Introduction to Advertising and Integrated Marketing Communications

This is an introductory course designed to provide an overview of the Advertising industry. Students will explore the relationship between advertising and marketing, developing an understanding for the integral role advertising plays in an integrated marketing communications program (IMC). This course will familiarize students with the key players in the industry identifying roles and responsibilities and how each participant interacts to deliver program objectives. Key participants include: the Media (companies and actual media tactics used to deliver advertising messages to consumers), Agencies, Marketers, Production Suppliers, and Regulators). Upon completion of this course students will have a foundational knowledge of how different forms of communication are used to influence the behaviour of specific consumer and business target audiences. The process for how integrated marketing communication (IMC) plans are developed and executed will also be reviewed. Students will have the opportunity to analyze and discuss the strategies used in successful advertising programs and will begin to put their own creativity into practice by conceptualizing ideas for communication programs. As this is an introductory course designed to help students understand the elements of an IMC plan, future courses will allow students to apply the strategic principles to develop their own plan recommendations (e.g. in courses such as: Search Marketing and SEO, Digital Advertising Strategies and Advertising Campaigns).