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Advertising and Promotion

Purpose of Course  showclose

Advertising is an integral part of our modern, media-dominated society.  While many of us have a love-hate relationship with the industry, advertising can be wonderfully entertaining.  However, is advertising a necessary evil?  Does it make meaningful contributions to our society?

With the incredible growth of social media, now is a particularly exciting time to explore the fascinating world of advertising.

The purpose of this course is to lead students in an exploration of fundamental advertising principles and the role advertising plays in the promotional mix.  You will learn where advertising fits in the Marketing Mix, also known as the four Ps: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion.  Although some consider all promotion synonymous with advertising, you will learn the unique characteristics that separate advertising from other forms of promotional communication.  You will re-visit some familiar marketing concepts within a new framework, approaching the subject from the advertiser’s perspective.

Our text uses a case-based approach that focuses on the activities of a successful advertising agency, Shepardson, Stern and Kaminsky (SS+K).  You will see the practical applications of advertising theory as we follow SS+K through the formulation and implementation of a real-world advertising campaign.  This model will allow you to see how businesses blend creativity with tested advertising principles to develop promotional communication that builds brand equity.  You will learn that while creativity is certainly an important aspect of advertising, businesses must also follow a systematic planning approach to get the maximum value from their advertising spending.  You will see advertising in an entirely new light as you examine the discipline through the lens of today’s advertiser.

As you work your way through the units, you will see that each one builds upon the ones before.  After the overview of advertising—where you will learn the definition of advertising, and how it fits into the marketing mix—you will move on to advertising’s place in our society.  Next, you will learn about the ways in which advertisers communicate with us, and how and why consumers behave the way they do.  Market research, an essential tool in uncovering information, follows.  Here you will learn about the kinds of information needed to meet a market’s needs, and the ways in which that information is obtained.  After that, you will move on to how advertisers choose their target markets.  Once this is determined, advertisers can set an appropriate budget for their advertising campaigns.  This will be covered in unit 6.  Unit 7 focuses on the next step in the process, which is advertising strategy—the pathway to setting objectives and reaching advertising goals.  Once goals and objectives are formulated, it is important to have a coordinated marketing effort—this is covered in unit 8.  Media planning, the process of determining where advertising will be placed, is the natural next step, and is covered in unit 9.  And finally, once all aspects of a plan are in place, they need to be executed and then evaluated for effectiveness.  These topics are covered in your last unit, unit 10.

Course Information  showclose

Course Designers: Charles Jumper and Melinda Salzer

Primary Resources: The primary text used in this course is Launch! Advertising and Promotion in Real Time.  Other sources include a wide range of videos, lectures, and articles from a variety of authoritative sources.
 
Requirements for Completion: To successfully complete this course, you must achieve a score of 70% or higher on the comprehensive final exam.
 
Time Commitment: Completing this course should take you approximately 96 hours.  Allocate approximately 9-10 hours for each unit.  Time Advisories for all assignments are posted throughout the course material.
 
Be sure to allocate enough time to complete the work in each unit before you begin the assignments.  It is suggested that you complete the work in each unit as it is presented; chapter readings come first, followed by videos, lectures, articles, etc.

Each unit builds on the one before.  Completing the units in the order in which they are presented will provide you with the tools you will need to fully make the most of each successive unit, resulting in a greater understanding of the information.

Learning Outcomes  showclose

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
  • describe the functions of an advertising agency;
  • define advertising;
  • distinguish advertising from other types of marketing communication;
  • identify some of the positive and negative effects that advertising has on contemporary society;
  • discuss ethical issues that advertising poses for social institutions in a market economy;
  • describe the regulatory bodies that impact the advertising industry;
  • identify different forms of advertising messages that businesses use to reach their target markets;
  • describe the consumer decision-making process;
  • identify the crucial elements of market analysis and the methods for collecting data;
  • choose an appropriate method for collecting data for market research;
  • identify sources for primary and secondary data;
  • measure the approximate size of a target market;
  • discuss the process of using STP marketing to accurately and effectively focus a firm’s advertising efforts;
  • explain the concept of target marketing;
  • identify the characteristics of a market segment;
  • use an appropriate segmentation strategy to define a target market segment;
  • articulate a positioning strategy to differentiate an advertiser’s brand;
  • describe the budgeting methods used in an advertising budget;
  • develop an advertising budget that will produce a Return on Investment;
  • explain how an advertiser can use Return on Investment to optimize their advertising spending;
  • explain the concepts of branding strategy and brand equity;
  • construct a value proposition;
  • create an advertising strategy that employs an appropriate mix of message objectives and methods;
  • explain the use of integrated marketing communications (IMC) in advertising;
  • list the elements of the promotional mix and describe the strengths and weaknesses of each element;
  • create an IMC promotional plan using various elements of the promotional mix;
  • construct a media plan;
  • list and describe several forms of traditional advertising media;
  • compare and contrast measured and unmeasured media;
  • explain the benefits of new channels of unmeasured media;
  • describe the elements of an advertising campaign proposal;
  • describe a variety of execution frameworks available to advertisers;
  • explain how advertisers can evaluate an ad campaign execution; and
  • describe the difference between print, broadcast, and cyber advertising copy.

Course Requirements  showclose

In order to take this course, you must:
 
√    have access to a computer;

√    have continuous broadband internet access;

√    have the ability/permission to install plug-ins (e.g. Adobe Reader or Flash) and software;

√    have the ability to download and save files and documents to a computer;

√    have the ability to open Microsoft Office files and documents (.doc, .ppt, .xls, etc.);

√    have competency in the English language;

√    have read the Saylor Student Handbook; and

√    have completed all courses listed in “The Core Program” of the Business Administration discipline (BUS103 through BUS210).

Preliminary Information

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