Master of Science in Marketing (older page version)

Reach Audiences, Connect Experiences

The future of marketing is about shaping, guiding and innovating the consumption experience, bringing all the resources of the digital revolution to understand audiences and influence behavior. The Master of Science in Marketing (MSM) degree provides students with a comprehensive understanding of marketing management, digital marketing, and brand management. Students receive an experiential education with in-depth training in designing organizational brand identities, managing the customer experience, and measuring and segmenting brand communication strategies across channels.

• Learn from distinguished faculty with expertise in brand management, digital and social media marketing, competitive strategy, international marketing, strategic alliances, new product management, services marketing, channels of distribution, integrated marketing communications, marketing for social causes, and marketing for public policy.
• Use today’s leading marketing technologies and gain mastery of analytics and data-based marketing tools.
• Access all the resources of the GW School of Business, including hands-on experiential opportunities, large alumni networks, industry engagement, and a dedicated career center.
• Participate in an innovative classroom that features industry leaders across top brands as guest speakers.

Academic Program

At the GW School of Business, we set students up for their own unique career in marketing. Students have flexibility in elective course selection to ensure that what they take prepares them for their career path.

• Program starts in fall and spring; no summer start.
• Time to completion: The MS in Marketing degree program can be completed full-time or part-time in approximately 18 to 24 months. 
• Courses and credit hours: Ten courses (30 credit hours) are required to complete the degree. Students will take five required core courses (15 credit hours) and choose five marketing elective courses (15 credit hours) to customize the degree.  
• Course sequence: All students will complete the MBAD 6274 - Marketing course in their first semester. 
• Course timing: Courses are primarily offered in the evening to accommodate students who are working full-time. 
• Prerequisite courses: Required courses are not prerequisite courses and can be taken in any order, with the exception of MBAD 6274 - Marketing (offered in both the fall and spring semesters). It can also be substituted (with permission) for students entering the program who have five years of professional experience in marketing. 
• Certificates: Students can begin with one of the marketing certificates and then work with their academic advisor to later enroll in the MS in Marketing program.

Sample Course Availability by Semester

Required Courses (15 credit hours):
6274 Marketing	All Semesters
6252 Digital Marketing	Fall & Spring
6242 Buyer Behavior	Spring
6243 Marketing Research	Spring
6256 Integrated Marketing Communication or	Fall
6248 Advertising & Marketing Communication Strategy	Spring

 

Elective Courses (15 credit hours):
6255 Strategic Brand Management	Fall
6262 Digital Marketing Analytics	Fall
6265 Customer Relationship Management	Fall
6290 Artificial Intelligence and Marketing Strategy	Spring
6246 Marketing of Services	Spring
6261 Dynamic Pricing Strategy	Spring
6263 Marketing Decision Analytics	Spring
6264 Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Marketing Automation	Spring

Combined Degree Options

This degree may be combined with a bachelor's degree through GWSB's new 4+1 Program, which enables students to complete both a bachelor's and a master's degree in five years. 4+1 Program options, eligibility and degree paths are outlined on the 4+1 Program page.

Explore Related Programs

• Graduate Certificate in Digital Marketing and Analytics
• Graduate Certificate in Marketing and Brand Management
• MS in Interdisciplinary Business Studies
• MBA with a Focus on Marketing

Degree Requirements

Required Courses

• MKTG 6242 Buyer Behavior. 3 Credits.
  Synthesis of behavioral sciences (psychology, sociology, economics) applied to understanding individual, family, and organizational buying. Motivation theory, memory, attitudes, information search behavior, judgment and decision making; cultural and social influences, psychographics, adoption and diffusion of innovations; ethics and social responsibility; the impact of consumer decisions on the strategies of public organizations; consumer marketing applications in high-tech and services industries and on a global scale.
• MKTG 6243 Marketing Research. 3 Credits.
  The marketing research process: designing, conducting, and using market research studies. Sources of secondary data. Primary data collection — design and conduct of qualitative research (focus groups, observational methods), surveys, depth interviews, experimental and field study designs; measurement methodology, data analysis (simple and multivariate), use of statistical software packages such as SAS, SPSS or Excel. Data Visualization. Prerequisite:  basic course in statistics approved by the instructor.
• MKTG 6248 Advertising and Marketing Communications Strategy. 3 Credits.
  The rapidly changing advertising landscape; impact of digital and social media. Communication theory; understanding consumer attitude formation and behavior; message styles, images, creativity (the Big Idea); advertising research and metrics; media planning (TV, print, outdoor, instore, Internet, viral marketing); budgeting; designing and executing advertising campaigns; integrated marketing communications and promotion. Recommended but not required background: MKTG 6242 Buyer Behavior.
• MKTG 6252 Digital Marketing. 3 Credits.
  Covers a variety of digital domains, technologies and online business models. Digital impacts everything in marketing toda. Study consumer behavior in the digital world, social media evolution and marketing strategies, mobile marketing, e-branding, omni-channel, Internet of Things (IoT), online segmentation, the sales funnel, digital metrics and data collection, customer relationship management (acquisition, development and retention, RFM model), fulfilment logistics, digital promotion, display and targeted advertising, paid and organic search, permission marketing, email marketing.  Content, UGC, Influencers, personalization strategies, the user experience. Course uses several business cases, industry speakers and projects.
• MKTG 6256 Integrated Marketing Communication. 3 Credits.
  IMC is about integrating, coordinating and synergizing the elements of the communication mix and the omnichannel. The mix includes advertising across physical and digital media, sales promotion, personal selling, and PR and publicity. The ubiquitous nature of advertising and sales promotion across a multitude of platforms in the physical and digital worlds, requires that the messages and themes project a unified image. The course evaluates the unique strategic advantages of each element of the communication mix. The course analyzes how and from whom consumers get information and their level of trust in different information sources. It covers measuring and evaluating the effectiveness of a firm’s IMC strategy. Please note: you may not take credit for both 6256 and 6248. 

