Level 3 Diploma - Advertising

Course Synopsis

This Quality Assured Level 3 diploma course consists of 12 units covering all of the main aspects of Advertising. Advertising managers oversee advertising and promotion staffs, which usually are small, except in the largest firms. In a small firm, managers may serve as liaisons between the firm and the advertising or promotion agency to which many advertising or promotional functions are contracted out. In larger firms, advertising managers oversee in-house account, creative, and media services departments. The account executive manages the account services department, assesses the need for advertising and, in advertising agencies, maintains the accounts of clients. The creative services department develops the subject matter and presentation of advertising. The creative director oversees the copy chief, art director, and associated staff. The media director oversees planning groups that select the communication media-for example, radio, television, newspapers, magazines, the Internet, or outdoor signs-to disseminate the advertising.

This Level 3 Diploma will provide a firm grounding and comprehensive understanding of advertising and the media in a business context. The course will appeal to existing advertising practitioners wishing to enhance existing skills, to those students wishing to develop a career in advertising and for those wishing a foundation course for graduate studies in Advertising or media.

Unit 1: Advertising Business Practice

The first unit provides an overview of the business roles of advertising. Topics include: Advertising within the marketing mix; results of advertising; client/agency relationships; media/agency relationships; how advertising agencies are conducted and organised; influences on advertising costs; agency finances; developing, planning and spending on a campaign; client briefings; presentation skills; strategic planning in an agency.

Unit 2: Copywriting

This unit will look at copywriting skills for the print media. Topics included within this module are: role of the copywriter in an advertising agency; the creative brief; the idea of a strategy; the idea of creativity; stopping power; what makes a good poster; writing readable and effective copy; preparing a portfolio.

Unit 3: Graphic Design and Production

In this section students will cover illustration and graphic design plus the methods and techniques used in print reproduction. Topic areas include: principles of visual communication; type and rendering in black and white; space, cropping; processes of print production; finished art and bromide production; artwork preparation; typography as design; logo design and corporate identity; finished art for printing; brochure design; personal stationery; small space ads; artwork/client presentation; preparing a portfolio.

Unit 4: Art Direction

This unit looks at the practical subject on the role of art direction in the print media and television industry. Topics include: art direction in print media; visual techniques for illustration; packaging; television commercials; posters and point of sale design; brochures and direct mail; new business presentations.

Unit 5: Television Commercials

The use of television is one of the most expensive ways of advertising placing great emphasis on getting it right first time as many businesses cannot afford to make a mistake and miss out on the ir shot of hitting a huge audience. Students will widen their knowledge in the practical subject of concept, design and production of television commercials. Topics include: objectives of television commercials; types of television commercials; agency briefs; creation of a commercial; storyboard presentation; writing for television; art direction for television; casting; budgeting; pre-production, production and post-production.

Unit 6: Radio Commercials

This module focuses on radio commercials and the process from concept through production to the finished piece. Topics include: types of radio commercials; writing copy for radio; use of music and sound effects; recording equipment and techniques; MCA code; writing and recording promotional spots; recording students' own commercials with talent.

Unit 7: Public Relations

In this section students have the opportunity to explore the area of PR and discover the skills required to progress in the field of PR and how it complements other areas of Advertising. Topics include: PR agents and campaigns; PR, advertising and sales promotion; publicity; media conferences; brochures and newsletters.

Unit 8: Media Planning and Evaluation

The principles and objectives behind media space and time buying are examined within this unit. Topics include: agencies types; interpreting the media brief; target audiences; selection of media; planning, timing and budgeting; newspaper and magazine buying and planning; radio buying and planning; television buying and planning; direct marketing; computer analysis of media plan; presentation of media plan.

Unit 9: Media Presentations

This unit teaches students how to prepare, structure and deliver speeches and presentations that is an invaluable skill in the world of Advertising. In doing so they develop skills for communicating with clarity and confidence helping to boost interpersonal skills which can be of use in all jobs. Areas of presentation covered are: public speaking; handling television media interviews; pitching ideas and products to potential clients.

Unit 10: Media Law

As with all areas of business there are stringent guidelines that must be adhered to. Students will study the essential law for professionals working in advertising in the print and electronic media to ensure they are fully aware of the boundaries that they face and could potentially cause disruptions to an advertising campaign. Areas covered include: common law and statute law; Trade Practices Commission; consumer protection legislation; misleading and deceptive practices; broadcast law and regulation; advertising self-regulating bodies; patents, brand names and trademarks; copyright; defamation; disparaging copy; accreditation and agency ethics; therapeutic and restricted-sale products.

Unit 11: Marketing and Consumer Behaviour

Marketers are always looking at the way in which consumers behave to understand how a market operates in order to best capture the target audience. This section provides an overview of the concept of marketing, the motivations and behaviour of consumers and the place of advertising within a marketing strategy. Topics covered in this unit include: marketing concepts and management; segmenting the market; buyer behaviour; marketing planning; marketing within an agency; marketing decision making; market research; marketing systems; creativity in marketing; planning the marketing and advertising program; product life cycle; product policy decisions; new product decisions; price decisions; distribution decisions; promotional and advertising budgets.

Unit 12 - Part 1: Computer Layout and Design

In this unit students are provided with a hands-on experience to develop competence in the principal computer-based design, layout and typographic system used in the advertising industry, Quark Xpress. Topic areas covered include: planning a document, working with electronic text, graphic and picture files; laying out documents; selecting and designing typefaces; drawing on the computer; importing and manipulating illustrations.

Unit 12 - Part 2: Internet Design and Copy

The introduction of the internet presented businesses with a whole new way of doing business, and it is the job of people working in Advertising to captivate new customers through online advertising mediums by producing sites that are effective and easy to navigate around. This area covers website design and production, including the design and layout of online material, development and editing online copy, communication of ideas through graphics and text and issues in navigating and searching the Internet. Topics include: marketing on the internet; web browsers, hyperlinks and searches; web site development; corporate websites; interactive copy; online advertising.

Award

Diploma in Advertising

This course is Quality Assured by the Quality Licence Scheme

At the end of this course successful learners will receive a Certificate of Achievement from ABC Awards and a Learner Unit Summary (which lists the details of all the units the learner has completed as part of the course).

The course has been endorsed under the ABC Awards Quality Licence Scheme. This means that Oxford Learning College has undergone an external quality check to ensure that the organisation and the courses it offers, meet certain quality criteria. The completion of this course alone does not lead to an Ofqual regulated qualification but may be used as evidence of knowledge and skills towards regulated qualifications in the future.

The unit summary can be used as evidence towards Recognition of Prior Learning if you wish to progress your studies in this sector. To this end the learning outcomes of the course have been benchmarked at Level 3 against level descriptors published by Ofqual, to indicate the depth of study and level of demand/complexity involved in successful completion by the learner.

The course itself has been designed by Oxford Learning College to meet specific learners' and/or employers' requirements which cannot be satisfied through current regulated qualifications. ABC Awards endorsement involves robust and rigorous quality audits by external auditors to ensure quality is continually met. A review of courses is carried out as part of the endorsement process.

ABC Awards is a leading national Awarding Organisation, regulated by Ofqual, and the Welsh Government. It has a long-established reputation for developing and awarding high quality vocational qualifications across a wide range of industries. As a registered charity, ABC Awards combines 180 years of expertise but also implements a responsive, flexible and innovative approach to the needs of our customers. Renowned for excellent customer service, and quality standards, ABC Awards also offers Ofqual regulated qualifications for all ages and abilities post-14; all are developed with the support of relevant stakeholders to ensure that they meet the needs and standards of employers across the UK.