Course overview
Build a brand that cuts through the market
Marketing Communications and Branding gives you a practical, end-to-end view of how organisations build relationships with customers and stakeholders through integrated, interactive communications. You’ll learn how to shape a clear brand position, create messages that cut through, choose media with confidence, and bring it all together into a workable communications plan you can apply back in your role, whatever sector you work in.
This course treats marketing communications as a core part of the overall customer offer: not just what you say, but what your product and brand stand for.
What you’ll learn
This comprehensive course covers the full spectrum of marketing communications and branding.
You’ll begin by linking classical marketing theory to practical communications decisions, including communications models, objectives, segmentation, and what these mean in a changing demographic and media landscape.
You’ll then focus on brand development, exploring how national and international brands are built through positioning and differentiation, and why the distinction between products and brands matters when you’re competing for attention and preference.
Next, you’ll strengthen the fundamentals of effective communications: message and media. You’ll explore the importance of creativity in breaking through the noise, and apply practical tools such as marketing personas, digital mood boards and clear creative briefs. You’ll also examine the ethical issues raised by neuro-marketing techniques.
You’ll learn how to choose and combine traditional and digital channels, and how to bring message, media and objectives together across the communications mix, including both on- and off-line channels —advertising, direct marketing, websites, social media, public relations, sales promotion, and direct and personal selling.
Finally, you’ll take a corporate marketing perspective on stakeholder communications, reputation and crisis management, and how marketing communications supports customer retention as well as acquisition.
Why marketing, communication and branding matters now
Customers and stakeholders see more messages than ever, and they’re quick to dismiss anything unclear, inconsistent or irrelevant. Strong marketing communications and branding help you differentiate in crowded markets and stay relevant as channels multiply and customer journeys become less predictable.
They also protect trust: when scrutiny is high and bad news spreads fast, credible, consistent communications safeguard reputation. And by aligning objectives, message, media choice and measurement, you improve the return on marketing effort—building relationships that support retention as well as acquisition.
Who should attend?
This course is designed for professionals working in any sector who want to improve how their organisation communicates and how its brand is positioned in the market. It will be particularly relevant to managers from other disciplines who are taking on responsibility for marketing communications, and to those with limited marketing experience who want to develop their expertise in this area.
How you’ll learn
This is an MBA online course delivered over 12 weeks, with approximately 100 hours of study.
You'll learn through a mixture of pre-recorded lectures, case studies, vignettes, video presentations, and in class discussion. We will present key marketing communications and branding concepts using examples to illustrate how these have been applied in practice, and critique ideas through class discussion drawing in recommended reading, analysis and your own experience.
The pre-recorded lectures are supported by online tutorials. These are interactive sessions where you will review the topics covered in lectures using case studies or other materials to help embed and deepen your understanding. These are a great opportunity to share experiences and learn from the other participants. Online tutorials are typically scheduled every 2 weeks on weekdays from 12–2pm, most often on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, with final scheduling confirmed within eight weeks of the course start date.
Participants will be joining the existing Online MBA cohort, which provides an excellent opportunity for networking and idea exchange. The pace is designed to work alongside a full-time role but assumes steady weekly engagement.
Assessment and certification
At the end of the course you’ll complete an individual written assessment designed to be directly useful in your work. You will select a brand (either a product or a service), set out how you would reposition it in the market, and build a full marketing communications campaign to make that new position real and believable.
Where appropriate, you can base this on a brand from your own organisation, so you finish the course with a practical strategy and campaign you can take straight back to your role and use with your team.
On successful completion, you will receive a certificate from the University of Edinburgh Business School and gain 10 credits (Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework), equivalent to 5 credits (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System), which can be put towards the University of Edinburgh MBA or Online MBA.
Course impact
By the end of the course, you will be able to make stronger, more evidence-based decisions about brand and communications—translating theory into practical action. Specifically, you will be able to:
- Critically evaluate key marketing communications and branding theory, concepts, research and current practice
- Select media options using clear frameworks grounded in target market understanding
- Apply creativity to develop better messages and campaign ideas that cut through
- Use specialised skills and techniques to plan integrated communications across the mix
- Develop original, workable responses to real marketing communications problems—ready to take back into your workplace.
Course lead - Dr Kitty Shaw
Kitty worked for several years in the Financial Services Sector and has extensive experience in Market Research, International Marketing, Strategic Marketing Planning and Marketing Communications.
She has post-graduate diplomas from both the Marketing Research Society and Chartered Institute of Marketing and an MSc in Marketing Managment.
Her doctoral thesis examines the pension engagement of women as an ecosystem, identifying the ways in which cultural and structural influences, including communications, interact across the macro, meso and micro levels of individual lives to enable some to engage with their pensions, whilst preventing others from doing so.
Kitty has worked in the Business School since 2017 and currently teaches Marketing and Financial Services Marketing at Undergraduate level and Marketing to Communications for MSc Students.
Course dates
2nd September 2026 – 25th November 2026
Course fees
£2000
Application terms
Applications are accepted until 5pm UK time on Tuesday 18 August 2026.
Our participants typically hold a 2:1 honours degree or higher. We do, however, take a holistic view of every application. If your academic background does not meet these specific criteria, your application may still be considered if supported by a good professional track record.
Successful applicants must also evidence a minimum of three years’ management experience.
Before applying, please ensure you have gathered all the required supporting documents, including a CV and your sponsor letter (if applicable). For further details, please see the application form.
Cancellation requests must be received by 9am on Wednesday 9 September 2026 to qualify for a full refund. After this date, a refund will no longer be possible.
For more information about this course, please email us: executive@business-school.ed.ac.uk