It is an exciting time to be a marketer. Markets are now global and digital. Marketers have access to unprecedented amounts of hard and soft data. They are on the hunt for ever-newer, more sophisticated and effective ways to interact with customers, identify needs and discover wants. Consumers are smarter, more demanding and harder to please than ever. They use goods and services in creative ways to build identities, communities, status. Companies’ behaviors are increasingly exposed to the scrutiny of various stakeholders.

Such a complex environment requires advanced skills in marketing, and an appreciation of the strategic importance of marketing decisions. This programme equips students with the necessarily marketing skills and know-how for building a thriving career in a complex dynamic environment. Our graduates will gain multiple competing and complementary perspectives as well as analytical capabilities with broad applicability to managing businesses - from customer experience or service design to crafting effective marketing or communication strategies.

Our aim is to help you acquire the skills and knowledge for companies of today, and grow into a responsible future leader who can synthesize multiple perspectives in the search for effective marketing. Our graduates contribute to the success of today’s leading companies from multinational corporations to technology start-ups. To this end, our programme helps you grow into 

i.   a blue-chip professional ready to create deep insights on customers and markets;

ii. a strategic thinker who connects customer and market insights to strategic decisions; and

iii. an analytical mind who can envision how new technologies can be harnessed, how to respond to customer needs and interact with them, and conduct efficient marketing and sales more operations

Program structure

The programme builds your skill in three central domains of study in marketing:

• Customers – courses in this domain deal with theories and methods for developing insights about customers and markets;
• Strategy – courses in this domain deal with theories and frameworks that merge marketing thought with strategic management
• Technology & Analytics – courses in this domain deal with the intersection of digital technologies, data analytics, and marketing, all from a more future-oriented perspective

This tripartite structure forms the core of your degree and is compulsory for all, with each domain comprising of a number of specializing courses to choose from. Students will, at a minimum, complete one course from each domain.

The program emphasizes applying theory to real-world problems, combining analytical rigor with practical relevance, as well as developing problem solving, teamwork, and communication skills. Finally, for those interested in a career as a researcher, the academic rigor of the program ensures that our graduates are well-positioned to apply to leading doctoral training programs across the world.

In graduating from the Marketing programme, you will be able to:

• Develop actionable insights on customers and consumption-related phenomena
• Analyze companies’ sources of competitive advantage from a customer-centric viewpoint
• Understand how technological change shapes the work of marketers, and the ways in which market-oriented companies operate
• Use methodological tools and apply academic research literature in marketing research
• Train your creative and problem-solving capabilities and grow as a critical thinker

You will subsequently:

• Have the ability to continuously learn to use new theories, tools and techniques related to analysis of consumer behavior; customer-centric strategic management, as well as digital and data-driven marketing

Core programme studies 85 cr

Compulsory studies 61-85 cr

^{1) Capstone course is recommended to complete during the 2nd year of Master's studies.
2) It is advised that you choose the methods course to match the methodology you intend to use in your master’s thesis. You should have completed the methods course(s) by the end of Phase 1 of your master’s thesis project.
3) Replaces course 23C79050 Innovations in an Age of Constant Change 
4) Replaces course 23E76050 Creativity in Marketing}  

^{5) Replaces course 23E10000 Service Business Strategy} 

^{6) Replaces course 23E47000 Digital Marketing 
7) Korvaa kurssin 23C60500 Marketing Analytics 
*) BSc-level course. Max 12 cr of BSc-level studies can be included into Marketing MSc Programme. If student wish to complete more than 12 cr BSc-level marketing courses, part rest courses can be included to the Degree elective studies.}

Elective studies 0-24 cr

Choose courses below depending on how many credits you have already selected above.

^{8) Replaces courses 23E53010 Brand Performance Management, 23E53000 Brands in Strategic Marketing and 23E53050 Merkkituotteet strategisessa markkinoinnissa.
9) Self-study course. Offered only for students, who don't know Finnish.
10) Replaces Contemporary Marketing Issues Reading Package, MARK-E0001 and Reading Package Advanced Topics in Marketing, 23E01000. Only one reading package can be included to the Degree.}

Max 6cr Elective studies can be chosen from other Department's courses: 

Structure of Master’s Thesis Seminar

More information on Master's Thesis Seminar (MARK-E9905) can be found from Master's thesis and seminar at the Marketing Department part.

