Creative Advertising: Copywriting and Art Direction

Synopsis
Fundamental to advertising practice are the creative tasks of
copywriting and art direction. 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. It examines contemporary
advertising theory and practice and develops practical skills in writing
and art directing. Case studies examine a wide range of advertising
campaigns, including campaigns to sell products, corporate
reputations, and not-for-profit organisations.

Content

Week Lecture
1 The role of copywriting and art direction in creative
advertising
Scoping an advertising campaign
2 Speaking to the audience: A rhetorical perspective
on creative advertising
3 Reading and interpreting advertisements: A cultural
perspective on creative advertising
4 Managing the ad campaign
Working with other professionals
5 Planning the campaign: Initial audience and client
research
Issues in developing a project brief
6 Developing and implementing the message
strategy
Matching the message strategy to the client’s
needs
7 Developing advertising copy: Structural and
sentence-level issues in writing ads
8 Developing advertising copy: Using words to attract
attention and encourage action
9 Design issues for art directors: The interplay of
words and pictures; Managing emphasis and
balance; Directing the reader’s eye
10 Design issues for art directors: Getting design to
speak to the audience; Using design to encapsulate
message strategy
11 Getting to know the audience: testing ads prior to
 release
Evaluating ad campaigns
12 Advertising in the not-for-profit environment
13 Beyond products: Corporate image and community
relations advertising

Assessment

1. Ad analysis (40%) (2,000 words) 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.

2. Ad campaign and rationale (60%) (3,500 words plus mock-up

advertisements or scripts) 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 1,500 words) and write a rationale to explain how and why
your campaign will work (approx 2,000 words).