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Università degli Studi di Parma Università degli Studi di Parma
Second cycle degree course in
Trade and consumer marketing
Università degli Studi di Parma
Department of Economics and Management

Learning objectives

A course in step with the times

The course of study is organised in such a way as to provide in-depth and interdisciplinary cultural preparation in the field of marketing and sales policies of the Brand Industry, marketing strategies of Distribution companies and the frontier areas of Consumer Marketing.
Since only candidates with a good foundation in the fields of marketing and business administration and management (verified by a selective admission test) are admitted as part of the curricular requirements, the subjects taught within the Second-cycle degree may develop advanced, frontier, innovative and specialised topics. 
This content stems from the scientific research of each course Professor, who not only 'teaches' the subject, but also does scientific research on a daily basis in that very field, as evidenced by each Professor's scientific publications, participation in the Doctoral Teachers' College, and the numerous research projects in which Professors participate.
This guarantees the excellence and constant updating of the content, adapted to the 'frontier of knowledge' of each area of marketing taught in the course. 

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Course objectives

The TRADE Second-cycle degree course aims to train specific skills for the management of marketing and distribution issues aimed at improving the quality of sales policies of industrial and commercial enterprises, adopting an interdisciplinary approach that is strongly connected with the business

Contents

In particular, TRADE is a course that integrates economic, statistical and legal perspectives with business disciplines in order to develop the following knowledge and the ability to apply it: channel management (management of physical and online trading companies and relations with industrial suppliers), brand management (industrial and commercial brand management), understanding global economy (economic scenarios for management), law for marketing, history of the development of distribution systems, analysis of consumer behaviour and market research marketing metrics (i.e. the performance indicators of distribution channels), shopper marketing (in its 'in store marketing' and 'retail marketing' components), 'digital and loyalty marketing' (which draws on the Group's 20-year research tradition recognised both in Italy and internationally), 'CRM and customer analytics', fashion marketing and design marketing. Note that the highly innovative field of applying neuroscience to marketing is dedicated to the teaching of 'neuroshopping' and the free teaching of 'health and wellness marketing'. 
Particular emphasis is placed on quantitative methods of data analysis for marketing, in order to equip graduates with the relevant analytical skills and abilities to use computer-based analysis and reporting tools widespread in the corporate world.
In particular, consistent with the needs of companies, which actively seek 'data scientists', there is an advanced statistics course called 'data science for marketing'. 
 
Constant efforts are made to supplement the course catalogue with student-choice activities that enrich the skills acquired and the panorama of disciplines that belong to the Trade and Consumer Marketing expert's baggage, as well as foster the development of communication and learning skills and independent judgement.
Specifically, for a number of years, students have had access to the innovative Laboratories, working groups with a maximum of 20 students and participative and innovative working methods (group work, case studies, presentations, role play) that include: Promotions Lab, Negotiation Lab, Retail Symposium Lab (in English, in Dublin), Market Research Lab for Product Innovation, Retail and Design Innovation Lab (in English). Since 2014-15, the Workshop for the preparation for the National Mediation and Negotiation Competition has been active, in collaboration with the Milan Arbitration Chamber and Geo.Cam mediators. It is a highly interactive course that through the realisation of dozens of negotiations under the guidance of professional coaches teaches participants mediation in negotiations. In 2018, our Laboratory team came third out of 22 Italian universities!

Skills: "the 'savoir faire' you learn at TRADE

The teaching methods adopted by the teaching staff of the courses and workshops will enable you to:

  • develop the necessary skills to make strategic and operational decisions autonomously;
  • provide complete information on the retail mix tools used by distribution to increase the degree of customer satisfaction, in a market characterised by growing competition;
  • acquire the ability to understand the processes of transformation of the economic context that have conditioned and continue to condition the dynamics of the spread of modern distribution and develop a critical analysis of the innovative processes that directly and indirectly affect distribution develop the advanced skills needed to translate the conceptual tools learnt in classes and books into empirical rules for the joint and integrated management of all the levers of in-store marketing (merchandising, visual merchandising, store design, ambience, visual communication) and for the design of new shop formats acquire specialised skills in the field of relationship marketing issues, maturing the ability to measure customer loyalty and its contribution to profits;
  • to build loyalty programmes for the collection of customer data;
  • to develop new metrics for decision making in the different areas of the retail mix;
  • to acquire methodologies for the analysis and management of customer data applied to business problems of acquisition, retention, upselling and cross-selling (Customer Relationship Management) develop skills on the main statistical methodologies used for Data Mining applications in marketing, with particular reference to the analysis of purchasing and consumption behaviour so as to independently apply statistical techniques to business and data mining problems, through the use of Excel and SPSS software. In general, refine your ability to develop opinions, present and defend the main results of your activities in front of different audiences, in small or larger group settings.

TRADE strongly encourages students to improve their command of the English language: they are taught in English: Modern retail development and Behavioural economics (I year), Loyalty Marketing, CRM and customer analytics and Communication and Digital Marketing (II year) as well as several free subjects, such as Health and Wellness Marketing; there are numerous international exchanges in Europe (Erasmus) and on other continents (Overworld); the course also offers the opportunity of the three Double Degrees. Read more on the 'Completing your studies abroad' page.
The suitability of the educational content of the Study Course is constantly checked in relation to scientific progress in the fields of marketing and trade marketing (this is ensured by the fact that the Professors involved in the teaching activities develop their own research activities in these fields), as well as through a continuous comparison with the business world, through the involvement of managers and experts in the teaching activity by means of seminars, testimonials and case studies, and thanks to the Steering Committee, a group of managers from leading Italian companies who closely follow the degree course and discuss its contents and methodologies with the Course President and the teaching staff.