Where does marketing education fit in a world of Gen AI?
By Andreas Munzel – Associate Professor of Marketing, Vlerick Business School
If you’re an aspiring marketer, you might be looking at the capabilities of Generative AI and wondering if it’s still a career path worth pursuing.
And you’d be right to wonder. Gen AI can produce marketing plans, analysis and collateral with just a few short prompts. And research from Stanford University has shown that organisations are increasingly delegating simple, repetitive tasks to Large Language Models (LLMs) rather than hiring junior colleagues to do the work.
So with entry-level opportunities shrinking – and technology that can produce marketing communications in seconds – what is the future for aspiring marketers? And is a Masters in Marketing worth having?
Well, that depends.
Your Masters should be a fast-track to the workplace
A more traditional, theory-only Masters may no longer get you to where you need to be. Organisations are looking for people with more than book learning. They need young professionals with real experience and the ability to think ahead. And they want them to have a comprehensive understanding of strategy, finance and technology.
To become one of these young professionals, you need a programme that prepares you for the real world – and jump into roles that might once have been reserved for people with at least a couple of years’ experience.
This is where Vlerick Business School’s Masters in Marketing Strategy comes in. It’s a deeply immersive, action-oriented journey that’s the equivalent of those first few years in an entry-level role. You learn the strategic foundations – then immediately apply them in simulations, business cases and discussions. You connect with leading experts and go inside global organisations, including Coca-Cola and TBWA. And you get hands-on experience through a study tour to the leading tech hub Dublin – and by taking on a marketing consultancy project for a real company.
You graduate from it with the experience, strategic vision and confidence to make a real impact. Of course, you’ll know how to use marketing tools and resources – but more importantly, you’ll know how and why to deploy them to achieve strategic goals.
An experience that gives you a clear advantage
Through highly practical activities and exposure to real business environments, you develop the strategic thinking, confidence and knowledge to become a highly employable future leader – all in just 10 focused, intensive months.
So is a Masters in Marketing worth it? Absolutely. High-quality, specialist marketing education is more important now than ever before. But it has to be the right kind of Masters. The kind that gives you the skillset and insight to direct technology. The kind that gives you the experience, international exposure and confidence to work across an organisation. The kind that will set you up to succeed long into the future.
If this sounds like where you want to be – come and join us at Vlerick.
