Earn Your Master’s in Integrated Marketing Communications

Find your place at the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. Our Master of Science in Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) Professional program is designed for aspiring marketing executives who want to expand their knowledge, skills and capabilities to evolve into marketing powerhouses. Students enrolled in this program are not looking for your average marketing master’s program—they seek to be challenged and grow into future CMOs and VPs.

Found your marketing calling a little later in your career? Whether you’re coming from finance, healthcare, consulting, education or another field, Medill’s Master of Science in Integrated Marketing Communications Professional program is still for you. Pivot full-speed into marketing while leveraging your foundational skills, such as strategic thinking, data analysis, leadership and client management. Medill’s program is designed to prepare mid-level professionals for senior- and executive-level positions.

Applicants are required to have a minimum of three years of full-time work experience. However, your career background does not have to be in marketing, communications, media or public relations for this program to be a good fit for you. While the program is best suited for professionals in marketing, communications, media, public relations or business who seek to fill knowledge gaps to advance into marketing leadership roles, you are welcome to apply with experience in any field.

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Integrated marketing communications (noun):
a marketing approach that aims to coordinate and align all communication instruments, channels and messages of an organization to ensure good customer relations.

The Medill MS in Integrated Marketing Communications Professional program at Northwestern University was created by marketers, for marketers. Our deep marketplace knowledge, backed by the latest insights and data, will help you make strategic decisions and adapt to an industry that seems to evolve every week. In collaboration with a diverse professional cohort, you will become adept at creating innovative marketing communications strategies and engaging consumers in the digital age.

Our Integrated Marketing Communications Professional program draws from the first-hand, real-world experiences of world-renowned scholars, executives and industry authorities who make up our faculty. Their unique customer-centric approach turns the tables on traditional marketing and shows you how to balance qualitative and quantitative data to achieve your goals. With a solid foundation from which to work, you’ll start to reach audiences in the right way, at the right time, with the right messages to drive powerful results.

• Chief Marketing Officer
• Vice President of Marketing
• Global Brand Director
• Director of Consumer Insights
• Senior Product Marketing Director
• Customer Marketing Director
• Communications Director
• Marketing Analytics Leader
• Social Media Director

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Medill pioneered Integrated Marketing Communications. The IMC approach was named and codified by Don Schultz, one of the most cited marketing communications thought-leaders in the world. Commonly referred to as the “father of IMC,” Schultz joined the Medill faculty in 1977 and later became department chair and associate dean.

When Schultz began his work at Northwestern University, his descriptions of IMC were an entirely new philosophy for the time: look at the whole of marketing communications, rather than concentrating on each of the parts separately. Schultz dedicated much of his career to IMC research and implementation, including publishing the first textbook dedicated to the subject in 1993 and the first graduate-level integrated marketing program in the U.S.^2,3

Since we launched the world’s first master’s in integrated marketing communications program in 1991, Medill has become synonymous with marketing excellence and innovation. As the training ground for some of the world’s best storytellers, we provide in-depth, unsurpassed education that’s as strong as our reputation.

Now, IMC strategies are standard for marketing organizations, agencies and the academic community and the Medill IMC Professional program continues to pave the way in research, theory and practice.

Our format is designed for working marketing professionals who must balance career advancement with existing commitments—manage going to school while working full time. The program consists of live online weekly courses that give students real-time engagement and a traditional classroom experience:

• Live Online Sessions: Participate in real-time discussions and collaborative projects with faculty and peers through interactive video conferencing
• Optional Immersive Experiences: Choose to participate in immersive in-person courses in various cities, including Chicago, New York and San Francisco, and global destinations
• Collaborative Projects: Work with peers on real-world marketing challenges, building both skills and professional relationships