Abstract

This paper explores the experiences of academic staff teaching Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) and postgraduate students studying IMC in the business school environment.

This paper is part of a wider doctoral study with the following question, ‘to what extent are current IMC academic practices meeting the needs and expectations of key stakeholders’, with an aim of providing recommendations for a good practice curricula. In the context of this research key stakeholders will be PG students, marketing academics, employers within the marketing communications industry and the marketing communications professional bodies (for example, the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR)).
The full study will be answered through exploring:
- How IMC is delivered within PG education in the UK, including modular and programme level.
- The experiences of postgraduate students studying IMC
- The needs and expectations of key academics, employers within the marketing communications industry and professional bodies.

This working paper details the preliminary findings of focus groups with students studying IMC and interviews and a focus group with academic staff teaching the subject.