Week one document.

Semester 1/2006
Unit KCP406 Creative Advertising: Copywriting and Art Direction
Unit co-ordinator: Sandra Contreras
Phone: 3864 8186
Fax: 3864 8195
s.contreras@qut.edu.au

Unit Outline
Rationale
Copywriting and art direction are fundamental to creative advertising practice. Both tasks exist at the
front end of advertising: copywriters and art directors help to bring advertising campaigns to life through
creative concept development, writing, and liaising with both clients and artists. This unit builds on the
introductory creative advertising unit to develop students’ practical and analytical skills. It examines
contemporary advertising theory and practice and develops skills in writing and art directing.
Aim
This unit aims to provide you with creative advertising skills, with a particular focus on the relationships
between text and design. In this unit, you will develop an understanding of the work involved in
copywriting and art directing, and build your skills in completing the tasks involved in these roles.
Objectives
On completion of this unit you should be able to demonstrate:
1. Copywriting skills – including skills in planning a message strategy, writing creatively, writing to
meet a client brief, and writing to suit an audience
2. Art directing skills – including skills in planning and managing a creative campaign, and
working with and briefing artists
3. Skills needed to plan and direct advertising in different contexts, including an understanding of
audience research and testing
4. An understanding of the relationships between text and design and the skills required to
manipulate those relationships
5. An understanding of the techniques involved in critiquing advertisements, drawing on audience
responses and contemporary advertising theory
Content
This unit covers the following:
• The roles of copywriters and art directors
• Understanding creative advertising: rhetorical perspectives, cultural perspectives, and
psychological perspectives
• Understanding and measuring audience involvement
• Developing and implementing the message strategy
• Developing advertising copy
• Design issues for art directors
• Understanding and using audience research
• Evaluating ad campaigns
• Advertising in non-product environments
Teaching and Learning Approaches
The unit will combine lectures, seminars, and workshops to develop practical skills in creative
advertising. Guest lecturers from industry will discuss current case studies and work experiences.
Students will participate in critiques of contemporary advertising and peer review of creative work. Case
studies will examine a wide range of advertising campaigns, including campaigns to sell products,
corporate reputations, and not-for-profit organisations.
Academic integrity
Students are expected to display complete integrity in all their academic work. In particular, activities
such as plagiarism and cheating or any activity designed to defeat the purposes of assessment are
breaches of academic integrity. There are other actions or practices which undermine fairness in
assessment, such as recycling an item of assessment from one unit or course and using it in another,
fabricating or falsifying data, experimental results or sources of information, collaborating with another
student about assessable work and representing that as individual work when this has not been
contemplated by unit outlines or assessment requirements. QUT's policy on academic dishonesty is at
Student Rule 29 (http://www.qut.edu.au/admin/mopp/Appendix/append01cst.html). Details of University
definitions of cheating and plagiarism and range of penalties will be provided in the documentation
students receive in week 1.
Content and assessment schedule

Week Tutor and supporting Lecture topic Seminar topic Submissions

readings
1 Charles E. Young, 2000. Copywriting and Combining text
Creative differences Art Direction roles. and visuals to gain
between copywriters and art Aesthetics. aesthetic results
directors. Journal of
Advertising Research.
2 Mike Kennedy’s notes Slogans. Vision Workshop. Exercise 1
and selling point Creating a slogan
for a corporate,
promotional and
institutional ad
3 Sandra Contreras The photographic Discussion
image. Visual Exercise 1.
rhetoric and Workshop: From a
perception. sketch, to a mock
up, to a
photographic
production
4 Mike Kennedy’s notes Headlines. Workshop.
Message strategy. Creating
What do you want headlines with
to communicate? appeal and with a
twist
5 Sandra Contreras Deadline exercise 1
6 Sandra Contreras Graphic design, Thumbnails Exercise 2
rational exercise.
embellishment. Dynamics of the
visual. Layout
7 Mike Kennedy Body copy. AIDA. Discussion
Attention grabber, exercise 2.
body, closing. Workshop:
Creating a body
copy for a
perfume, for a car,
for bank, and for
an institution

8 PUBLIC HOLIDAY

9 Meredith Randell TVC settings Group workshop

10 Sandra Contreras Typography Choosing a type Creating a script

for an ad. from a visual and
Workshop on from a storyline.
typographical Exercise 3
connotations.
11 Discussion Workshop
Meredith Randell exercise 3.
Lecture:Interactive
advertising
content
12 Feedback session.
Deadline exercise 2
13 Sandra Contreras F) Light and Composing with Final assignment
Pigment colour. colour submission
Psychology of
colour.

14 Final discussion Resubmission

Final discussion and peer upon feedback
and peer assessment given by peers the
assessment previous week.

Copywriting readings are from Burton, P. W., (1999). Advertising copywriting.

Lincolnwood IL: NTC Business Books. Assign yourself reading chapters as you see
fits. Other readings will be distributed in class.
Class attendance
This unit is based around class discussion and peer critique. For this reason, it is
important that you attend the class each week. Class notes will not be provided on
the unit’s OLT site, and if you miss classes it will be difficult for you to catch up.

