MSC MARKETINGACTION LEARNING PROJECT The MSc Marketing is a one-year programme providing an analytical, business-focused curriculum to develop student skills as an innovative and strategic marketer. The programme’s core courses bring learning from the latest research into the classroom, giving a well-rounded, critical analysis of consumer behaviour and data analytics in the context of real business challenges.

Students gain an in-depth understanding of consumer markets, based on cutting-edge research and insights in human behaviour. They develop their talent and expertise in data analysis, enabling them to take a strategic approach to designing and developing marketing campaigns. A core course in the foundations of business management develops their knowledge of the contexts in which marketing managers can drive forward organisational goals.

ACTION LEARNING PROJECT The Marketing Action Learning Project provides students the valuable opportunity to analyse and solve a real-world marketing issue within an organisation, bringing together learning across all courses in their Masters programme. Students develop team-working skills and consulting experience, working to produce a marketing report with in-depth insights. This provides the host organisation with recommendations for effective solutions to current marketing challenges within their specific industry or context.

BRIEF OVERVIEW• A group of approximately 5-6 students will be assigned to a

particular organisation/project, with a sponsoring contact from the company and a faculty advisor from the LSE.

• The students will research the marketing strategy and tactics of the sponsoring company. Any additional specific topic or challenges that the sponsoring contact would like investigated can be agreed with the student team.

• The students will present their research findings to the company at the end of June; the sponsor will be invited to give feedback to faculty on their final project report.

• Projects take place every year throughout the academic year (January – August), with final reports due towards the end of August.

Management

FAQWhat types of issues/questions will these students be best prepared to work on?

Overall, students are very well equipped to answer questions related to all aspects of firm strategy. The issues highlighted below are equally applicable to not-for-profit, public-service, and governmental/public policy entities:

• New Products & Innovations• Segmenting, Targeting, & Positioning Strategies• Digital Marketing (Internet & Social Media) & Analytics• Assessing Consumer/Buyer/Customer/Individual Behaviour:• Advertising, Promotions, & Branding• Pricing• Customer Satisfaction• Distribution strategies, including exploring various

channel economics, and digital/direct to consumerdistribution strategies.

• Assessing CLV (Customer Lifetime Value) Models in order toanalyse the financial viability of new product/service ideas.

• Assessing feasibility studies of the firm’s larger environment,involving competition, context (social, technological,economic, legal, and political), collaborators, and companyfit issues.

What are the benefits to the host organisation?

Host organisations gain useful insight from our students’ research. They can also use the project as a way to spot and test talent to cover their future recruiting needs. Finally, sponsors often see their participation as a way of supporting future members of their professional community, LSE, and higher education in general.

Project sponsors are invited to multiple seminars and networking events conducted at LSE throughout the year.

What are the costs?

Students do not receive pay, but occasionally companies offer research or travel expenses, if necessary for the project. Some staff time may be needed to guide the students and their project. Depending on the project topic and company needs, access to existing data or permission to run surveys or interviews may also be appropriate.

Do we need to supply company data?

No, the provision of data is not a must for participation. However, it is ideal if firms are willing to either (a) provide access to company data (even if in a disguised format), or (b) provide access to representative customers from whomdata may be elicited (or very closely guide the selection ofthe same). This is to ensure that the quality of the “data” (onthe basis of which the student teams would be making theirrecommendations) is reasonably high.

FURTHER INFORMATIONRachel Harrisr.harris6@lse.ac.uk +44 (0)20 7955 6810

Department of Management, LSE Houghton Street London WC2A 2AE United Kingdom

lse.ac.uk/mktg