What is it?
MA Fashion Marketing is an internationally benchmarked one and half years programme, aimed at creating strategic marketing and product management professionals to serve the fashion industry in India and overseas.

What is the future potential?
Globalization of the economy has exposed the Indian consumer to a gamut of products and brands. India is currently the twelfth largest consumer market in the world. India is expected to record sustained economic growth in the future and could emerge as one of the world's next super powerhouse in the long-term due to its strong foundations in numerous areas.
Though there are a huge number of brands coming into India, Indian consumers have yet to learn to consume "brands". Internationally customers are brand conscious whereas in India, the situation is different. In India, only five to 10 per cent of the consumers are brand conscious though this definitely shows the scope of fashion marketing programme which can generate marketing, integrated communication mix, sales and branding professionals. India is also becoming a fashion hub for international brands to serve Asia-Pacific and Oceania.

Who are we looking for?
Candidates with keen interest in fashion industry and strategic management in marketing function must join this programme. The candidate must have good degree of confidence in business communication and sound mathematical and reasoning ability. The course is very rigorous and requires candidates with fitting conceptual and analytical skills, leadership skills as well as initiative and motivation.

What kind of transformation will happen at Pearl?
The programme will nurture candidates to be competent in contextual understanding of marketing techniques with intense fashion sensitivity. The programme aims to enhance the personal maturity, confidence, communication, bearing, intent, and vision of achievement and career orientation of each MAFMG candidate.

How will this transformation come about?
In this programme, the scholar acquires deep understanding of fashion, its evolution and its transformation into a consumer culture and creative business; critical knowledge and problem awareness of the fashion industry as a fashion value chain, collaborative functioning of design, business and commercial functions in the achievement of business goals; command over a range of marketing tools and techniques required for strategic innovation and change management; and, awareness of contemporary issues of ethics, sustainability, human rights, international law and obligations, intellectual property rights, etc.

What will be the learning?
In Semester 1, the learning concentrates on the holistic understanding and skills significant to the fashion marketing specialism. The students focus on marketing strategy, systems and processes.

In Semester 2, the students take their previous learning to a higher, complex and sophisticated stage of understanding and engage in application through projects, often sponsored by industry, and, therefore, coming to terms with industrial and commercial reality. This semester facilitates the students to choose an aspirational elective from three options - entrepreneurship, luxury marketing, and creative fashion marketing Communication- suiting own employability needs.

In Semester 3, a student engages in final work leading to the MA Degree. The student has a second engagement in industry for higher understanding and experience of professional practice.

What will be the mode of assessment?
Assessment is used to facilitate the student's learning growth and to mirror to the student strengths and weaknesses from a developmental perspective. There will be planned periodical but unmarked assessments (formative) that are aimed at evaluating the student's ability to absorb and imbibe the learning in the form of knowledge, understanding and skills, during the progression of a module. The marked assessments (summative) have been designed aiming at evaluating the achievement of learning outcomes. The assessment methodology will relate to and be appropriate with the learning outcomes assessed, as well as the level at which the assessment occurs Written feedback will be provided for the student's understanding, as well as for record of progression through a module after each formative and summative assessment is completed.

What are the career opportunities?
A major contributor to the economic growth in India over the last five years has been domestic consumption. As a result, international brands of lifestyle products are increasingly making their presence felt in the Indian market. Large national brands - such as Pantaloon, Reliance, RPG, Lifestyle, Globus, Piramyd, Trent , etc. - have big expansion plans. Also several global luxury brands have also set up shop in India. Indian market is at its infancy as far as fashion branding and marketing is concerned. It will be at least 3-4 years more to mature and directly hire fresh "marketing" professionals. Till then all major brands in India (Madura Garments, Arvind Brands, Future Group, Nike, UCB etc) will hire fashion marketing students at front end to understand "consumers" and with time build their career to bank-end marketing and branding profiles. Fashion marketing students will be recruited by industry in mid-management echelons, with or without a stint of traineeship, depending upon recruiters policy.

Who to talk to?
Programme Leader - Prof Nandita Abraham,
PGD Apparel Marketing & Merchandising, M. Sc. (Textile Technology) Philadelphia, USA, PG Certificate in Higher Education (PGCHE), Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham Trent University (UK)
Mobile - 9811067111