The Team
About The Marketing Development Practice
The Marketing Development Practice was established in 1983 by Professor Anthony Cunningham to empower marketing professionals through experience-led education. Combining an MSc from UCD Smurfit, Ireland’s leading business school, with exposure to the working world, the MDP allows students to accelerate their personal and professional development.
A modern marketing masters in Ireland focusing on Action Learning, the MDP provides students with a foundation in marketing theory from leading faculty and industry experts, put into practice working on projects for real-life clients. The programme values professionalism and replicates a working environment, in which students, referred to as marketing advisors, collaborate together on projects for clients in a range of different industries.
PROGRAMME DIRECTOR
Damien McLoughlin
Damien's Bio
Damien McLoughlin is the Anthony C. Cunningham Professor of Marketing at UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School. Damien joined the MDP as Programme Director in 1999. He graduated from DCU with a bachelor's degree in business studies, then went on to obtain a master's degree in business studies from UCD and a PhD in marketing from Lancaster University. He has lectured in UCD and DCU, while previously serving as a visiting professor of marketing at both the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University and the Stern School of Business at New York University.
Damien has worked in the marketing industry for well over 20 years and has gained extensive knowledge in research, leadership and strategy. Over the years, he has published two books and over 70 papers on strategy and marketing issues, along with over 25 case studies relating to leadership and strategy issues in the food and agribusiness supply chain across the world. Between 2011 and 2014, he was a faculty member for the Harvard Business School's agribusiness seminar, and he continues to contribute to this programme as a researcher. Moreover, he has collaborated with some of the world's leading organisations, including Alltech, Allianz, Bord Bia, Dairygold, Kerry Group, Microsoft, Google, Ryanair, Smurfit Kappa Group, and Hewlett-Packard to name but a few. Damien has sat on the Board of Directors for various Councils and Authorities, including the Health Information and Quality Authority, Medical Council Ireland, and currently sits on the board for Bord Iascaigh Mharagh - Ireland's Seafood Development Agency.
Damien brings his extensive knowledge and experience within the marketing industry to the MDP and delivers highly engaging and interactive lectures through his module in Strategic Marketing Management. He ensures that he passes on his experience to advisors in the MDP and is a mentor of the highest quality, giving professional advice and suggestions to those that seek it. Damien believes in giving each and every advisor an incredible educational experience in a way that is totally unique to the course through the action learning aspect of it. Both the personal and professional growth of advisors is highly important to him, ensuring that advisors are more than ready to enter the working world as business builders when their time in the MDP comes to an end. "What businesses like to have these days are people who can contribute to their organisation and often these are people who come from a very wide background. I love to see people from all disciplines, whether it be business or not, join the MDP as a it brings diversity and creativity to our group, which is something I absolutely love experiencing over the course of the programme."
SENIOR PROGRAMME MANAGER
Harriet Price
Harriet's Bio
Harriet joined the MDP as the Programme Manager in 2019 after having lectured at UCD in Strategic Marketing Management. After graduating from the University of Pietermaritzburg, Harriet went on to start travelling the world. It was during her travels that she discovered her love of marketing and returned to South Africa to complete her Masters in Strategic Marketing at the University of South Africa (UNISA).
Harriet has worked in the marketing industry for 20+ years, where she has gained a wealth of experience in marketing strategy and planning, teamwork, building brands, growing business and driving innovation. All of these are invaluable skills which she brings to both the development of the advisor experience on the MDP and the successful overseeing of client projects. Having started her career in a small beverage company, she moved into marketing leading brands in the South African market at Robertsons (Pty) Ltd. (Unilever, SA). She furthered her experience in FMCG by moving to Coca-Cola, initially in South Africa and then to Coca-Cola Ireland. After that, Harriet continued her travels spending time in the UK, Italy and the USA running her own marketing and business consultancy.
Since returning to Ireland, Harriet has continued her passion for marketing through her role as a lecturer and MDP Programme Manager, educating students about the vital role marketing plays in businesses and their growth. Harriet brings to the MDP her industry knowledge and experience in marketing strategy and the implementation of strategy through both online and offline marketing. This has allowed the MDP to develop and expand its portfolio of project offerings. Working closely with the advisor project teams, Harriet and Martha ensure that both the client and the advisors achieve their objectives in having come to the MDP – from research, through to developing marketing strategy, marketing plans, digital strategies and/or event planning.
The professional growth and development of the advisors is of the utmost importance within the overall experience of the MDP. Harriet believes through the unique action-learning and reflective practice based MDP masters, advisors are given the opportunity to grow and develop to become the professional marketing talent that will drive future business growth. “Hearing advisors talk about the life-changing impact of the MDP, the space that it has given them to grow and realise their strengths, the life-long friendships and connections they have formed and the unforgettable experience they have had, is why I love working with the MDP.”
RESEARCH CONSULTANT
Martha Fanning
Martha's Bio
Martha has been lecturing at UCD since 2017 and joined the MDP in 2022. She has lectured across a range of Market Research, Consumer Insight and Data Analysis modules in the UCD Quinn School of Business, UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School and UCD’s overseas programme in Hong Kong.
Martha began her career in Lansdowne Market Research in 2000, before joining Behaviour & Attitudes in 2002, where she was progressed to become a Director and Shareholder in 2006. After 14 years in B&A, Martha has decided to branch out on her own continuing to work on a mix of qualitative and quantitative projects, in Ireland, the UK and North America. Martha served on the committee of Ireland’s Marketing Society from 2010-2014, serving as chairperson in 2013.
A very experienced market researcher, Martha combines lecturing with work on client projects. Martha works across a wide range of sectors including retail, food and beverages, financial services, and tourism and transport.
In the day-to-day running of market research projects, Martha handles all aspects of projects from design, implementation, and management, through to reporting, interpretation and strategic advice. Sharing this experience with students is invaluable.
As most of the projects undertaken by the advisors on the MDP require insight derived from both primary and secondary research, Martha delivers a research and insights module at the start of the programme, to equip students with the research skills they will need to generate these insights. This is an action learning based module, working on a live project, designed to provide an understanding of all elements of the research process. Martha is also the Research Consultant to the MDP, overseeing the research element of all projects and working with the Programme Manager and the advisors on the delivery of their projects.
Programme Manager
Fiona Duffy
Fiona's Bio
Fiona brings over a decade of experience from the healthcare sector, with a proven track record in coordinating complex initiatives, working collaboratively with diverse stakeholders, and supporting the successful delivery of people-centred services.
In 2021, she pivoted her career towards the education sector, returning to UCD to pursue a bachelor’s degree in business studies, driven by a strong interest in learning, development, and organisational impact. During this time, she developed a deep appreciation for the role of education in shaping individual and institutional success.
In 2023, while completing her degree, Fiona joined UCD’s programme operations team. In her role, she contributes to the effective delivery of academic programmes, working in partnership with academic and professional staff, and plays a key role in supporting and enhancing the student experience. She graduated in 2025, further strengthening her academic and professional alignment within the sector.
Check Out The MDP Curriculum Here