Professional Diploma in Marketing

This qualification is ideal for marketers who are concerned with managing the marketing process at an operational level, as well as those who are looking to build on the knowledge gained at Professional Certificate level with a future marketing management role in mind. The content of the course has been put together following consultation with employers to ensure that they gain relevant competencies for various stages of their marketing career.

Learning outcomes

Critically review, consolidate and extend a systematic and coherent body of knowledge
Utilise highly specialist technical or scholastic skills across an area of study and utilise research skills
Critically evaluate new information, concepts and evidence from a range of sources
Begin to lead multiple, complex and heterogeneous groups and exercise judgement in a number of complex planning, design, technical and/or management functions related to products, services, operations or processes including resources
Ultimately, students are expected to transfer and apply diagnostic and creative skills in a range of situations

Syllabus & reading lists

Our syllabus & reading lists will provide you with a complete overview of the content and structure of your Professional Diploma, together with a list of core and supplementary reading texts.

The syllabus & reading lists contain a summary of each unit’s characteristics, overarching learning outcomes and the mark weighting that has been allocated to each – a good indicator of how much time to spent on each topic.

Reading list Syllabus guides

How much will it cost?

To take this qualification you need to be a Studying Member. Cost: £140 per year (£100 if you live outside of the UK and Western Europe). Accelerated route: If you are entitled to exemptions from the Professional Certificate in Marketing you will be charged an exemption fee of £40 (£10×4 units).

Assessment fees for the four units are:

Marketing Planning Process (Assignment) £80
Delivering Customer Value through Marketing (Exam) £80
Managing Marketing (Assignment) £80
Project Management in Marketing (Assignment) £80

Information is everything

Successful marketing is based on having the right information and then using it to make the right decisions.

Below are some useful student resources to support your studies.

Delivering Customer Value through Marketing How to use your case study analysis in the exam plus the Q&A document

10 minute guide to targeting customers
The Times 100 Case Studies
Digital Minds Forum

Ebsco database Updated on a daily basis, this powerful online reference system includes full text journals, magazines and reports covering all aspects relating to marketing and business. This is member only content so please ensure you have logged into your CIM account. If you cannot access this information please email feedbacklearningzone@cim.co.uk.

Porter’s five forces
Product life cycle
BCG Matrix

Find enough time to study

Take advice from your tutor about how much time you should give to your studies, for attending college (if your mode of learning requires this) and for reading and personal study. It is hard to give precise guidelines because everyone is different, and the amount of personal study required, increases as you progress up the levels of the qualification, but the total amount of study time required should be considered. We recommend:

Qualification	Study hours (Guided learning/contact hours plus personal study) per unit	Total for qualification
CIM Level 6 Professional Diploma	50 GLH + 100 = 150hrs (ratio:1:2)	150×4 = 600 hrs

Exams

Delivering Customer Value through Marketing

3 hour exam based on a case study that is released to students electronically on the Friday of the fifth week before the exam. Students analyse the case and bring in with 4 pages of operational analysis
T1: 50 marks
T2 and T3: 25 marks each

Hints and tips on taking exams

Assignments

Date	Units assessed by assignment	Nature of tasks
Please contact your Study Centre	Marketing Planning Process	Three compulsory tasks based on one of two scenario options. Total word count:6,000 words plus summary of audit up to 6 sides of A4
Please contact your Study Centre	Managing Marketing	Two options from which students have to choose one. Five or six tasks all of which are compulsory. Total word count: 6,000 words
Please contact your Study Centre	Project Management in Marketing	Two options from which students have to choose one. Two tasks both of which are compulsory. Total word count: 6,000 words plus an audit of up to six sides A4

Hints and tips on writing assignments

Senior Examiners’ Reports

The Senior Examiners’ reports are available free of charge, you will find these very helpful in your preparation for your assessments. It is good to familiarise yourself with the format of questions, how subjects might be tested and Senior Examiners’ comments on how well (or not) questions were answered; all of this information is useful in preparing yourself for what to expect when completing your assignments or siting exams. The Senior Examiners’ reports also flag up emerging trends and possible topics in their “future themes’, so it is worth looking at these as well.

Marketing Planning Process
March 2010 June/September 2010 December 2010/March 2011 June/September 2011 December 2011 March 2012 June 2012 September 2012 December 2012

Delivering Customer Value through Marketing
December 2009 June 2010 September 2010 December 2010 March 2011 September 2011 December 2011 March 2012 June 2012 September 2012 December 2012

Managing Marketing
March 2010 June/September 2010 December 2010/March 2011 June/September 2011 December 2011 March 2012 June 2012 September 2012 December 2012

Project Management in Marketing
March 2010 June/September 2010 December 2010/March2011 June/September 2011 December 2011 March 2012 June 2012 September 2012 December 2012