Advertising and Consumer Representations

This course introduces the key stakes, frameworks and best practices that shape the current advertising landscape. Students will learn the fundamentals of the discipline, including its creative and media dimensions, for traditional AND digitally-driven campaigns and programs. 
The course will tackle both Branding and Direct-response advertising, in line with what practitioners call «a full-funnel» approach. However, the main emphasis will be put on Branding campaigns, as they allow to explore in greater depth the role played by creativity. 
Students will also be exposed to the rise of of Advertising Technologies (AdTech) and therefore to the increasing role played by advertising platforms in the management of digital advertising campaigns. This course will be very much anchored in the realities of today’s practitioners, both from the agency and client side.

Students will have also the opportunity to reflect on the implications of consumer representations delivered through advertising. They will be exposed to examples of advertising campaigns showing the complexity, dynamicity and potential harmful effects of consumer representations. By the end of the course, students hopefully will develop a more insightful approach to advertising that takes into consideration also the ethical dimension rooted in consumer representation.

For the first part of the course, some trade press article and/or YouTube videos will be handed out before the first session.
References for the part 2 of the course («Implications of consumer representations») will be uploaded on iCorsi at the end of the course. These references will not be compulsory for the final exam that will be based, for part 2, on the material presented and discussed in class.

This Course aims at:

• Providing students with an overview of the key issues pertaining to the practice of advertising today : from the design of campaigns to the measurement of advertising effectiveness. 
• Preparing them for any positions in advertising, at the client or agency side.
• Stimulating a reflection on the ethics and implications of consumer representations

In presenza

The course is organised in two parts: (1) Advertising Today; (2) Implications of Consumer Representations. Attendance is strongly recommended.

Assessment will consist of an individual written exam that will address issues and topics covered in part 1 and 2 of the course.