LO1 Demonstrate knowledge and experience of the role of a marketing consultant and when it is beneficial to use marketing consultancy within an organisation

Module Handbook 2026

Module Code: MKT743 (CRN 75699)

Course/s: MSc Marketing and MSc Marketing with Advanced Practice (AMP) 

Table of Contents

Table of Contents 2

Welcome 3

1. Module Overview and Communication 5
2. Aim & Learning Outcomes 6
3. The MSc Marketing Applied Marketing Project will be scheduled as follows: 7
4. Assessment and Feedback 8

Coursework 1 8

Coursework 2 9

1. Standard Assessment Guidance 10

Coursework Assessment Rubrics / Marking Proforma 11

Coursework 1 Marking Rubric 11

Coursework 2 Marking Rubric 12

1. Learning Resources 13

Library’s Support Services 14

Blackboard Learn Student Orientation Course 14

1. Organisation and Management 15
2. Learning and Teaching Methods 16

Teaching and Learning Plan 18

1. Student Voice & Support Services 21

UUSU Advice Bureau Service 21

UU Student Wellbeing Service 21

Welcome

Welcome Message – Applied Marketing Project (AMP) – February 2026

Dear Students,

Welcome to the Applied Marketing Project (AMP) module for February 2026. I am excited to work with you as you embark on this practical and immersive journey. This project will give you the opportunity to step into the role of a marketing consultant and apply advanced marketing strategies to a real-world business challenge.

For this cohort, our case study focuses on On Running – a premium global sportswear brand that has rapidly expanded, yet now faces critical strategic decisions to sustain its growth. Your task will be to develop innovative strategies for On Running, leveraging key marketing concepts to address their challenges.

You will select one of the following project areas:

1. Strategic Brand Positioning and Global Expansion
2. Innovative Customer Engagement and Omni-Channel Optimisation
3. Sustainability and Ethical Marketing Integration
4. Data-Driven Competitive Analysis and Performance Maximisation

Please note the submission deadlines for your reports:

• AMP Proposal Report – Week 4, Friday, February 27, 2026, by 12:00 (noon)
• AMP Consultancy Report – Week 12, Friday, May 8, 2026, by 12:00 (noon)

All reports must be grounded in secondary research; direct contact with On Running is not permitted for this project.

I encourage you to dive deep into the case materials provided and engage with the resources on Blackboard for further context. Should you have any questions, feel free to reach out. I’m here to support you through this process and look forward to seeing your creative strategies unfold.

How to approach it (like a consultant):

• Apply advanced theory with data-driven evidence
• Turn insight into clear, practical recommendations
• Collaborate, challenge assumptions, and balance vision with execution
• Communicate with precision, persuasion, and professionalism

Housekeeping & comms:

Check your university email daily and Blackboard. Engage the academic materials, learn it, and know AMP assessments expectation. When emailing, use your Ulster University email only and include full name, ID, course, and module.

Contact the AMP Coordination Team: ulster.dissertations@qa.com (appointments by arrangement).

This is your moment to move from student to strategist. I look forward to your innovative, high- impact solutions.

1. Module Overview and Communication

2. Aim & Learning Outcomes

Module Rationale

The purpose behind the Applied Marketing Project is to enable students to apply knowledge and skills acquired throughout the course to an organisational issue or problem. This module serves as an integrating mechanism for all other modules as well as developing powers of analysis and evaluation and project management skills.

This module follows on from the Marketing Analytics module that students undertook in order to develop the appropriate skills to complete an applied marketing project efficiently and effectively.

Overall Aim of the Module

The overall aim of this module is to enable students to critically evaluate a specified real-life Marketing problem in order to develop a range of potential solutions.

Specifically, the aims of the module are:

• To introduce students to marketing consultancy as a key area of applied business activity and to enable them to acquire knowledge and understanding of some of the core areas of marketing consultancy;
• To develop research and project management skills to enable students to conduct a marketing consultancy project on a real-life business problem area;
• To ensure that students have the necessary competencies to prepare a well-structured and well-presented marketing consultancy project report;
• To enhance and further develop knowledge, intellectual, professional and transferable skills that will help prepare students for a career in marketing consultancy.