Exercises are to be submitted in class, and all students are expected to be involved
in the class discussions relating to these exercises. If you are unable to attend class
for the class discussions, you will need to submit a medical certificate to the unit
coordinator; otherwise, a 5% penalty (of total unit marks) will apply. If you are unable
to submit your exercises in person you should contact the unit coordinator in advance
to arrange for electronic submission.

If you are unable to attend class in Weeks 5 & 12, you will require a medical
certificate to arrange later completion of the deadline exercises.

Student presentations will be scheduled in Week 1 and confirmed in Week 2. You will
be expected to be available for your presentation as scheduled. If you are unable to
attend for your scheduled presentation, please contact the unit coordinator in
advance to arrange an alternative date.

Assessment
1. Workshop discussion exercises
Part A: Current campaign analysis – class presentation
Length: 2 page handout + 15 minute presentation
Weighting: 15%
Due date: Scheduled for seminars starting in Week 7 (schedule confirmed in
Week 2)
Type of assessment: Formative and summative
Refers to unit objectives: 4, 5

Select a current advertising campaign that is targeting you as a consumer. Analyse

the campaign and its potential success in persuading you to take up its message.
Use secondary research to support your analysis. Present your analysis to the class
during a seminar and lead a class discussion of the advertisement you have chosen.

Part B: Develop advertising concepts and copy for discussion in seminars

Weighting: 25% across 5 exercises
Due date: throughout semester – three written in advance and submitted in
class, then used for a class discussion the following week; two written to a
deadline during class time
Type of assessment: Formative and summative
Refers to unit objectives: 1, 2, 4, 5

Exercise 1 – Submit in class in Week 2

Weighting: worth no marks, but carries a 5% penalty (of total unit marks) if not
completed
Write a copy and give an image to a small print advertisement – to respond to a brief
distributed in Week 1. Some students’ work will be distributed (anonymously) for
class discussion in Week 3.

Deadline exercise 1 – Complete in class in Week 5

Weighting: 6%
Write a headline for a print advertisement. The brief will be available at 5pm and you
should have finished your ad by 7pm for a class discussion. The class discussion will
be based on your chosen message strategy and the execution of your ideas. You
can work anywhere that suits you.
Exercise 2 – Submit in class in Week 6
Weighting: 5%
Create an idea, including image and headline for a print advertisement – to respond
to a brief distributed in Week 5. Some students’ work will be distributed
(anonymously) for class discussion in Week 7.

Exercise 3 – Submit in class in Week 10

Weighting: 6%
Write copy for a television commercial (description of video and full written audio;
storyboard not required, but visual samples of strategic aesthetics to be applied) –
written to a brief distributed in Week 7. Some students’ work will be distributed
(anonymously) for class discussion in Week 11.

Deadline exercise 2 – Complete in class in Week 12

Weighting: 8%
Write copy and develop thumbnail sketches for an online advertisement. The brief
will be available at 5pm and you should be finished by 7pm for a class discussion.
The class discussion will be based on your chosen message strategy and the
execution of your ideas. You can work anywhere that suits you.

2. Ad campaign and rationale

Length: 3000 words plus mock-up advertisements or scripts (minimum of 3 ads)
Weighting: 60%
Due date: Friday 11 June, with a class critique of your work in Week 13 (3/6)
Type of assessment: Formative and summative
Refers to unit objectives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Select any product, company, or not-for-profit organisation (either real or fictional)

and develop a multi-media advertising campaign. Print ads and support materials
should be developed to mock-up stage; electronic ads should be developed as
scripts. Develop an implementation plan for the advertising campaign (approx 1200
words) and write a rationale to explain how and why your campaign will work (approx
1800 words).

Your focus in this assignment should be on the creative execution of the campaign
rather than on the advertising strategy. You will be graded according to the words
and designs that you develop and how you explain the potential success of your
ideas. See the grading sheet for detailed assessment criteria.

Implementation plan: Describe the organisation, your persuasive purpose, the

broad campaign strategy, the audience, chosen message strategy, and chosen
advertising techniques (including placement timing and frequency). This section will
be a straightforward description of the situation.

Rationale: Explain the choices you have made in designing and executing your
campaign and why those choices will be successful. Include a discussion of your
chosen media and formats, message strategy (including your use of specific
message strategy elements such as fear, humour, or factual appeal), approach to
text, and design decisions. Use secondary research to support your argument where
appropriate. The purpose of this section is to persuade the reader that your creative
designs will be successful for the audience.

Class critique: Attend class in Week 13 to present and discuss your ideas. Bring
your finished mock-ups and/or scripts and give a short (5-10 minute) presentation of
your concepts to the class. An informal discussion of your ideas will follow. Use this
session to test your ideas on your classmates – you then have the opportunity to
incorporate their ideas or change your work before final submission on 11 June. This
class critique is worth no marks, but carries a 5% penalty (of total unit marks) for non-
attendance without a medical certificate.