Electives

• MKTG 6246 Marketing of Services. 3 Credits.
  Over 70 percent of the US GDP is from services. This course analyzes services marketing from the viewpoint of customer behavior and psychology. It covers service trends and business models, and key concepts like service quality (SERVQUAL), market and GAP analysis; consumer behavior; product, distribution, pricing, and promotional strategies for services; loyalty programs;  benefits of relationships for firms and for customers; service failure and recovery.
• MKTG 6250 Selling/Sales Management. 3 Credits.
  Managers who come up through the personal selling route develop some of the deepest understanding of customers and markets. This course emphasizes the unique skills required for selling technology and luxury products and services. The course develops effective selling skills: presentation skills, understanding of the psychology of selling, and the types of selling situations.  Become proficient in the 7-step personal selling model-- prospecting, pre-approach, approach, presentation, handling objections, closing the sale, and follow-up. The course covers the organization of sales departments, sales planning, and forecasting; assigning sales quotas and territories, motivating the sales force, performance metrics, remuneration, and the analysis and control of distribution costs.
• MKTG 6251 Product Management. 3 Credits.
  “Design thinking” and creativity in product innovation are vital in marketing today. Tens of thousands of new products are introduced every year. The vast majority fail.  This course is about successful product marketing in a tough competitive market. It studies the conceptualization, design, testing, launch, and management of tangible products, services, experiences, and technologies as they traverse the growth, maturity, and decline stages of the product life cycle. It draws on classical works, such as The Innovator’s Dilemma and Crossing the Chasm, and contemporary techniques, such as conjoint analysis, and multidimensional scaling and its application in product positioning maps. Emphasis will be placed on the analysis and forecasting of the technology environment and innovation cluster ecosystems; creativity, innovation, and “design thinking;” and the financial environment of startups (venture capital, etc.).
• MKTG 6255 Strategic Brand Management. 3 Credits.
  The course studies the theoretical foundations of branding and consumer psychology; creating powerful brand images, identities, differentiation, and product positioning; brand values and halo effects; branding in different market contexts — luxury, services, nations/travel, etc. Global branding, brand rejuvenation. Brand extension strategies and pitfalls; multi-brand portfolios. National brands vs. distributor brands. Brand equity, brand audit, brand valuation. The course emphasizes the practical application of branding concepts. Hands-on learning working with a national client.
• MKTG 6259 Marketing Strategy. 3 Credits.
  The course studies analyzing and solving complex strategic marketing problems and operational decisions, e.g. developing and launching innovative products, building customer loyalty. The emphasis is on creative marketing strategy. You will learn how to apply the “first principles” of marketing strategy using data analytics techniques, e.g. cluster and conjoint analysis, choice models. The course uses a series of data-rich cases. No prior statistical experience is required.
• MKTG 6261 Dynamic Pricing Strategy. 3 Credits.
  Pricing is perhaps the element of the Marketing Mix that has undergone the greatest change in recent years because of online marketing and the ability of marketers to monitor consumer behavior at an individual level in real time. This course equips students with a comprehensive understanding of pricing decisions and revenue management — the theory of pricing and demand, psychology of pricing, pricing tactics, marginal and break-even analysis, pricing tactics, competitive pricing, price wars, price discounts and sales promotions, legal issue in pricing and distribution, product-line pricing, price bidding and reverse bidding. The course highlights the all-important area of dynamic pricing models (price discrimination — charging different prices to different customers).
• MKTG 6262 Digital Marketing Analytics. 3 Credits.
  This course is about the exciting field of data analytics applied in the digital marketing space; hands-on experience working with large data sets, and applying a range of techniques to extract insights from digital data. Study key performance indicators like web traffic sources, return visitors, referrals, leads and cost per lead, page views, heat-map analysis, click stream analysis, conversion rate, funnel optimization, search engine optimization. Learn about customer acquisition cost, and lifetime value, Recency, Frequency and Monetary value analysis; social media metrics, sentiment analysis, advertising and promotion metrics, security metrics. Learn about dashboard templates, and platforms Hubspot, Google Analytics.
• MKTG 6263 Marketing Decision Analytics. 3 Credits.
  Marketing analytics has shot into the limelight in the past 10 years due to the flood of big data. This course teaches students about transforming data into actionable information, how to use various statistical tools and software to analyze primary and secondary data, identify data nuances and to weave qualitative and quantitative data into a compelling story, and make informed marketing decisions. This EXCEL-based course uses hands-on case examples, team exercises and data drills in a data lab setting, to apply techniques such as clustering, neural networks, Monte Carlo simulations, etc. to problems like market segmentation, sales forecasting, yield and revenue management in pricing, advertising and social media analytics, and more. Prerequisites: MKTG 6243 or permission of the instructor. 
• MKTG 6264 Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning for Marketing Automation. 3 Credits.
  This course will teach you how to apply machine learning and artificial intelligence models to marketing data and implement the models to function automatically. Learn about the automated dynamic real-time pricing models that are widely used by companies like Uber (surge pricing), airlines, hospitality, etc. industries. You will learn to (a) extract, clean, and manipulate marketing data; (b) ask data-driven questions and select appropriate analytic models; and (c) perform data science analyses used in-house data together with data from external sources. Prerequisites: none, but a knowledge of statistics will be helpful. The course uses basic R and SAS.
• MKTG 6265 Marketing Relational Databases & CRM. 3 Credits.
  Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is about doing business on a personalized, one-to-one basis. The focus of marketing has been shifting from customer acquisition to customer retention and relationship building. This course addresses three broad themes: (1) customer-centric concepts, metrics, and strategies, (2) basic customer database organization and analytics, and (3) predictive modeling of customer responses. It covers topics like decile analysis, RFM analysis, share of wallet, lifetime customer value, customer churn management, loyalty programs, and different types of predictive models, e.g., whether a customer will respond to a marketing offer, whether a customer will churn, or which products a customer would be most likely to buy next.
• MKTG 6290 Special Topics: Social Media Influencer Marketing. 3 Credits.
  Influencer marketing has become a $16.5 billion industry and is expected to keep growing. In this class, students learn about persuasion and influence in social media marketing campaigns. Learn about the 12 archetypes that influencers are assigned to help brands build loyalty, and how they are a natural complement of the target market persona. Students are introduced to four key social media platforms — Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Pinterest — and will learn how to write trend reports using the same Community Listening Tools (such as Brandwatch) that social media professionals use today. By the end of the class, students will walk away with a portfolio of work that prepares them to become a social media influencer manager.
• MKTG 6290 Special Topics: The Architecture of Marketing on the Web. 3 Credits.
  This course teaches a complete understanding of what it takes to create a web-based marketing business. It discusses online business models and consumer behavior on the web. It teaches how to create an eCommerce website using no-code drag n' drop software. It covers webpage analytics (heat maps, sales funnels, clickstream tracking, AB testing), SEO and UGC. It covers databases, CRM, and back-office functions — order processing, fulfillment, inventory, logistics, and data security.

