module specification

This module is designed to provide you with the theoretical knowledge and key industry-standard skills needed to develop a successful career within the growing and dynamic advertising industry.

You will be able to critically explores the strategic advertising process, how it fits into a company’s marketing plan, and the role it plays within the marketing communications framework. The historical evolution, the fast-changing environment of advertising and the impact of technology are explained as background for understanding how advertising works in the 21st century.

You will critically assess key theories, models and emerging concepts in advertising which are relevant to product/ service/brand advertising and explores traditional and online advertising practice. The content includes theoretical frameworks and models of advertising;  how advertising is developed, how agencies are structured, how agencies work with clients; brand-building functions of advertising; the advertising planning process;  the strategic advertising brief; creative advertising and copywriting; offline/online media planning and buying; how advertising is evaluated and measured; how advertising works within the regulatory framework in which advertising operates across national and cultural boundaries.

The module aims to enable you:

• critically the principal theories, models and emerging debates related to the study and practice of advertising, and gain an appreciation of the strategic dimensions of advertising.
• develop a critical understanding and knowledge of the issues in the changing structure of advertising industry in both a national and global context.
• to gain a systematic understanding of how integrated advertising campaigns are conceived, developed, produced, evaluated and measured.
• develop a critical awareness of the regulatory and legislative framework within which advertising must comply markets and cultures.

The module also aims to assist you in the acquisition of the following skills:
• Being creative
• Researching & analysing
• Academic writing & reading
• Application of knowledge and presenting data 
• Critical thinking
• Communicating/Presenting, orally and in writing

N/A

How advertising works (LO1)

-How advertising agencies are structured and the differing relationships with client companies.
- The strategic dimensions of advertising - how it fits into a company’s marketing plan, and the role it plays within the marketing communications framework.
- Theoretical principles of branding and the role of advertising in building strong brands & brand equity.
- Advertising theories used to explain how advertising works & how consumer process information. 
Analysis of how advertising theories have been adapted and adopted by the industry.

The creative brief and advertising campaign planning process (LO2,3,4,5)
- The process and developing a strategic creative brief
- Writing and evaluation of a creative brief and creative appeals
- Understanding the challenges involved in the development of strategic creative briefs

- Advertising campaign planning process:
context analysis, selecting the target audience, brand positioning, setting sales and communications objectives, the message strategy, allocation and justification of budgets, the creative strategy, media planning and buying, campaign evaluation, campaign evaluation.

- Conceptualising the ‘big idea’, creative idea and appeal, analysis and critique of advertising executions.

- The media planning options for adverting traditional and digital-paid, owned and earned media (TV, Radio, Print, cinema, outdoor, digital billboard, display advertising, video advertising, advergaming, tribal advertising, Near Field communication- NFC).

- The media industry in the context of buying & using media for advertising - traditional and digital (e.g. programmatic advertising and real time buying-RTB, flash-based ads, rich media ads, native advertising, remarketing).
- Measuring advertising effectiveness – strategic advertising research, pre-testing and post-testing techniques, and measures of campaign outcomes (traditional and digital metrics).
- Standards and responsibilities- regulatory, legislative and ethical frameworks within which advertising operates.

This module will be delivered over a 12-week period and consist of 2-hour interactive learning sessions and 1-hour appreciation and critique of advertising sessions each week. The 1-hour lecture will focus on defining and clarifying the theoretical principles to the appropriate depth and breadth. The interactive learning sessions serve to anchor knowledge imparted in the lectures and provides a forum for a better understanding of lectures through small group discussions, case study/ campaigns/ journal article/problem solving analysis, presentations by guest speakers, and interchange of questions and answers. It also assists students in relating their knowledge to the advertising discipline and profession.
In order to ensure that students take more control of their learning and development, a ‘flipped classroom’ approach is adopted where students are provided with a topic and prepare well in advance of the date on which materials will be covered. The teaching team will lead a discussion on the role that each should play in the weekly sessions.
In addition, workshops will be made available to enable individual students to focus on an aspect of their personal creative development that they have identified in the gathering of the various elements of their advertising pitch proposals. These elements will make a key input to each student's PDP and there will be scope for each student to discuss with the teaching team how their personal goals in terms of their PDP can be addressed through the content of the activity week programmes. This teaching and learning approach is responsive to learner needs in that it offers flexibility for the identification and development of individual student learning needs and allows every student the opportunity to complete an assessment at which they have the potential to excel.

