BSc (Hons) Marketing course preparation
To help you feel prepared for your BSc (Hons) Marketing studies, we’ve gathered together a range of course related activities including suggested reading, useful websites and some great things to do right now. Read on to find out more:
Suggested reading
You’ll be given far more information about which textbooks to read and introduced to the University Library, as well as the many ebooks we have for you to access when you begin your studies. And we don’t recommend rushing out to buy texts before you arrive. But if you can pick up a second hand copy, borrow from a library, or access online, just one textbook is recommended to help you to prepare for your Year 1 modules:
- Fahy, J and Jobber D (2019) Foundations of Marketing, 6th Ed. McGraw Hill
During your studies, detailed and updated reading lists are issued in the module handbooks, which are provided in the first session of each module.
You may also want to get a head start by reading up on general business and management subjects and ensuring that you are aware of the current local, regional, national and world developments taking place. Good quality daily newspapers business/management supplements, and magazines are an ideal starting ground for this knowledge.
Useful websites
Depending on your areas of interest, you might want to read:
If you would like to:
- create a to-do list, visit Trello.com
- explore marketing careers visit the prospects website.
Listen to some podcasts
- Business Wars. Sometimes the prize is your wallet, sometimes your attention. Sometimes, it’s just the fun of beating the other guy. This podcast explores how feuds between businesses can shape what we buy, and even the world we live in.
- The Marketing Companion. Dubbed as “the world’s most entertaining”, this marketing podcast combines celebrity spots, comedy and innovative marketing advice to educate and teach, with laughs along the way.
Try something innovative
If you’d like to work on a project of your own, you could try one of the following ideas:
- Create a product or service you think you could launch; you may have to opportunity to create a limited company in our Graduate Enterprise module. (This website might help)
- If you enjoy graphic design or developing presentations, why not create some marketing material for a fictional company, maybe a logo or an advertisement? (You can use this website)
Suggested tasks for summer
You can start to prepare for your degree studies by becoming more aware of the marketing and business environment all around you. You could:
- Look at your everyday environment to see how many brands and logos you can spot, on clothes, billboards, social media pop-ups etc.
- Study adverts on YouTube, social media platforms and TV. What is the message? How do they want you to feel? What action do they want you to take?
- Watch or listen to news items and reading quality newspapers to become aware of commercial events such as company takeovers, mergers or even closures.
- Take the time to really look at websites. What are they wanting you to do, how are they trying to influence us, what would they like us to think about their products.
- Look at any new products appearing for sale. Think about what they offer customers.
- Look in the news. What impact has Covid-19 had on marketing?
- Use Google Scholar to read the most recent Marketing literature.