Advertising and Consumer Representations

The course provides an in-depth exploration of advertising as a component of the marketing-communication mix. The primary focus is on what marketers call the "branding" objectives of advertising and the associated best practices, though "performance" objectives, and the increasingly blurred line between the two, are also discussed. Students are introduced to the key issues, trends, processes, and frameworks that guide practitioners and shape contemporary advertising.

The role of traditional and digital media in advertising campaigns is examined, along with the specific dynamics of digital advertising: the part played by ad tech tools, platforms, and algorithms, the growing role of machine learning, generative AI, and AI agents in how campaigns are built and run, and the evolving aesthetics of advertising (for example, TikTok's impact on creative codes).

It closes by examining the place of advertising in the ecological and social transition, and the ethical choices this entails for marketers themselves: what to promote, how to make and substantiate environmental claims, and where to draw the line between persuasion and responsibility.

By the end of the course, students will be equipped to take on an operational role on the client or agency side. Specifically, they will be able to:

• Map the contemporary (digital) advertising ecosystem and its main actors: advertisers, agencies, platforms, ad tech intermediaries, and media owners.
• Situate advertising within marketing and brand strategy, and explain how objectives shift across the funnel, from building demand to capturing it.
• Outline how the major channels and platforms work, and how media is planned and bought.
• Evaluate creative work, weighing the interplay of message, format, and channel.
• Select and interpret the right metrics, and reason about effectiveness rather than simply report numbers.
• Explain the role of data, targeting, machine learning, generative AI, and AI agents on the main ad platforms (e.g. Meta Ads, Amazon Ads).
• Critically assess the role advertising plays in the ecological and social transition.

• Consumo e produzione responsabili

In presenza

Lecture, case-study, in-class discussion and group work.

Assessment will consist of a mix of multiple-choice and open-ended questions.