Deakin University’s new Master of Business (Marketing) degree – to be launched in trimester 1, 2024 – will reflect an ever-changing global landscape with a first-of-its-kind Marketing Technology unit.

Dr Ho Yin Wong, course director for the refreshed Masters degree, said Fundamentals of MarTech embodies the essence of the department’s new approach and will become a foundational unit within the course.

“This really is quite a unique unit when you look at offerings from other universities,” Dr Wong said.

“The landscape and the platforms we use are changing almost every minute, and we want our students to know how to use them, or even just to know what they are and what’s available.”

“This unit was developed with industry experts and to reflect that connection to industry, the content will change every trimester.”

After a year’s hiatus, the Master of Business (Marketing) course will see domestic and international students offered hands-on opportunities to develop cutting-edge business, technology and marketing skills.

‘We made use of the resting year to redevelop this course, to reimagine it,” Dr Wong said. “We think of marketing as science and arts. That’s why we’ve included a science perspective, with at least three or four quantitative units, as well as having art forms like storytelling and content creation.”

“We have new modules including digital and social media marketing, and marketing analytics along with the more traditional units like branding and services marketing.”

Dr Wong said while the modern marketing landscapes demands students keep abreast of new and emerging technologies, the Masters course never strays too far from the proven bedrock of the discipline.

“These days, everyone talks about social media, digital marketing, this and that, and we acknowledge that we can’t ignore tech, that it’s critical. But we also believe the traditional units remain extremely useful.”

Dr Wong said that in response to changing global attitudes, students will also be given the chance to study Environmental Sustainability for Business as well as elective units from within the faculty or the wider university schedule. These electives can be used in a flexible way, depending on a student’s interests and how they see their career progressing.

One area that students might be interested to pursue as an elective is AI technology, which Dr Wong said is undeniably becoming a hot discussion topic in the field of marketing.

“I think AI will almost certainly have some kind of impact on our industry,” Dr Wong said. “For example, in the creation of content, you can just key in some words and there’s your story. Whether it’s good content, that’s another thing altogether!”

“Either way though, you still need some kind of human judgment. It’s much better for marketing professionals to have educated knowledge, to know whether what pops up on your screen is actually good and makes sense.”

“At the end of the day, it’s still human decision-making that’s the most important thing.”

While the Master of Business (Marketing) course is typically made up of 16 credit points, Dr Wong said domestic students who are returning to postgraduate study with career expertise and experience under their belt will be considered for exemptions.

“For domestic students who have relevant work experience and who may have studied business or marketing in their undergraduate studies, they will get exemptions,” Dr Wong said.

“It will depend on the person’s situation – it’s case by case. But some people who have worked for more than ten years in the industry or are working as CEOs of big firms may get four or even up to eight units exempted.”

More information about the Master of Business (Marketing) course can be found here.