Learning Outcomes

Successful students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate knowledge and experience of the role of a marketing consultant and when it is beneficial to use marketing consultancy within an organisation
2. Critically evaluate arguments, assumptions, evidence and techniques to support conclusions / recommendations, while ensuring its reliability, validity, significance and investigating contradictory information to successfully complete an applied project
3. Demonstrate skills in management competencies such as project management, to successfully complete an applied project creatively within agreed guidelines
4. Successfully develop the ability to select and manage information, completely undertake reasonably straight-forward research tasks and manage own learning using a full range of related discipline resources

3. The MSc Marketing Applied Marketing Project will be scheduled as follows:

4. Assessment and Feedback

The applied marketing project consists of the student`s execution and completion of a live marketing project or an applied marketing project based on either a local or global company. This piece of coursework will be 10,000-12,000 words in length, and follow the format as outlined below.

Coursework 1

Assessment Task: Consultancy/Project Proposal Assessment Guidelines:

1. A Consultancy/Project Proposal of 2,000 words setting out consultancy project scope, key deliverables, timescales and project management reporting methods. A project area and client/case study will be identified during week 1 of semester. It is up to you to secure a company to work with or a case company that you can solve a marketing issue for.
2. Detailed guidance will be given in the live sessions in week 1 to show you how to create a consultancy proposal

This element of coursework accounts for 30% of the overall assessment. Students should refer to the marking criteria attached to provide them with fuller details of marking criteria for each classification band.

Completed assignments must be submitted via Turnitin by Friday,12:00 noon,

of week 4. This date and time is final, and a late submission will be penalised by the deduction of marks.

All submitted assignments should have the filename:

MKT743_proposal_companyname_studentID

Coursework 1 FEEDBACK

Feedback on the assessment will be provided via Blackboard on within 2 weeks of submission.

Coursework 2

Assessment Task: Consultancy Report Assessment Guidelines

1. The assignment should the form of a consultancy report of 8,500 words providing solutions for a real-life Marketing problem, including recommendations. Report must set the context of the business environment and demonstrate a wide use of the management tools learnt throughout the course. These will be used to conduct the analysis within the company and develop the appropriate strategy that forms the solution.
2. During semester you will be allocated a case study project, you will be expected to solve a marketing problem for this company and produce the output as a consultancy report. This should include appendices of research and development you have conducted during semester.
3. You should include a 500-word reflection on your learning in this module at the end of the

report. It should be structured using either Gibb’s or Kolbs reflective models.

1. Detailed guidance will be given in the live session in week 1 to provide samples and guidance on how to complete this task successfully.

This element of coursework accounts for 70% of the overall assessment. Students should refer to the marking criteria attached to provide them with fuller details of marking criteria for each classification band.

Completed assignments must be submitted via Turnitin by Friday, 12:00 noon,

of week 12. This date and time is final, and a late submission will be penalised by the deduction of marks.

All submitted assignments should have the file name:

MKT743_report_companyname_studentID

Coursework 2 FEEDBACK

Feedback on the assessment will be provided via Blackboard on within 4 weeks of submission.

***Requirement to evidence engagement with directed reading and module content***

Please note that you must evidence active engagement with the directed reading material and teaching session content to pass this module.

Directed reading material includes the requiredand recommended reading material and 

any other reading specified during teaching sessions and within teaching content. You can evidence your engagement by incorporating discussion points, company/ case study examples, 

guest lecture evidence and theory raised within the directed reading material and teaching content within your assignments.

Insufficient evidence of engagement with teaching session content and directed reading material will result in a fail mark for your assignment!

5. Standard Assessment Guidance

The following guidance is applicable to all coursework items.

1. Marks are awarded for content, quality of discussion and effective use of referencing. To achieve high marks, students will be expected to demonstrate a familiarity with the wider literature in the subject area, and not merely an ability to re-produce the lecture notes. Higher marks will also be awarded to students who provide strong evidence of analysis and critical evaluation of the various concepts and techniques identified and their application to real world situations.
2. Work should include references to journal articles and other relevant publications, and should be properly laid out using the Harvard system of referencing as indicated below:

Buzzell R., (1968) ‘Can you standardise multinational marketing’, Harvard Business Review,

(Nov-Dec) 46, pp102-113.

