MA in Promotional Media: Public Relations, Advertising & Marketing

What you'll study Overview Throughout the core components of the degree, you'll examine the very wide range of ways in which public relations, advertising and marketing is represented in society, together with the skills and techniques enacted by practitioners in their day-to-day roles. You will be encouraged to develop your critical and analytical skills, but also to think creatively and become more confident in your aesthetic judgment. Goldsmiths prides itself on its innovative and critical approach, and you will be encouraged to immerse yourself in its wider intellectual environment in order to deepen your understanding of the cultural infrastructure surrounding branding and promotional media. Core modules Core Modules Module title Credits. Promotional Media I Promotional Media I 30 credits Promotional Media I will introduce you to public relations, advertising and marketing as professional projects, unpacking various issues and debates affecting all three disciplines as they are increasingly required to integrate with each other. Topics covered include: Power and status within the promotional professions. Formalising and standardising of promotional techniques. Professional associations and 'official' representations. Cultural representations of promotional media practitioners. Public relations, advertising, marketing and the media. 30 credits. Promotional Media II Promotional Media II 30 credits Promotional Media II will position promotional media workers as cultural intermediaries who draw on a range of persuasive techniques and practices. Assessment for this module will include a group project and presentation. Topics covered include: Relationship-building and engagement. Campaign skills and techniques. Measurement and evaluation. Global, local and cultural issues. Ethics and regulatory issues. 30 credits. Promotional Culture Promotional Culture 15 credits This module looks at the rise of promotional culture (public relations, advertising, marketing and branding), promotional intermediaries and their impact on society. The first part of the module will look at the history of promotional culture and will offer some conflicting theoretical approaches with which to view its development. These include: professional/industrial and economic, political economy and other critiques, post-Fordist and postmodern perspectives, audience and consumer society accounts. The second part will look at specific case areas, investigating the ways promotion intervenes, interacts and mediates social relations and organisations. These sector studies include: fashion and taste, hi-tech commodities and innovation, news media and conflict in civil society, popular culture and creativity (film, TV, music), celebrities and public figures, political parties and representation, and markets and value. In each of these areas questions will be asked about the influence of promotional practices on the production, communication and consumption of ideas and products as well as larger discourses, fashions/ genres and socio-economic trends. 15 credits. Option modules We offer a wide range of option modules each year. For more information, please refer to our list of Media modules. Assessment The MA is assessed primarily through coursework essays and written projects. Practical modules may require audiovisual elements to be submitted. It will also include a dissertation of approximately 12,000 words. Download the programme specification for the 2018-19 intake. If you would like an earlier version of the programme specification, please contact the Quality Office. Please note that due to staff research commitments not all of these modules may be available every year.