The facilities of Web Learn will be used as part of a blended learning approach and will be central to the delivery of module handbook, case studies, campaigns, journal articles, and external web links, as appropriate. It will also be used for the timely provision of feedback following formative assessment.

On completion of the module, you will be able to:

1. Demonstrate a critical understanding and use of appropriate concepts, theories and models of advertising in brand communications.
2. Conceptualise a creative strategy through visual, verbal and aural techniques, and effectively communicate strategic creative briefs to diverse range of audiences; professionally present and confidently defend ideas.
3. Devise, implement and manage original advertising campaigns that are commercially and creatively viable.
4. Select and use appropriate theory and media mix (traditional & digital) in response to a specific pitch brief and support their use.
5. Demonstrate a critical understanding and use of appropriate metrics and measurements for controlled and evaluated plans.

The assessment has been designed to test the achievement of the module’s learning outcomes and it requires students to think critically and apply the knowledge gained during the module. It will ensure that individual students are not disadvantaged by over reliance on any one particular form of assessment. Accordingly, the module is assessed by two components:  Individual presentation of a creative brief and supporting material (40%) as well as individual written report 60% (2,000 words).Guidance will be given by the tutor to ensure appropriate evidence of meeting all learning outcomes is considered in the final development of theoretical presentation, supporting materials and written report.

Core Texts
- Percy, L. and Rosenbaum-Elliott, R. (2016) Strategic Advertising Management, 5th Edition, Oxford University Press.
- Altstiel, T., Grow, N. & Jennings, M. (2018) Advertising Creative: Strategy, Copy and Design, 5th Edition, SAGE Publications.
- Katz, H. (2019) The Media Handbook, 7th Edition, Routledge.

Additional reading:
- Barry, P. (2018) The advertising Concept Book, 3rd Edition, Thames and Hudson.
- Chaffey D. and Ellis-Chadwick, F. (2019) Digital Marketing Strategy Implementation &
  Practice 7th Edition Pearson Education Limited.
- Christians C., Fackler M., Richardson K., Kreshel P. Woods R. (2017) Media Ethics
  Cases and Moral Reasoning 10th Edition Routledge.
- Fennis B.  Stroebe W. (2015) The Psychology of Advertising 2nd Edition, Routledge.
- Fill C., Hughes G. And De Francesco, S. (2013) Advertising: Strategy, Creativity and
  Media, Pearson.
- Kelley, L., Jugenheimer, D. and Sheehan, K. (2015) Advertising Media Planning: A
  Brand Management Approach,4th Edition, NY: Routledge.
- Lovell, D. (2017) Native Advertising Kogan Page.

Journals:
Journal of Marketing
Journal of Current Issues and research in Advertising
Journal of Advertising Research
Journal of Marketing Research
Journal of Advertising
International Journal of Advertising
International Journal of Advertising: the quarterly review of marketing communications
International Journal of Integrated Marketing Communications

Websites/ Electronic Databases:

Institute of Practitioners in Advertising   www.ipa.co.uk
Internet Advertising Bureau UK   www.iabuk.net
Interactive Advertising Bureau   www.iab.net
Thinkboxwww.thinkbox.tv
Broadcaster Audience Research Board  www.barb.co.uk
Advertising Standards Authority   www.asa.org.uk
Radio Advertising Bureau  www.rab.com
Click Z   www.clickz
Marketing Sherpa www.marketingsherpa.com
World Advertising Research Centre www.warc.com
Imediaconnectionwww.imediaconnection.com
Advertising Associationwww.adassoc.org.uk
News Media Association www.newsmediauk.org
emarketer - http://www.emarketer.com/
Smartinsights - http://www.smartinsights.com