IMC Full-Time Master's
Become a Complete Marketer with Medill's Master of Science in Integrated Marketing Communications
Medill’s prestigious IMC Full-Time program launches your career in marketing communications with a 12-month curriculum that transforms you into the kind of leader the future demands. You will think strategically, act boldly, and work collaboratively to advance measurable business outcomes.
- Gain real-world experience working with industry leaders.
- Benefit from the reputation of Northwestern, a top-10 university.
- Be a part of a STEM-designated program.
- Join a high-quality network of more than 18,000 alumni.
- Build brands, create value, and shape culture by building on your undergraduate degree.
- Develop data interpretation and storytelling skills to drive strategy.
- Optimize brand messaging across media to make every message matter.
- Shape organizational reputation with a holistic stakeholder approach.
- Dive into hands-on immersive learning with client projects and industry leaders, ensuring you can plan and execute strategy.
Medill IMC Full-Time Curriculum
*This is not an exhaustive list of courses. Courses vary based on program and student needs. For more information, visit our IMC Curriculum page.
What is IMC?
Integrated marketing communications (IMC) is a holistic, customer-centered philosophy that informs every decision across strategy, execution, and measurement. This mindset drives meaningful differentiation, deeper customer relationships, and sustained business performance.
At Medill’s Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) program, we call this customer centricity—and for over 30 years, we’ve empowered thousands of IMC graduates to master this approach and launch exceptional, impact-driven careers.
- Program quick facts
- Length12 Months
- Total Students131
- Average Age23
- States Represented23
- Countries Represented14
- Graduates Employed Within 6 Months Of Graduation95%
OUR GRADUATES GO ON TO WORK FOR TOP COMPANIES:
Full-Time Integrated Marketing Communications Master's Program
Learn through core courses
You’ll understand the foundations of integrated marketing communications and see how they will carry you through your career.
Explore through sequences
Take a deep dive in to areas of marketing you choose.
Put your learning to work
Our experiential opportunities will help you apply what you’ve learned
Marketing Research
Marketing Research provides an overview of the marketing research process and goes into depth on basic statistical analysis. Students learn to define the research problem and select an appropriate research design.
Explore Marketing Research
Financial Accounting
Financial Accounting provides an overview of the principles of corporate finance including financial statement analysis, business performance measurement, budgeting, long-term forecasting, and investment analysis.
Explore Financial Accounting
IMC Strategic Process
IMC Strategic Process covers the principles and practices of Integrated Marketing Communications. The course begins by discussing the definitions, scope and phases of IMC as a strategic process for managing the communications between an organization and its stakeholders.
Explore IMC Strategic Process
Consumer Insight
Consumer Insight is a foundational course for developing a consumer centric, IMC perspective. The course focuses on understanding how individuals, families, and groups acquire, consume, and dispose of goods, services, ideas, brands, and experiences.
Explore Consumer Insight
Marketing Strategy
Marketing Strategy introduces students to the fundamentals of strategy that they will be regularly using as a marketing practitioner. The course will familiarize students with different types of business strategies and models.
Explore Marketing Strategy
Consumer Insights and Analytics
Hone your qualitative and quantitative skills to understand customers and analyze complex big data sets of consumer behaviors.
EXPLORE
Brand Strategy
In Brand Strategy courses, you identify strategic brand opportunities and use consumer insights to measure brand awareness and equity, lead business decisions and shape perceptions.
EXPLORE
Strategic Communications
Through the Strategic Communications sequence, you learn to deliver messages across platforms and audiences, all while integrating public relations and corporate social responsibility.
EXPLORE
Media
Learn to implement integrated marketing communications in an evolved media world and engage with consumers through paid, owned and earned media channels.
How is IMC different from an MBA?
The Medill IMC master’s program is distinct and uniquely prepares you to excel in marketing communications in any industry. Everything you learn at Medill will be centered on consumer understanding.
An MBA is a management degree that emphasizes how the distinct functions such as supply chain, marketing and finance create organizational value.
IMC is a marketer’s degree with an emphasis on how brands create reciprocal value with customers through a deep emphasis on consumer needs.
The master's program that is right for you depends on the skills you want to develop for your future career path.
START YOUR CAREER WITH IMC
Capstone Courses Bring Your Learning to Life
The Medill IMC Network
Leslie Taylor (IMC12)Principal, Global Director of Marketing & Communications, Gensler
Anthony Fleet (IMC17)Critical Communications Manager, United Airlines
Younghee Lee (MSA90)Chief Marketing Officer, Samsung Electronics
"Medill IMC helped me become a good leader. In the midst of a rapidly changing world where consumers are getting more segregated, respecting diversity and being open-minded are key to being a global leader, and I thank Medill for this."
Christiana Stewart (IMC15)North America Director of Email Marketing, Nike
Melissa Grady Dias (IMC98)CMO, Cadillac
Mike McGrew (IMC97)EVP, Chief Communications and CSR Officer, Constellation Brands
McGrew oversees the company's communications efforts, including internal and external global communications, brand public relations, corporate branding and reputation, investor relations and Corporate Social Responsibility.
Akash Pathak (IMC06)Associate Vice President, Marketing, Humana
Pathak is the Marketing Leader at Humana and a performance and brand marketing expert. He is experienced at implementing business growth strategies for brand and e-commerse campaigns.
Vijay ViswanathanHamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani Professor of Integrated Marketing Communications and Associate Dean of IMC
Vijay Viswanathan's research focuses on consumer decision making, especially in the realm of branding, pricing, cross-media consumption and social influence. His research has important implications for the economic impact of managerial decisions related to marketing communications.
Jacqueline BabbSenior Lecturer and Director of IMC Full-Time Program
Jacqueline Babb is a committed and experienced marketing professional and educator with 20 years of experience. She teaches courses in marketing strategy, IMC strategy and digital marketing.
Michelle WeinbergerAssociate Professor
Michelle Weinberger’s research takes a sociological approach to understanding consumers, stakeholders and marketplace actors. She studies socio-cultural aspects of consumption and the role of various forms of marketing communications in creating meaning for stakeholders.
Danielle Robinson BellAssistant Professor and Director of the IMC Professional Program
Danielle Robinson Bell’s area of expertise is strategic communications and its impact on business outcomes for organizations, brands and executives. She specializes in work that advances efforts related to culture, equity, inclusion, women and BIPOC in the workplace.
Ed MalthouseErastus Otis Haven Professor
Ed Malthouse’s research interests center on media marketing, database marketing, advertising, new media and IMC. He develops statistical models and applies them to large data sets of consumer information to help managers make marketing decisions.
Ashlee HumphreysAssociate Professor
Ashlee Humphreys is an associate professor at Medill. Trained as a sociologist, she examines core topics in consumer behavior and marketing strategy. Her research investigates the role of legal and cultural institutions in creating markets, the influence of language on consumer judgments of legitimacy, and the process of consumer co-creation.
Lan Nguyen ChaplinProfessor
Frank MulhernHamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani Professor of Integrated Marketing Communications, Associate Dean of Research and Executive Director of Academic Programs in San Francisco
Frank Mulhern holds the Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani Professorship. He is also executive director of academic programs in San Francisco and associate dean of research at Medill. Mulhern specializes in research on the economics of marketing, the impact of new media technologies on marketing communications and the measurement of advertising and promotion effects, particularly in retail environments.
Carolyn Tang KmetAssociate Professor
Jeff TreemTheodore R. and Annie Laurie Sills Professor