To provide students with a broad understanding of the theories, processes, and techniques of marketing communications; to acquaint students with the jargon of the advertising industry; and to provide students with a foundation for making rational advertising decisions.

RESOURCES

The basic resources for the class will be the text, lectures, discussions, activities, suggested readings, examples, and guest speakers.

REQUIREMENTS

ATTENDANCE:
Class discussions and activities are crucial to your learning opportunity.

PARTICIPATION:
You must be prepared to discuss readings, case studies, and assignments.

THINKING:
You must demonstrate your ability to think rationally about advertising and how the concepts of advertising apply to other, more common communications situations you will encounter.

GRADING

Students will have numerous and various opportunities to demonstrate their understanding of materials and activities in this course, including multiple choice/essay exams, assignments, and class participation, and a term project.

An "A" Student: 1. Attends classes; 2. Brings information to class sessions from outside sources; 3. Averages A level on exams; 4. Good understanding on assignments.

A "B" Student: 1. Has an unexcused absence; 2. Brings some insight to class discussions; 3. Averages B or better on exams; 4. Moderate understanding on assignments.

A "C" Student: 1. Has several unexcused absences; 2. Sometimes prepared for class discussions; 3. Averages B or C on exams; 4. Hit and miss understanding on assignments.

A "D" Student: 1. Generally blows off the class; 2. Averages C or D on exams; 3. Assignments do not demonstrate understanding of key concepts.

COURSE SCHEDULE

Class Session ..................................................Topic Reading Assignment
Class #1 .................................Course Intro and Overview Show Up At Class
Class #2 ...................................Why Advertise? Bring Good Ad and Bad Ad
Class #3 ...................................................Intro - Marketing Communications
Class #4 ..................................................................The Advertising Industry
Class #5 ...............................................................Advertising and Marketing
Class #6 ................................................Advertising and Marketing TEST #1
Class #7 .........................................................................Consumer Behavior
Class #8 .................................................Research and Market Segmentation
Class #9 ................................................................Contemporary Discussion
Class #10 .................................................................Developing the Ad Plan
Class #11 .............................................................Budgeting For Advertising
Class #12 ........................................Specific Class Needs/Interests TEST #2
Class #13 ............................Creative Strategies -- Planning and Development
Class #14 ....................................Creative Strategies -- Execution/Evaluation
Class #15 ................................................................Guest Speaker TEST #3
Class #16 ............................................................................Media Overview
Class #17 .......................................................................Media Comparisons
Class #18 .............................................Sales Promotion and Public Relations
Class #19 .............................................................................FINAL EXAM

ELEMENTS OF THE TERM PROJECT

Situation Analysis

This is a review of the condition you find your company in, examining both internal and external factors.

Consumer Behavior

This is a discussion about what motivates the purchase of your product or service by the various influences on the purchase decision. perhaps Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs will be helpful to you. Perhaps following the sales track through distribution (all the people between you and the ultimate customer) will bring focus to the people and buying-motivations each step of the way. the key to this section is to identify why people are attracted to your product or service instead of the competitive alternatives. You need this before you can develop strategic creative and media plans.

Market Segmentation

Market segmentation involves taking the universe of people and dividing it into smaller groups by a number of criteria outlined in class and in the textbook. You are essentially identifying your target market in the process. This is a crucial step that offers direction to your creative approach as well as the media you choose. Discuss what segments are in your target audience, what segments aren't, and why.

Creative

What is your message? How will you communicate that message in as powerful a way as possible, taking into account the perspective of your audience? You do not necessarily have to present final written advertising copy in this section (it's not discouraged, it just may not be necessary). But you do need to outline all the strategic direction that would need to be considered by the creative team. If you don't do final copy, you will also need to outline a sense of the language or atmosphere you want to create, including headlines and main concepts.

Media

How are you going to get your message to your target audience? Why are you using the media you have chosen? Why have you specifically not chosen other media? Is there anything on the horizon that may change about your company that may also change your media recommendations?

Final Summary

Having completed the above, briefly recap how the above sections fit together into a cohesive, strategic program. Explain how your conclusions in one section gave direction to your conclusions in other sections to the degree that occurred. Are there other things you would do to support the advertising program? If so, outline them here.