Course presentation | TRADE AND CONSUMER MARKETING

Trade and Consumer Marketing (TRADE) was the first Second-cycle degree in Marketing to be established in Italy

At first it was called Trade Marketing and Commercial Strategies but... it was a close fit, because since its foundation in 2005 it has also become the first Second-cycle degree in Italy that covered the various aspects of Marketing, with a range of 11 marketing courses, numerous laboratories and free courses dedicated to frontier aspects of marketing.

Companies have an increasing need for new marketing skills and professional profiles capable of understanding, addressing and managing the new challenges of national and international markets. In recent years, marketing activity has increasingly taken on a dual configuration: that of Consumer Marketing and that of Trade Marketing. The first refers to marketing strategies oriented towards the final demand (consumer), while the second refers to marketing strategies oriented towards the intermediate demand (commercial distribution).

As a result of changes in the structure of markets, Trade Marketing strategies have assumed an increasingly important role in the value construction processes within Markets, and Marketing Channels in particular. This relevance has been fostered by: the evolution of distribution systems such as to configure a true Commercial Revolution; the progressive increase in the demand for commercial services; the growing centrality of points of sale (stores) in the marketing processes of industrial brands; the increase in levels of commercial concentration in purchasing and sales, such as to influence power relations within the supply chain. These phenomena have led to a strong demand for professional profiles capable of planning, managing and organising the marketing and sales policies of companies. With this in mind, the Master's degree course in 'Trade and Consumer Marketing' (TRADE) was created to train specific skills for the management of companies' market policies.

Italy's first Marketing Second-cycle degree in terms of specialised coverage of different aspects of Marketing

However, the field of Trade Marketing does not exhaust the contents of our Second-cycle degree: in fact, TRADE has become the first Marketing degree in Italy that covered the various aspects of Marketing. It is significant to note that, on average, the other Italian master's degrees in marketing (there are 14 in Italy that claim to deal, in whole or in part, with marketing) do not offer more than 4 marketing courses.

Our Degree Course, on the other hand, has developed over the years in the direction of integrating the more frontier areas of Consumer Marketing with Trade Marketing competences, dedicating specific teaching to the topics of Neuromarketing, Digital and Loyalty Marketing, CRM and Customer Analytics, Consumer Behaviour Analysis, Fashion and Design Marketing and others. He has created innovative free lectures in English such as Health and Wellness Marketing and Labs in collaboration with innovative companies, such as the Caffeina Digital Lab and the Comarch Loyalty and Analytics Lab.

This variety of offerings has been achieved thanks to the research investment of the Marketing Area's professors - we are no less than 17 professors, researchers and doctoral students - who, over the years, have gone on to develop scientific curricula beyond the historical specialisation in Trade Marketing and Retail Marketing, to cover the different areas of Consumer Marketing mentioned above. Each of us not only teaches, but also does academic and applied research on business issues, in a specific subject area of Marketing. This is how we ensure that the content taught in the lessons is always on the cutting edge, close to the issues faced daily in the company and enriched by continuous discussion with managers and experts, who frequently intervene in the classroom.

That is why we called it Trade and Consumer Marketing: so that the richness of what is on offer would also be perceived externally.

With this background, the graduate in TRADE can hold positions of responsibility in corporate governance. Especially in the areas of Marketing, Sales, Purchasing and Analysis. See TRADE's professional outlets here: Professional outlets

The course in brief

TRADE is distinguished from other Second-cycle degree courses by:

the international thrust, realised in the possibility, for excellent students, to obtain a Double Degree by carrying out the second year of studies abroad, at the Ecole de Management of the University of Grenoble (France), at the Master in Business Administration of the FECAP University of São Paulo (Brazil), at Bochum University of Applied Sciences (Germany), or at master in Marketing and Integrated Communications of Vilnius University (Lithuania). All double degrees are delivered in English.

the use of innovative teaching methodologies in most of the courses (workshops, group work, marketing games, role plays in addition to numerous testimonials from managers and experts and company visits). First of all, there is a limited number Labs where you learn know-how: among those activated in recent years are the Promotions Lab, the Caffeina Digital Lab, the International Retail Symposium in Dublin, the Comarch Loyalty and Analytics Lab, and the Mediation and Negotiation Lab.

the proposal within the teachings of innovative and frontier contents, since TRADE professors and researchers have been developing their scientific research activities for years in specialised and excellent fields recognised at national and even international level, which translates into teachings with innovative and always up-to-date contents

the presence of students from all over Italy, which creates a stimulating and enriching work and study environment. About 60 per cent of TRADE enrollees come from universities other than Parma. From the year of its inception to 2020, the course has produced 2300 graduates, born in 360 different cities in Italy and from 60 universities (183 different three-year degree courses). Every year, almost 300 candidates take part in the entrance selection, with an admission rate of 61%.

an important support for placement after graduation. The course of study provides days on how to prepare a CV and how to approach a job interview, several meetings per year with companies, an online platform for CV dissemination, mentoring courses, as well as active and direct referral of graduates' CVs to companies.

The satisfaction of our graduates with the course they followed is very high: 86% would re-enrol on the same Second-cycle degree course. The most important data, however, concern employment: on average, only 3.5 months pass from the start of the search to finding the first job. The employment rate three years after graduation is 97,4%. Three years after graduation, 43.2% have a permanent contract, a much higher figure than other Italian Second-cycle degrees (Almalaurea data)