1. Critically evaluate leadership and change management theories within global and culturally diverse digital marketing contexts, including technology-driven transformation.

Knowledge and Understanding

2. Apply advanced digital marketing, AI‑enabled, and data‑driven principles to analyse complex organisational challenges and develop evidence‑informed strategic solutions

Application and Problem Solving

3. Evaluate appropriate digital marketing and AI-enabled tools to support change planning, implementation and performance monitoring in organisational settings

Digital Literacy

4. Demonstrate by presentation advanced understanding of leadership and organisational change principles in the context of AI‑enabled and digital marketing transformation, applying professional and academic standards appropriate for senior organisational environments

Communication, Research Skills, Critical Reasoning & Collaboration

Assessment 1 Digital Marketing Change Leadership Portfolio (Individual)

You will act as a digital marketing change lead and develop a change initiative for the adoption or transformation of a digital marketing capability (e.g., AI-assisted content operations, MarTech/CRM adoption, analytics/attribution improvement, automation and personalisation, governance for AI use in marketing).

Your Report must include

Context and problem definition: organisational challenge and drivers for change

Change diagnosis: readiness, culture, capability gaps, risks

Leadership and change approach: critical justification using change frameworks (e.g., Kotter, Lewin, ADKAR)

Digital capability plan: selection and evaluation of suitable digital/AI tools and how they will be governed and adopted

Stakeholder strategy: stakeholder mapping, engagement, resistance management

Ethics, governance and sustainability: bias, privacy, IP, brand risk, data protection, responsible use

Implementation plan: timeline, roles, resources, training, communications plan

Performance and control: success measures, KPIs, monitoring and continuous improvement

Assessment 2 Executive Briefing (Board-Level) on AI and Digital Marketing Change (Individual)

Drawing directly from Assessment 1, you will produce a board-level briefing that focuses on the most critical decision area within your change initiative, for example -

risk and governance model for AI use in marketing

ethical and brand safety controls for AI content

privacy and consent implications in data-driven marketing change

capability and culture changes required for adoption

Your briefing must

present the key issue and why it matters

justify your recommended course of action

communicate clearly for a non-technical executive audience

Leadership and Change Foundations (Digital Marketing Context)
Leadership theories and styles (transformational, adaptive, situational, distributed) in marketing settings
Change management models (Lewin, Kotter, ADKAR) and when to apply them
Organisational culture, power, politics and decision-making in digital marketing teams
Change readiness diagnosis and capability maturity in marketing functions

Digital Marketing Transformation Drivers
Platform and ecosystem change (privacy shifts, cookie changes, attribution challenges)
Marketing operating models (in-house, agency, hybrid, centre of excellence)
Digital marketing capability development (skills, processes, governance, performance culture)

AI, Data as Change Catalysts
AI-enabled marketing use cases (content operations, personalisation, segmentation, customer service support, insight generation)
Workflow redesign: human plus AI ways of working, roles and responsibilities, approval pathways, quality assurance

Governance, Ethics and Responsible Practice
Responsible AI use in marketing: bias, fairness, transparency, hallucinations and accountability
Brand safety, reputational risk and misinformation management
Data protection, consent, privacy and ethical targeting in data-driven marketing
IP, copyright, and content provenance in AI-assisted marketing production
Governance approaches: policies, guardrails, training, monitoring and continuous improvement

Stakeholders, Communication and Adoption
Stakeholder mapping and engagement (marketing, legal, IT, data teams, agencies, customers)
Managing resistance, building trust and psychological safety
Change communications: narratives, consultation, feedback loops, training and capability building
Global and cross-cultural change leadership considerations

Implementation Planning and Evaluation
Implementation roadmaps, resource planning and change risk management
Benefits realisation and performance management (KPIs, dashboards, control plans)
Experimentation culture, learning loops and optimisation
Post-implementation review, scaling responsible practice and sustaining change

Professional Practice and Reflection
Communicating change proposals for different audiences (board, team, clients, partners)
Reflecting on leadership identity, professional ethics and employability development within digital marketing transformation

How do you lead digital marketing teams through rapid change, new technology and rising ethical expectations?

In this module, you’ll explore leadership and change management through the lens of digital marketing transformation. You’ll evaluate how data and AI tools reshape marketing roles, workflows and decision-making, and you’ll learn how to plan change that builds capability, manages stakeholder resistance and protects trust. By creating an evidence-based change proposal and communicating it for professional audiences, you’ll develop the strategic leadership skills needed for digital marketing management and transformation roles.

Interactive Lectures

Interactive lectures will introduce students to leadership, change management and digital transformation theories within contemporary digital marketing contexts. Sessions will integrate academic frameworks with real-world organisational examples, encouraging critical discussion and evaluation of theory in practice.

Case-Based Learning

Students will engage with case studies drawn from digital marketing transformation, AI adoption, MarTech implementation and data-driven change initiatives. These cases will support critical analysis of leadership decisions, organisational dynamics, risk and outcomes in complex business environments.

Applied Workshops

Practical workshops will focus on applying leadership and change management frameworks to realistic digital marketing challenges. Activities will include change diagnosis, stakeholder mapping, capability assessment and governance design, directly supporting the development of Assessment 1.

Research-Informed Learning

Guided reading, structured research tasks and evidence-based analysis will underpin all learning activities. Students will be supported in evaluating academic research, industry reports and professional guidance to inform change planning and leadership decision-making.

Digital and AI Tool Exploration

Students will critically explore digital marketing and AI-enabled tools relevant to organisational change, including analytics platforms, automation tools and governance frameworks. Emphasis will be placed on evaluation rather than technical operation, supporting strategic digital literacy.

Collaborative Learning and Peer Review

Collaborative discussions, peer feedback and facilitated debates will enable students to explore different leadership perspectives, ethical positions and strategic options. Peer review activities will support reflection, critical reasoning and refinement of ideas prior to assessment submission.

Formative Feedback Opportunities

Formative feedback will be embedded through workshop outputs, draft discussions and structured feedback checkpoints. These opportunities will support student progress on the change leadership report and preparation for the executive briefing.

Professional Communication Practice

Students will practise communicating complex digital and AI-related change issues for different audiences, including senior leadership and non-technical stakeholders. This will directly support the development of board-level communication skills required for Assessment 2.

Reflective Learning

Structured reflection activities will encourage students to consider their leadership identity, ethical responsibilities and professional development within digital marketing transformation contexts. Reflection will support employability and senior leadership readiness.

Inclusive and Supportive Learning Approaches

Teaching and learning activities will be designed to be inclusive and accessible, using a variety of methods to support different learning preferences. Clear guidance, scaffolding and support will be provided to enable all students to engage confidently with complex material.

Hanlon, A. and Wolny, J. (eds.) (2024) The SAGE Handbook of Digital & Social Media Marketing. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. Available at: https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/the-sage-handbook-of-digital-social-media-marketing/book276095

Kozinets, R.V., Gretzel, U. and Gambetti, R. (2023) Influencers and Creators: Business, Culture and Practice. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. Available at: https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/influencers-and-creators/book277197

Tuten, T.L. and Solomon, M.R. (2023) Social Media Marketing. 5th edn. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. Available at: https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/social-media-marketing/book285560

VLE learning support material to be provided for independent / self-directed learning
Open Textbook Library https://libstaff.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?vid=44STA_INST:44STA_INST

Library Guides for Business and Marketing https://libguides.staffs.ac.uk/businessandmarketing

Access to Business and Marketing Databases https://libguides.staffs.ac.uk/c.php?g=694331&p=4982091