Admissions

Admission to the MSM program is highly competitive and enrollment is limited. Students operate in two cohorts throughout the academic year.

Due to the rolling admissions policy, it is highly recommended that candidates submit applications early. The candidate’s major and trend in grades, personal achievements, and letters of recommendation also affect the admission decision. This program seeks social, ethnic, cultural and geographical diversity in its student body.

Prerequisites

• Bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university
• Strong academic performance
• Demonstrated professional interest in marketing

Admissions Process

Applying to a program at the GW School of Business may seem like a complicated process, but the GWSB admissions team is here to help. The application process for this program can be found on our How to Apply page. All application materials should be sent to the GWSB Graduate Admissions Office. The GRE or GMAT test is not required — however, if you feel that submitting your scores will strengthen your application, you are welcome to submit them. We also offer a wealth of resources to help you finance your degree, from scholarships and fellowships to loans and work-study arrangements.

Application Requirements

To be considered complete, the following must be included in the application:

• Completed online application form
• Application fee (non-refundable)
• Current résumé uploaded through the online application system
• One letter of recommendation from a professional and/or academic reference
• Statement of Purpose: In no more than 500 words, describe how this program fits into your professional life and your career objectives.

Additional Application Requirements

• Upload copies of your transcripts from all colleges/universities attended, whether or not the program was completed or the credit appears as a transfer credit on another transcript. Note that admitted students will be required to submit official, sealed transcripts with proof of bachelor’s degree. There is no need to submit them at the time when you first apply.
• The GRE or GMAT test is not required for this program — however, if you feel that submitting your scores will strengthen your application, you are welcome to submit them. Learn more about our test-optional policy on the How to Apply page. GW School of Business applicants interested in taking the exam can benefit from 10% off any Kaplan GMAT or GRE preparation course. Use discount code GWUSB10.

International Applicants

Applicants who require a visa to study in the United States must also fulfill additional requirements in order to be considered for admission to a graduate program at the School of Business. Please visit our How to Apply page for further details.

Admissions Process

Applying to a program at the GW School of Business may seem like a complicated process, but the GWSB admissions team is here to help. The application process for this program can be found on our How to Apply page. All application materials should be sent to the GWSB Graduate Admissions Office. The GRE or GMAT test is not required — however, if you feel that submitting your scores will strengthen your application, you are welcome to submit them.