Jeannet J.P. and Hennessey H.D., (2004) Global Marketing Strategies. 6th ed. Houghton Mifflin. More detailed guidance is available in the ‘Guide to Referencing in the Harvard Style’. We encourage you to avail of the Academic Support via the Library’s Support Service, further details in the Library Support Services Section.

1. Marks will be deducted for incomplete or inaccurate referencing.
   1. Students may make multiple submissions in advance of the due date to receive feedback via Turnitin on their academic writing style (similarity score) and any potential plagiarism issues. A similarity score of less than 20% is acceptable.
   2. Students must adhere to the word limit policy so as to avoid penalties as follows:

+10% - no penalty

+>10% - 20% - 5% penalty

+>20% - 30% - 10% penalty

+>30% - 40% - 15% penalty

+>40% - 50% - 20% penalty

+>50% - maximum mark of 40%

Coursework Assessment Rubrics / Marking Proforma Coursework 1 Marking Rubric

Coursework 2 Marking Rubric

6. Learning Resources 

Library’s Support Services                                                                                                                                                                                                            

In collaboration with teaching staff, your Business Librarian will be delivering timetabled workshops to ensure you are able to make the best use of the Library’s services and information resources in successfully completing your coursework. Furthermore, if you need specific help with an assignment or dissertation then you can make an appointme nt to meet with your Business Librarian by email, phone

or through using the appointments schedule. Online support is also available through the Library’s subject pages for Business and Management and these provide help in developing your information

and research skills through literature searching , academic writing support and referencing.

Blackboard Learn Student Orientation Course

It is highly recommended that you complete the above online course to get familiar with Ulster’s Virtual Learning Platform, Blackboard Learn. The course is accessible from your ‘Course List’ in your Blackboard Area.

7. Organisation and Management 

Digital Marketing and Analytics, is a 20-credit point module, this requires 200 hours of your commitment, distributed through the following learning and teaching activities over the 15-week semester:

The teaching and learning plan provides a more detailed overview of content on a weekly basis. Module delivery will consist of two 1 -hour Multi-Media workshops for the first four weeks of semester and online recorded lectures, training courses and videos accessible via Blackboard.

Individual supervisor meetings should be arranged by the student with their allocated supervisor at suitable intervals throughout the semester to monitor progress on project. You should have at least 3 of these meetings as and when you need them.

All via Blackboard, Collaborate

8. Learning and Teaching Methods

The module is delivered fully online via Blackboard Learn and will be facilitated through the provision of the following learning and teaching activities:

• Live Multi-Media Lectures: We will be

utilising live Blackboard Collaborate Ultra sessions and pre-recorded Panopto videos introduce you to new topics and application of theories via mini-lectures combined with in-class activities.

• Directed Learning: These will be set activities to extend your learning. They maybe individual/ groupwork based. It may be supplemented with recorded Panopto mini-lecturers.
• Online Tutorials: These will allow you to consider particular topics or specific questions for further exploration within small groups. We will be utilising the ‘break-out’ facility within Collaborate Ultra and/or the Discussion Board.
• Webinars (Seminars): These will take different forms and may include; students doing presentations on set topics; lecturers giving extended mini lectures; study questions being set so that students can discuss them in a large group. They are much less formal than lectures and designed to give you time to discuss texts and deepen your understanding of the topics at hand and the course itself. We will be utilising Collaborate Ultra.
• Discussion Board: These will be utilised to continue in-class discussions and/or discussion of new set topics. Blackboard Learn, Discussion Board Tool will be utilised.
• Online Resources: These will be an integral part of the delivery. See the library reading list below which is also accessible via Blackboard Learn. You will be directed to academic, professional and open content resources to extend your knowledge, understanding and application.
• Independent Study: Utilise this time to prepare for tutorials/seminars and research your assessment tasks.
• Studiocity: This is an additional tool which you can use to get some initial (independent) feedback on draft work.
• Electronic Assessment: TurnItIn Feedback Studio and/or Blackboard Learn Assessments will enable assessment information submission and feedback delivery.

Blackboard Learning Support

If you require help or support with any of the digital learning tools, please view

Ulster’s Blackboard Student Support area.

Teaching and Learning Plan

Teaching and Learning Plan

Teaching and Learning Plan

Students will be expected to engage in all prescribed activities that contribute towards final assessment.