exciting career in branding. You could go on to work for an existing brand or to create your own business. You might become a branding consultant, or work for a branding agency. Or perhaps you’ll return to your family business, ready to take it to new heights. Alternatively, you might continue your studies with a PhD, delving deeper into the world of branding.
We’re dedicated to opening doors for our graduates, and actively work to promote you to potential employers or clients. As part of this course, you’ll also discover how to build your own personal brand, how to expand your network, and how to look for the ideal job, through our unique Brand Me programme.
Careers
A degree at UEA will prepare you for a wide variety of careers. We've been ranked 1st for Job Prospects by StudentCrowd in 2022.
Example of careers that you could enter include:
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Unilever
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Nestle
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Google
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TikTok
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Saatchi & Saatchi
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WPP
Discover more on our Careers webpages.