Overview

The overall purpose of the thesis seminar is to provide students support and flexibility to ensure high-quality and timely submission of theses.

The most important practicalities are described below. 

• There is a voluntary kick-off session held twice a year (in the beginning of Period I and Period III) to help students get started with their master’s thesis projects.
• Students will need to submit an expression of interest to start their master’s thesis process. The EoI is a short (max. 2-pages) document describing your interests in terms of research topic, themes and methods.
• The entire thesis writing process should finish in about 9-12 months. Keep this timeline in mind when you fix a graduation date. If you wish to graduate by the end of spring/summer, you should submit your expression of interest in the beginning of the fall term (Period I). If you wish to graduate around the end of year, you should submit your expression of interest in the beginning of the spring term (Period III).

Overall timeline and credits

The default duration of the entire process is 9-12 months. Completing in this time requires several months of focused work. The nominal workload is 30+1 credits, which corresponds to about six months of full-time work. 30 credits for the thesis, 1 credit for the seminar. However, there is nothing preventing you from completing your studies faster – the timeline is first and foremost up to you!

You get the 30+1 credits based on the following deliverables:

• Phase 1: An accepted research plan and literature review section (pass/fail)
• Phase 2: First draft of the methods and results sections (pass/fail)
• Phase 3: Final version of the master’s thesis (30 ECTS, 0-5)
• Thesis Seminar (1 ECTS, Pass/Fail)

Before beginning the master’s thesis project, you should have completed your bachelor’s degree. In addition, you should have completed compulsory methods course by the end of Phase 1 of your master’s thesis project.

Your assigned supervisor will give you further details on what is expected of you in each stage.

The key events and deadlines for 2023-24 are as follows:

• We organize two voluntary kick-off events in the beginning of Period I and Period III, where you will get tips for getting and staying organized during your thesis project. You will also hear from faculty about opportunities for research collaboration in the department’s research projects.
• You need to submit a 1-2 page expression of interest through MyCourses at the end of September or January, depending on when you wish to graduate.

The specific dates for the kick-off sessions and deadlines for the expressions of interest for the academic year of 2023-2024 are follows:

Fall term (for students that wish to graduate by the spring/summer of 2024):

• Kick-off event: September 6th 2023, 4 pm, Zoom (link)
• Deadline for expressions of interest: 30.9.2023

Spring term (for students that wish to graduate by the end of 2024):

• Kick-off event: 11 January 2024, 4 pm, Zoom (link)
• Deadline for expressions of interest: 31.1.2024

Expression of interest

You will be assigned a supervisor based on your expression of interest. An expression of interest should describe what you are interested in studying in your master’s thesis. You do not need to know the specific topic or research method at this stage. Think of this document more as a motivational letter than as a detailed research plan. We will use your expressions of interest to allocate supervisors, and you will work on the research plan with the help of your assigned supervisor. In case you have already been in contact with a faculty member you would like to work with, or you have a supervisor preference for some other reason, make sure that you mention this in the expression of interest. However, please note that we may not be able to accommodate all preferences.

The expression of interest is free-form, except that it should not exceed two pages. The sole purpose is to help us find you the ideal supervisor. Write what topics or themes interests you, and if you have a methodological preferences (e.g., quantitative or qualitative).

In general, we expect that students are present during semesters and available for meetings with the supervisors. Please inform in your expression of interest any schedule constraints you may have (e.g., exchange studies).

Thesis Seminar

Once you have been assigned a supervisor, they will be in contact with you about the practicalities of the thesis seminar. Usually, the supervision process consists of a mix of group meetings and one-on-one meetings. There are no compulsory meetings. However, please note that supervisors have limited availability. For example, in case you are unable to attend scheduled group meetings with the supervisor, we cannot guarantee that the supervisor will arrange make-up appointments. Therefore, it is essential that you inform us about any schedule constraints well in advance via the expression of interest.

The only formal requirement for passing the Thesis Seminar is active participation and discussions with the supervisor and to incorporate their comments/suggestions as the thesis progresses.

The student enrolls to the Master’s Thesis seminar in Sisu.