MSc in Marketing Management: Choosing Between Luxury & Fashion or FMCG to Shape Your Marketing Career

EDHEC’s MSc in Marketing Management prepares future marketing leaders through a blend of strategy, analytics and real-world experience. With concentrations in Luxury & Fashion and FMCG, the programme equips students to lead brands with creativity, precision and impact.

According to Ariel Hua Li, Programme Director of the MSc in Marketing Management at EDHEC, marketing today requires more than creativity or technical expertise alone. It demands the ability to combine strategic thinking, analytical rigour and responsible decision-making. The MSc in Marketing Management is designed to prepare future marketing leaders who understand this balance and who are ready to create impact across industries.

At the heart of the programme lies a clear structure built around three dimensions: breadth, depth and forward-thinking. Together, they ensure that students graduate with both a comprehensive understanding of marketing and a strong sector focus aligned with their career ambitions.

Breadth: Seeing the Full Picture

Breadth ensures that students develop a comprehensive understanding of marketing management. The curriculum covers all major functions of the discipline — brand and product management, digital marketing, customer management, marketing intelligence, innovation and operations.
 

This wide perspective reflects the realities of today’s job market. Organisations seek marketers who can think strategically, work confidently with data and digital tools, and translate insight into action. They value professionals who can move fluently between creativity and analytics, long-term positioning and operational execution. Breadth builds that versatility and adaptability.
 

Yet a strong foundation is only the starting point. To prepare students for genuine responsibility and impact, we also emphasise depth.

Depth: Sector Focus and Real-World Engagement

Depth is achieved through hands-on corporate projects and sector specialisation. In the second semester, students choose between Luxury & Fashion and FMCG (Fast-Moving Consumer Goods).

This structure reflects employment trends and our industrial environment. A significant proportion of our graduates pursue careers in global luxury houses, premium brands, multinational consumer goods companies and major retail groups. These sectors offer structured marketing career paths, international exposure and sustained recruitment demand.

The choice is also connected to our location. EDHEC’s Lille campus sits at the heart of one of Europe’s most dynamic retail and consumer ecosystems. The region maintains strong economic ties with global leaders such as LVMH and is home to the Mulliez family group, whose companies include major players such as Auchan, Decathlon and Leroy Merlin.

Beyond regional proximity, we maintain close corporate relationships with key industry leaders — particularly LVMH in luxury and Danone in FMCG — alongside long-standing collaborations with Lacoste, L’Oréal and Carrefour. These partnerships are active and ongoing. They translate into company-sponsored projects and continuous dialogue, ensuring that the curriculum evolves alongside industry needs.

From a strategic perspective, the two sectors tend to prioritise different drivers of value.

In luxury, growth is often shaped by brand equity, emotional engagement, exclusivity and carefully designed customer experiences. The challenge lies in innovating — particularly through digital transformation and sustainability initiatives — while preserving heritage and long-term desirability. Success depends on consistency, meaning and differentiation over time.

In FMCG, performance is often influenced by scale, distribution strength, consumer insight, operational efficiency and effective use of data. Companies operate in highly competitive environments where responsiveness, optimisation and measurable impact are central. Continuous improvement and speed to market play a significant role.

By structuring our concentrations around these differing priorities, we help students understand how marketing strategies adapt to context — and how to navigate these environments with confidence.

Luxury & Fashion: Managing Brand Equity and Experience

The Luxury & Fashion concentration explores how premium brands create and sustain desirability in a global, digital and sustainability-conscious environment.

Courses such as Luxury Strategy & Innovation, Luxury Sales & Retail Operations, and Sustainable Fashion & Circular Economy examine how brands balance creativity and heritage with innovation and responsibility. Students explore retail excellence, omnichannel experiences, circular business models and evolving consumer expectations.

Corporate projects with Lacoste, Louis Vuitton (LVMH) and L’Oréal immerse students in real strategic challenges in international marketing, digital engagement, retail operations and product development. Our close relationship with LVMH reinforces the programme’s connection to the global luxury ecosystem.

Graduates from this track typically pursue roles in brand management, product management, CRM and omnichannel strategy within luxury and premium industries. The sector places strong emphasis on experiential and emotional value — shaping narratives, meaning and long-term brand positioning.

FMCG: Driving Growth Through Scale and Execution

The FMCG concentration prepares students for fast-moving, high-volume markets where execution and measurable results are central.
 

Courses such as Go-to-Market Strategy, Services Marketing, and Advanced Consumer Behaviour focus on market penetration, analytics, consumer insight and category management. Corporate collaborations with Danone and Carrefour provide exposure to real business challenges, ranging from product innovation to retail strategy and sustainability transformation.
 

Our close ties with Danone provide insight into how global consumer brands navigate evolving health trends, supply chain complexity and international competition.

Graduates from this track often move into roles such as Brand Manager, Product Manager, Category Manager or Trade Marketing Manager. The environment rewards analytical thinking, agility and confidence with performance metrics. The emphasis centres on delivering operational excellence — ensuring accessibility, efficiency and growth at scale.

Forward-Thinking: Research Excellence and Continuous Relevance

The third dimension of the programme is forward-thinking.

Our faculty includes internationally recognised marketing researchers whose work appears in leading academic journals. By bringing cutting-edge insight into the classroom, they ensure that students engage with both current practices and emerging ideas shaping the future of marketing.
 

At the same time, our close relationships with companies such as LVMH, Lacoste and Danone foster continuous exchange between academia and industry. This dynamic interaction, combined with the expertise of our research-active faculty, ensures that the programme remains rigorous, relevant and often ahead of evolving market trends.

Students graduate with more than technical knowledge. They develop adaptability, critical thinking, analytical rigour and learning agility — qualities that are indispensable in a discipline evolving as rapidly as marketing.

Choosing Between the Two concentrations

Both concentrations offer strong career prospects and international opportunities. The key consideration is genuine interest in the sector and the priorities that resonate most with you.

Marketing evolves continuously, shaped by technological innovation, changing consumer expectations and broader societal transformation. Sustained curiosity and engagement are essential for long-term growth.

Passion fuels curiosity, and curiosity sustains agility. It encourages continuous learning, thoughtful experimentation and openness to new perspectives. Ultimately, curiosity becomes the driving force behind professional development and long-term impact.