HR, Marketing and Coaching · Awarded by OTHM
Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Marketing
For marketing leads who want to move from running campaigns to setting the strategy and defending the budget that pays for them.
- LevelRQF Level 7Same level as a master's
- Credits120six units
- Qualification time1,200 hours600 guided learning hours
- Awarding bodyOTHMRegulated by Ofqual
- Ofqual number603/5946/8Search the Ofqual register
- Duration9 months (standard) or 6 months (fast track)Set by LSPM, confirmed on enquiry
- Study modesonline or blendedLive seminars, evenings and Saturdays
- FeesFrom £999 (9 months, standard) or £1,299 (6 months, fast track)Written quotation on enquiry
- Next intakeRolling intake — course starts when the fee is paidSet by LSPM
- AssessmentAssignmentsNo examinations
Who it is for
Marketing managers who need to think like the board thinks
The six units follow the shape of a marketing director's year: Contemporary Issues and Principles of Marketing, Consumer Behaviour and Market Communications, Digital and Social Media Marketing, Contemporary Challenges and Strategic Marketing, Strategic Brand Management and a Marketing Research Project that pulls the strands into a single piece of work.
It suits marketing managers and heads of marketing who are competent in execution and now need to justify marketing strategy in financial and strategic terms, agency-side account directors moving client-side, and founders who have been doing their own marketing and want the discipline behind it.
It is not a digital skills course. The digital unit is about strategy and measurement across channels, not how to operate a particular platform. If you want hands-on tool training, this is the wrong programme and we will say so.
Structure
Six units, all mandatory
All six units are mandatory and are taken in a sequence LSPM sets. Unit titles and credit values are from the awarding body's specification.
Mandatory units All six required
| Unit | Credits |
|---|---|
| Contemporary Issues and Principles of Marketing | 20 |
| Consumer Behaviour and Market Communications | 20 |
| Digital and Social Media Marketing | 20 |
| Contemporary Challenges and Strategic Marketing | 20 |
| Strategic Brand Management | 20 |
| Marketing Research Project | 20 |
| 120 credits from mandatory units. | |
Unit titles and credit values: OTHM Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Marketing (OTHM), official specification, Ofqual 603/5946/8.
How LSPM sequences them
LSPM opens with Contemporary Issues and Principles of Marketing to establish the strategic frame, then runs Consumer Behaviour and Market Communications and Digital and Social Media Marketing as a pair, because modern communications strategy does not separate them. Contemporary Challenges and Strategic Marketing and Strategic Brand Management follow. The Marketing Research Project is last and is usually scoped around a live question in your own organisation.
Entry requirements
Who can enrol
OTHM sets the entry requirements and London School of Planning and Management, the approved centre, applies them. As published in the specification:
- An honours degree in related subject or UK level 6 diploma or an equivalent overseas qualification
- Mature learners with management experience (learners must check with the delivery centre regarding this experience prior to registering for the programme)
- Learners must be 21 years old or older at the beginning of the course
- English requirements: If a learner is not from a majority English-speaking country must provide evidence of English language competency. For more information visit English Language Expectations page in our website www.othm.org.uk.
How LSPM applies this in practice. A degree or Level 6 qualification is the usual route; marketing, business or communications backgrounds are common but not required. Experienced marketers without a degree are considered after reviewing a portfolio of work and a conversation with LSPM's marketing tutor.
Entry requirements from the official specification. If you are not sure whether your qualification counts as equivalent, send us the details and we will ask LSPM to check with the awarding body.
Assessment
Written assignments, no examinations
Assignments are strategic documents of the kind a marketing director produces: a market analysis, a communications strategy, a digital measurement framework, a brand audit. The research project is a report on a marketing question you have investigated. No examinations.
Your tutor at LSPM marks the work and gives written feedback. OTHM then externally verifies a sample of marked work to confirm the standard is being applied consistently. A unit is passed when all of its criteria are met.
Progression
From diploma to top-up with advanced standing
Universities may consider holders for the final stage of an MSc in Marketing or Strategic Marketing, or an MBA with a marketing route, with advanced standing for the 120 credits. Each university decides; neither LSPM nor this site guarantees admission.
Many learners use the diploma to support a move from marketing manager to head of marketing or marketing director, where the ability to defend strategy to a finance director matters more than campaign craft.
Progression note for employers. If you are sponsoring a manager with a master's as the eventual goal, budget the top-up separately and check the university's terms before you commit. The diploma stage is where LSPM's fees and timetable apply; the top-up stage is the university's. How the pathway works.
Outcomes
What you will be able to do
- Analyse a market strategicallyAssess the forces acting on a market and position an organisation within it.
- Explain the customerApply consumer behaviour theory to communications decisions and predict how customers will respond.
- Set digital strategyDesign a cross-channel digital approach with measurement that a finance director will accept.
- Manage a brandAudit a brand's equity and set a strategy to build it.
- Respond to contemporary challengesJudge how sustainability, regulation and technology change the marketing task.
- Research a marketing questionScope, conduct and report a piece of marketing research to postgraduate standard.
Fit
Likely to suit, and better served elsewhere
Likely to get a lot from it
- Marketing managers moving to head of marketing or director roles.
- Agency account directors moving client-side into strategic roles.
- Founders who have run their own marketing and want the discipline behind it.
Better served by something else
- Anyone wanting hands-on platform or tool training; this is strategy, not operation.
- Marketing assistants and executives early in their careers; Level 5 or Level 6 first.
- Learners who want a broad management qualification; an executive or strategic management diploma fits better.
Real learner quotation to be supplied. This slot must not be published until a named graduate has given written consent.
Programme questions
Frequently asked
Is there a professional marketing body accreditation attached?
No. This is a regulated academic qualification. Professional marketing bodies set their own criteria for membership and recognition, and this site makes no claim on their behalf.
How technical is the digital unit?
It is strategic. You will design a digital and social media approach and the measurement behind it, using theory and case evidence. You will not be taught to operate specific tools.
What is the research project like?
A substantial piece of marketing research on a question you agree with your LSPM tutor, usually from your own organisation: a market entry decision, a brand repositioning, a channel shift. It is the closest unit to a dissertation.
How does it differ from the Qualifi Strategic Marketing diploma?
Same level and credits, different awarding body and units. The OTHM diploma includes a research project unit and a dedicated brand management unit; compare the tables on the two pages.
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