Undergraduate Course: Advertising: Theories and Practice (BUST10014)
Course Outline
| School | Business School |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Advertising is a highly visible and pervasive marketing communications tool, constantly evolving in response to developments in media, technology, and the marketing industry. The effects of advertising are examined and debated by individual clients and agencies, the marketing industry in general, and those concerned about its role within society. This course enables students to develop a critical understanding of advertising (broadly defined) from the perspective of advertising planners, consumers and critics.
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| Course description |
The course is divided into four sections:
- Advertising in Context
- Advertising Planning
- Models of Advertising Effectiveness and
- Social/Cultural Effects of Advertising.
It seeks to relate theories or issues to examples of advertising where possible, and draws on practitioner as well as academic literature in relating theory to practice. Video material is used, providing insights into the development of particular campaigns as well as different perspectives on issue such as stereotyping and the communication of values in advertising. Practitioner input into the course is also intended to relate theory to practice.
Syllabus:
- The advertising industry
- Advertising and brands
- Planning: developing advertising strategies and creative briefing
- Media planning
- Advertising Research
- Information processing, emotional response and the role of involvement
- Active audience models
- Social and cultural effects of advertising
- Tools for assessing advertising's social/cultural effects
- Advertising and regulation
Student Learning Experience:
Overall, the course aims to apply your knowledge and understanding of key concepts and theoretical frameworks in developing and justifying a creative brief and develop a critical understanding of advertising as an evolving marketing communications tool. Given the diversity of views amongst practitioners and critics about how advertising does or should work, you can gain a great deal from comparing your own views and experiences with those of others. The use of interactive lectures and small-group work is designed to encourage you to debate, discuss and apply theories to examples of advertising.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
Students MUST have passed:
Marketing (BUST08004)
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Year 4 only. Business Studies Honours Entry |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students must have at least 4 Business courses at grade B or above. This MUST INCLUDE at least one Marketing course at intermediate level. This course cannot be taken alongside BUST08004 Marketing. We will only consider University/College level courses. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2021/22, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 20,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
174 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
The course will be assessed by a group project and two individual essays.
For the group project, you will be required to produce a creative brief (maximum 1,000 words) in response to an advertising challenge, and a document justifying the choices made (maximum 3,000 words).
For the two individual essays (maximum 1,000 words each), you will be required to demonstrate understanding of key theories, concepts and frameworks and an ability to apply them to particular contexts.
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| Feedback |
Generic feedback on your coursework, together with individual marks, will be available on Learn. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Explain the structure of the advertising industry.
- Offer a critical account of the process and context of advertising development, informed by both practitioner and academic literature on advertising.
- Critically evaluate advertising effects from different managerial and critical perspectives.
- Demonstrate a critical appreciation of particular advertisements as examples of persuasive communication.
- Locate and use appropriate advertising resources (traditional and on-line) to research particular issues.
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Reading List
Key text:
Hackley, C. & Hackley, A.R. (2021) Advertising & Promotion, 5th edition, London: Sage.
* Please note that the new edition of the textbook will be available via the resource list mid-January and updates to the textbook readings will be made at that point. The previous edition will still cover much relevant material for anyone wishing to read in advance of the course starting!
Key website:
You should spend some time early in the course exploring Warc.com (available via Databases A-Z from the Quick Links menu at
http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/information-services/library-museum-gallery)
This is an excellent advertising database, offering hundreds of award-winning case histories from the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising Works series, as well as various journals, industry news and statistics, marketing conference blogs, and a wealth of other marketing and advertising-related resources.
Key journals:
- Admap
- International Journal of Advertising
- Journal of Advertising
- Journal of Advertising Research
- Campaign
- Journal of Consumer Research
- Journal of Marketing Communications
- Advertising & Society Review
Hard copies of some journals (e.g. Journal of Consumer Research) are available in the main library, but at the time of writing, all of those listed above (apart from Admap, which is available from warc.com via Databases A-Z on Library Online) are available online as e-journals from http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/information-services/library-museum-gallery. Just type the journal name into the "electronic journals" box on the page, and follow the link to the relevant database.
Other useful websites:
Some internet resources are detailed along with other reading for particular sessions and you will be introduced to others during the lecture programme. You are encouraged to draw upon these as well as traditional resources in reading for this course and if you spend some time exploring individual advertising agency websites yourself as well as following links from warc.com, this will enhance your experience of studying on this course.
Sites like http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/ allow you to keep up to date with creative advertising campaigns, both in the UK and internationally.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Knowledge and Understanding:
- explain the roles which advertising can play in the contemporary marketing mix and marketing environment
- describe the process of advertising planning and the context in which it is undertaken
- explain different theories and models with respect to advertising effectiveness
- describe key concerns which have been raised concerning advertising's role in society, together with the advertising industry's response to such concerns
- describe the British approach to advertising regulation
Cognitive Skills:
1. assess sources of tension within agencies and between agencies and clients
2. analyse how different approaches to positioning, creative work, media and advertising research may influence advertising effectiveness
3. compare and contrast different theories and models of advertising effectiveness
4. critically evaluate competing arguments concerning the role of advertising in society
5. assess the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to advertising regulation
6. relate advertising theories, models and debates to particular examples of advertisements.
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| Additional Class Delivery Information |
1 lecture per week |
| Keywords | ATP |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Stephanie O'Donohoe
Tel: (0131 6)50 3821
Email: S.O'Donohoe@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Nikki Kohly
Tel: (0131 6)50 3825
Email: Nikki.Kohly@ed.ac.uk |
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