Here are some of my bigger assignments.
Web Publishing
Website Traffic & Popularity
Allows students to deeply learn one website and a competing site to analyze for an entire semester. Focuses on traffic metrics and backlink analysis. Relies on a variety of free web-based data sources.
UX / Usability Field Test
Uses Steve Krug’s usability testing script. Requires students to conduct two in-person tests, with options for remote testing. A key area is improved using sketch or wireframe.
SEO / Keyword Research
Uses SpyFu, thanks to that excellent course providing each student free access for 120 days. Also incorporates Google Trends.
Intro to Advertising
First Job in Advertising
Provides an opportunity for students to dive into the entire landscape of potential careers.
Super Bowl Analysis
Looks at recent Super Bowl advertising.
Social & Ethical Analysis
Allows students an opportunity to think through social and ethical aspects of advertising.
Assignments:
Introduction to the Advertising Process
Very deep dive into a specific company, its products and an identified target audience. This becomes the first part of the larger media plan assignment.
Media Plan
Building from the previous assignments, students must spend a specified amount of money in 3 to 4 different media types. Requires approximately four weeks of in-class coverage.
Creative Concepting
Students choose one of 3-4 standard creative templates to communicate a specified message objective. Usually the client is the same as the media plan for deeper knowledge and understanding.
Advertising Case Studies
Brand Response to Racial Injustice
A quantitative analysis of brand reactions to the murder of George Floyd during the summer of 2020. Students used Airtable as the basis for inputting and analyzing results.
Creative Objectives & Methods
Assessment of 8-10 different, common message objectives and methods, aligned to textbook coverage.
Apple Ad Campaigns
Students studied three decades of Apple advertising, focusing on the company’s innovative product introduction advertisements and events.
Threaded Discussion Topics
About every other week, students participate in a virtual discussion focused on a current event. Topics include: analysis of Adweek and AdAge reports; analyzing specific magazine media kits; researching famous art directors; studying “best of” lists; and concepting ad messages.
Advertising Campaigns
Ad Creative Concepts Collection
Students collect a variety of good advertisements and categorize them according to each ad’s cretive approach, such as: analogy, puffery, borrowed interest, competitive, etc.
Copywriting
An exercise in studying an existing advertising campaign and expanding on more iterations that fit that campaign’s message and tone.
Magazine Concepts & Pricing
Message concepts are creating and aligned with specific magazine advertisement sizes and placements. Students concept both the message and the medium, and price their concepts.
Newspaper Concepts & Pricing
Students integrate newspaper’s huge canvas into their message concepts and price the concept using the Wall Street Journal’s extensive media kit information.
Outdoor Concepts & Pricing
Outdoor concepts can be anything from a basic billboard to street messages to ambient concepts. Students price as much as they can using Lamar’s online inventory database.
Final Assignment
The final campaign is a capstone project, allowing students to concept and build a campaign with 5 different media elements.
Examples shown may not reflect the most current iterations.
