Advertising-Yr3 (Jan-May 2008)

Module outline

Lecture Notes

21st January
Introduction to Advertising

28th January
Overview of consumer response models
4 classical response models
Frameworks model

6th February
Advertising actors and context
Statistics from CSO

13th February
Advertising strategy & planning
Advertising stages
3 copies of a handout on the marketing process (case study of McDonald’s) were given in class, specially for the Journalism students in order to help them familiarise with some basic marketing concepts.

20th February
The agency world
Example of a contact report
The creative brief
Example of a copy strategy
Example of Appletise
3 copies of a handout on the marketing process (case study of Experian) were given in class, specially for the Journalism students.
Instructions were given about the first assignment to be done and submitted on 19th March.

Important note about first assignment
You are expected to visit an advertising agency of your choice to gain knowledge about the way an agency operates. You must write a short report on your visit and the information you have obtained (e.g. What kind of agency is it: specialised or boutique? Its structure and setting? What competencies are required? What job profiles do they have? How is the work process organised within the agency? Do they participate in pitch, have long-term clients, etc.? What kind of ads do they work on? Do they have any specificities?, etc.)
There should be no more than three students visiting the same agency. All students should therefore indicate on the weblog which agency they have chosen to visit so that a master list may be consulted by everyone.

Update (6th March) – List of agencies contacted or visited
Rizwana, Shamirah & Malini: Amadeus
Simla, Belina & Varsha: P&P Link
Tasleema, Kamla & Ranjeeta: Logos
Jennyfer: Circus
Michael: Pixel Graphics
Pranesh, Amrish & Christophe: Cread or Maurice Publicité
Gina, Valérie & Nadine: Xtreme

27th February
Designing ads
Types of ads by objective

19th March
Media Planning
A handout was also circulated in class. It is an extract from the book ‘La Publicité: Théories, Acteurs et Méthodes’. Everyone should make sure they make a personal copy and of course read it thoroughly. Any questions or comments will be addressed in class.

26th March
As the last session was completely taken up with the oral presentations about the visit to ad agencies, we will look at the topic of media planning this week. Please bring a calculator in class. We will be doing some media planning exercises.
Students are also requested to form teams of 3 members to start working on the advertising pitch project for end of semester. Detailed instructions will be given in class.
Lecture was cancelled due to bad weather conditions.

2nd April
We did the following media planning exercises in class:
- Microwave oven
Answers: Answers to Microwave oven exercise
- Fashion brand
Answers: Answers to Fashion exercise
- Eltonia
A series of handouts were also given in class. Please make sure those are circulated amongst all classmates. No soft copies available.

To be done for next week(9th April):
Exam 2007 media plan exercise

9th April
Bring your answers to the Exam 2007 media plan exercise. More exercises will be done in class.
We will also study some local ads in order to analyse their message strategy, appeal, targeted audience, executional framework, etc.
You can bring your own selection of local ads for discussion.
We will also discuss about the advertising campaign. Bring your material and ideas for the project in class.

16th April
We had a class test.
4 copies of a handout about strategic planning were distributed in class. Please make sure these are circulated.

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Information about group assignment – pitch for advertising campaign
The products to be promoted are the range of biscuits manufactured by ESKO.
The client wishes to do a one-month advertising campaign with the following obejctives:
– Raise awareness about the brand name Esko
– Encourage people to try and test the range of biscuits
– Increase sales for the whole range of biscuits

You are expected to prepare a comprehensive plan for a one-month advertising campaign with the following compulsory elements:
- Situation Analysis w.r.t. the brand and its competitors, the local economic and social context, etc.
- Definition of objectives listed above w.r.t. prioritised audience segments
- Definition of an advertising strategy with proposals for the media mix, creative strategy and media buying
- Proposal for a post-campaign evaluation

The overall budget is estimated at around Rs. 2 million.

This is a competitive pitch, so the limit is your imagination!

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23rd April
Last session was devoted to presentation of your team proposals for the Esko campaign. Marks for presentations & reports will be posted online asap.
I also gave back marked tests and agency visit reports.

Good luck to all for exams!

Here are the final marks for continuous assessment.
Some groups have not yet submitted their written proposal for the advertising campaign. They should do so urgently or they will lose 10 marks automatically (they will only get marks for oral presentation if they fail to submit the written part).

Finalised CA marks are here

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Important dates
19th March: Submission of report on visit to advertising agency (NO deadline extension will be given)
26th March: Teams of 3 to be set up to start working on the project
9th April: In-class test postponed to 16th April
23rd April: Submission of project and presentation in class

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Useful Additional Readings

America’s Most Admired Companies – Steve Jobs speaks out (on Fortune’s website)
Check this out: (thanks to David Channe Vy)
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/fortune/0803/gallery.jobsqna.fortune/index.html

Interesting video