Advertising

College of Arts and Sciences

The advertising major is an interdisciplinary undergraduate major in the School of Media and Communication. The major provides students with the foundational conceptual and professional skills required in a rapidly changing media environment. These skills include contemporary audience research and analysis, strategic writing and messaging, and media planning and selection in both traditional and digital media. The major's strong experiential learning component develops student mastery in professional advertising and creative business and communication problem-solving in commercial and non-profit settings.

The advertising major consists of a six-course core, a two-course internship, four additional required courses, a three-course concentration, and a capstone experience. The core provides a strong foundation of theory and practice in different facets of the industry incorporating perspectives from Advertising, Communication, Media Production and Studies. Marketing and Graphic Design, to provide a strong context in marketing-driven and graphic design of creative advertising. A minor is required. 

Learning Outcomes

Students are expected to achieve the following learning outcomes:

1. Explain the different functions, regulations, and roles of advertising in business marketing, the media industry, and society;
2. Utilize consumer behavior and persuasion theories with audience research to select target audience, develop advertising campaigns' and evaluate their effectiveness with appropriate data analytics and metrics;
3. Write advertising copy, understand graphic design principles and develop ethical advertising campaigns and strategies across multiple media platforms including social media for both commercial and non-profit organizations;
4. Apply knowledge of the strengths and limitations of different marketing communication media and integrate them in advertising campaigns and media advertising sales.

Advertising - Major (44 hours) - Fall 2020 course requirements

With the advertising major, students may choose between two concentrations to best suit a student's talents and interests. The student's concentration options are - creative/production or management/research. 

    The Creative/Production concentration prepares students for careers in copy writing, print and digital advertising or commercial production, webmaster for commercial web sites or social media manager.

    The Management/Research concentration prepare students for careers in advertising sales, account management, account
    planning, advertising media planning and advertising research.

For specific courses for those concentrations, please review the check sheet for the major. This major requires students to take a minor. 

Advertising Minor

The Advertising Minor gives students a background in the advertising industry, interactive advertising, effects of advertising, and advertising campaigns for careers in advertising and media. The Advertising Minor will be beneficial to students interested in broadcasting, online media, marketing, promotion, and other media-related industries and culture.  

Students will need to complete four required courses. MDIA or Marketing majors cannot double count any courses. Students will need to complete 3 gateway and 3 elective courses from the list below.

1. Gateway courses (9 credits)

Required courses (6 credits)

• ADV 1010 Principles of Advertising (3)
• MDIA 2640 Introduction to Interactive Advertising and Social Media (3)

Marketing Course (3 credits; 1 of the 2 courses)

• Non-Business majors: MKT 3000 Principles of Marketing for Non-Business Majors (3) [Pre-req: ECON 2000]
• Business majors: MKT 4100 Marketing Communication and Promotion (3) [Pre-req: MKT 3020]

2. Electives (9 credits; 3 of the 16 courses)

• ADV 3800 Advertising Copywriting and Creative Strategy (3) [Pre-req: COMM 3030]
• ADV 3999 Advertising Workshops (1-3)
• ADV 4999 Topics in Advertising (3)
• ARTD 2010 Graphic Design Thinking (3)
• COMM 3030 Persuasion (3) [Pre-req: COMM 1020]
• MDIA 1995 Post-Production (3)
• MDIA 2600 Writing for Electronic Media (3) [Pre-req: WRIT 1010 or WRIT 1110]
• MDIA 2610 Television and Video Production (3) [Pre-req: MDIA 1995]
• MDIA 3610 Media and Strategic Communication (3) [Pre-req: ADV 1010 or MDIA 1030 or JOUR 1000]
• MDIA 4530 Advertising Sales and Promotion (3) [Pre-req: ADV 1010 or MDIA 1030 or JOUR 1000]
• MDIA 4610 Audience Research and Targeting (3) [Junior standing required]
• MDIA 4640 Social Media Campaigns (3)
• MKT 3020 Consumer Behavior (3) [Pre-req: MKT 2010 or MKT 3000]
• Non-Business majors: MKT 4080 Introduction to Promotion (3) [Pre-req: MKT 3000]
• MKT 4200 Branding (3) [Pre-req: MKT 3020]
• MKT 4250 Creativity in Marketing (3) [Pre-req: MKT 2010 or MKT 3000]
• MKT 4350 Social Media Marketing (3) [Pre-req: MKT 2010 or MKT 3000]