Goldsmiths, University of London

MA Promotional Media: Public Relations, Advertising & Marketing

From analysing the theories of intellectual heavyweights such as Bourdieu and Lacan, to unpicking a global campaign, this MA explores the hinterland between the big three promotional professions, the media, and society.

Public relations, advertising, and marketing roles are converging. This MA isn’t about studying ads or press coverage, but about becoming a professional who can understand the dynamics of power that exist between these professions, and critically intervene in today’s media landscape. 

At its core, this masters looks at how you can better serve society by improving communications across the promotional disciplines, and how public relations (PR), advertising, and marketing professionals can best develop within a challenging media world. You’ll learn how to reflect on contemporary intellectual theories, and apply them to workplace realities so you plan the next decade of your career.

The questions we explore

• We want you to understand existing power struggles between these three professions. Therefore, this programme will look at public relations, advertising, and marketing as inter-related disciplines, drawing on theoretical and professional debates around industry issues as they happen.
• You will explore, for example, the implications of ‘fake news’, and its rapid circulation via social media, the repercussions of the media’s pivot to video, and the use of Artificial Intelligence in promotional work, among others topics.
• You’ll also examine current industry expectations, and look at the crossovers between creativity, management, and strategy.