Mass Communication, Advertising and Marketing Course

Lesson 1 • Theories of Media Effects

Examines agenda-setting, framing, cultivation, and uses-and-gratifications theories. Connects theory to practical audience behaviour prediction.

Lesson 2 • Ethics and Responsibility in Media

Addresses truthfulness, bias, privacy, and editorial independence standards. Grounds students in ethical decision-making before they create content.

Lesson 3 • Communication Models and Processes

Covers sender-receiver models, noise, feedback loops, and encoding. Establishes the theoretical backbone for all subsequent channel-specific study.

Lesson 4 • Media Landscape and Stakeholders

Maps key players: publishers, broadcasters, platforms, regulators, and audiences. Students identify how stakeholder interests shape content and distribution.

Lesson 1 • Audience Segmentation and Profiling

Teaches demographic, psychographic, behavioural, and geographic segmentation methods. Students build audience profiles used throughout campaign planning.

Lesson 2 • Attitude Formation and Change

Covers cognitive, affective, and behavioural attitude components and how they shift. Prepares students to design campaigns that move audiences through attitude stages.

Lesson 3 • Motivation and Needs Frameworks

Applies Maslow, Herzberg, and McClelland frameworks to consumer motivation. Students link unmet needs to persuasive message opportunities.

Lesson 4 • Decision-Making and Buying Behaviour

Analyses the consumer decision journey from awareness to post-purchase evaluation. Connects behavioural stages to specific communication touchpoints.

Lesson 1 • Brand Storytelling and Narrative

Applies narrative structure, hero's journey, and emotional arcs to brand communication. Connects storytelling craft to audience engagement and recall.

Lesson 2 • Brand Management and Evolution

Addresses brand extensions, rebranding triggers, and long-term equity protection. Students develop governance frameworks to maintain brand consistency.

Lesson 3 • Brand Identity and Architecture

Defines brand elements: name, logo, colour, tone, and personality. Students construct a coherent identity system that guides all creative executions.

Lesson 4 • Brand Positioning and Differentiation

Covers perceptual mapping, value propositions, and competitive differentiation. Students write positioning statements that anchor campaign strategy.

Lesson 1 • Advertising Strategy and Briefing

Covers the creative brief structure, campaign objectives, and strategic compulsories. Students write briefs that align creative teams with business goals.

Lesson 2 • Advertising Formats Across Media

Surveys print, broadcast, outdoor, and digital ad formats and their creative constraints. Students adapt a single concept across multiple format requirements.

Lesson 3 • Advertising Appeals and Persuasion

Analyses rational, emotional, and moral appeals and their effectiveness by audience type. Connects appeal selection to the attitude-change models from Chapter 2.

Lesson 4 • Creative Concept Development

Teaches ideation methods, big idea generation, and concept evaluation frameworks. Students develop and pitch original campaign concepts.

Lesson 1 • Media Plan Evaluation and Optimisation

Teaches post-buy analysis, delivery verification, and optimisation triggers. Connects measurement back to campaign objectives set in Chapter 4.

Lesson 2 • Scheduling and Flighting Strategies

Covers continuous, flighting, and pulsing scheduling models and their trade-offs. Students select scheduling approaches based on product seasonality and budget.

Lesson 3 • Channel Selection and Mix Strategy

Evaluates traditional and digital channels against audience, objective, and budget criteria. Students build justified channel mix recommendations.

Lesson 4 • Media Planning Fundamentals

Defines reach, frequency, GRP, CPM, and share of voice metrics. Establishes the quantitative vocabulary used throughout media planning practice.

Lesson 1 • Digital Analytics and Performance Metrics

Covers conversion tracking, attribution models, funnel analysis, and dashboard reporting. Students interpret data to make optimisation recommendations.

Lesson 2 • Search Engine Marketing and SEO

Covers keyword strategy, on-page optimisation, paid search bidding, and quality scores. Students build a basic search campaign structure with keyword groups.

Lesson 3 • Digital Marketing Ecosystem

Maps owned, earned, and paid media and their interdependencies in digital strategy. Provides the structural framework for all digital channel decisions.

Lesson 4 • Social Media Strategy and Content

Develops platform-specific content strategies, editorial calendars, and community management. Students produce a social media plan aligned to brand voice.

Lesson 1 • Campaign Objective Setting and KPIs

Applies SMART objectives, the sales funnel, and balanced scorecard thinking to campaign planning. Students set measurable objectives tied to business outcomes.

Lesson 2 • Campaign Measurement and Reporting

Designs end-to-end measurement frameworks linking inputs, outputs, and outcomes. Students build a campaign report template with actionable insight sections.

Lesson 3 • IMC Principles and Strategic Logic

Defines IMC, explains consistency vs. coordination, and outlines the strategic planning process. Establishes the integrating framework for all prior channel knowledge.

Lesson 4 • Message Architecture and Consistency

Builds a message hierarchy from core proposition to channel-specific executions. Students ensure brand voice and key messages remain consistent across touchpoints.

Lesson 1 • Project and Timeline Management

Covers Gantt charts, critical path analysis, and agile sprint planning for campaign execution. Students build a production timeline for a multi-channel campaign.

Lesson 2 • Competitive and Market Analysis

Uses SWOT, PESTLE, and competitive benchmarking to identify strategic opportunities. Students produce a situation analysis that informs campaign positioning.

Lesson 3 • Campaign Strategy Development

Integrates audience insight, brand strategy, and channel planning into a cohesive campaign strategy. Students write a strategy document with clear rationale.

Lesson 4 • Stakeholder Management and Approvals

Addresses client briefing, internal alignment, legal review, and approval workflows. Students practice presenting strategy and managing feedback cycles.