MCOM 214-002: Principles of Advertising (Fall 2008)
Instructor: Dr. Kwangmi Ko Kim (VB206, 410-704-3194)
Class: T/TH: 2:00-3:15 (VB 201)
Office Hours: T/TH: 8:30-9:30, 12:30-1:30, 3:30-4:00, and by appointment
Email: kkim@towson.edu
Website: http://pages.towson.edu/kkim, and Course Blackboard
Text: Sandra Moriarty, Mitchell, Nancy, and Wells, W. Advertising Principles and
Practice, 8th ed. 2009, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Course Description
Review of contribution made by advertising to the United States economy and of the
principles and practices as applied to mass media.
Course Objectives
This course offers an introduction into advertising as a form of communication and as a
social institution. As an institution, advertising interacts with culture, the economic
system, and other institutions within society. Specifically, this course aims to






provide an overview of the field of advertising and diverse perspectives on
advertising
give an understanding of the role of major actors in the advertising industry
familiarize students with promotional strategies for different types of products
and services
provide a picture on how advertising is planned and executed including
media selection and consumer research
be aware of critical issues related to consumerism and social and cultural
issues at national and international levels.
provide hands-on experience by creating several advertisements for different media.
After taking this course, students should have knowledge on how the advertising industry
operates and become more informed and conscious consumers through a better
understanding of the role and power of advertising in our daily lives.
Prerequisite: Students must have taken COMM 131 and MCOM 101. Simultaneous
taking of prerequisite is not allowed. Students may not attempt a class for the third time
without prior permission from the Academic Standards Committee. Information
regarding this policy can be obtained through the Enrollment Services.
Assignments and Exams:
1. Each student will have three exams, one selective assignment, and five
mandatory assignments. The topics or materials for each assignment are described below.
2. Students should assume full responsibility to be thoroughly familiar with all
assigned readings, handouts, videotapes, and class notes. There will be no makeup
exam for any reason without an official letter from the university. Only a true
medical emergency warrants a makeup exam. Common illness (e.g., cold and flu)
does not warrant students a makeup exam. If necessary, arrangement for make-up
exams should be made at least one week prior to an exam day. Messages left on an
answering machine for any exams are NOT considered valid excuses. Any attempt
to reach the instructor after the start of the exam will not be considered and the
student will receive “zero.” A student is expected to take the makeup exam, when
allowed, no later than the beginning of the next class he or she attends. Please
inform the instructor in advance of your need of accommodations for your test due
to a documented learning disability. Retroactive requests cannot be honored.
3. By the 2nd day of our class, you should submit a list of assignment you chose as
selective assignments. Consider your interest in each topic, and its due date, and
feasibility of finishing assignments.
4. Mini-campaign presentation will be graded individually, and peer evaluation
will be used for grading mini-campaign assignment. This means each member of the
same group may get a different grade for this assignment.
5. All assignments should contain the following:
Your name
Course Title and section number
Name/Title of Assignment
Date submitted.
6. Grading Policy: +, - grading system will be used for your final grade.
All requirements will be graded as follows:
Three Exams
One selective assignments
Ad report
Mandatory Local Agency Search
“Draw and Report” assignment
Ad Critique
Mini-campaign
Mini-campaign presentation
Class participation
Total
300 points
60 points
20 points
20 points
20 points
60 points
60 points
20 points
40 points
600 points
7. Grading Scale:
A: Over 94% of 600
B+: 87-89%,
C+: 77-79%,
D+: 67-69%,
A-: 90-93% of 600
B: 84-86%,
C: 70-76%,
D: 60-66%
2
B-: 80-83%
F: under 60%
***** Course Policy ********
Attendance
 Daily attendance will be taken at the beginning of each class. You are permitted
three unexcused absences without penalty. Additional unexcused absences
will result in a 5% reduction in the final course grade per each unexcused
absence. Use these three absences wisely for your family trip, any doctor’s
appointments, or cold symptoms. For a prolonged absence due to illness, you
should inform me directly of your circumstance. Attendance during Minicampaign group discussions and work sessions is significantly critical, and
absence will negatively affect your grade for this assignment.
 An absence is excused if a student is participating in a certified university event,
observing a religious holiday, or has a medical emergency. In order to have an
excused absence, you must contact me in advance of the absence. In case of
medical emergency, I must be notified by phone or in person prior to class. A
medical emergency includes severe sickness, a traffic accident, or a death in the
family. Documentation validating the event must be submitted within five days of
the absence (police report, doctor’s note, obituary notice, etc.). It is your
responsibility to provide documentation. Medical excuses must be written on your
doctor’s stationary (with address and phone number), show time and dates of
absences. A receipt indicating payment of medical expenses at the University
Health Center will not result in the granting of an excused absence.

When you miss class, it is your responsibility to cover all the information given
during class from your classmates. They include lecture note, assignments,
schedule change, any announcements, etc. Late submission of the assignments or
being unable to come to a different class location due to missing a prior class is
not accepted as an excuse.

Tardiness: Arriving at the class at least 5 minutes late, or leaving it 10 minutes
early will affect your attendance record. These are disrespectful to the class as
well as to the instructor. Three tardiness will be counted as one absence.

Bonus points: You will earn extra 10 points if you never missed a class.
Assignment Due
 All assignments are due in class, unless noted otherwise. Assignments turned in
after class will be considered late. Late assignments will be only accepted on the
due day after class with a 10% deduction penalty. Absence is not an acceptable
excuse for failing to turn in assignments. If you can't make it to class, you're still
responsible for getting your work in on time through your classmates. Anticipate
any technical complications (e.g., computer crash, printing problems,
lost/damaged diskette and files) and allocate extra time to finish your assignment
for a specified deadline.
 All assignments should be submitted in a hard copy, not by emails.
3


It is your responsibility to confirm whether the instructor had received the
assignment if you turn it in outside class.
There will be no makeup date for your (group) report or presentation. If you have
to miss a class for an anticipated event, you are expected to submit the work or
present it before a due date, not after you return.
Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty
Read and clearly understand the department guidelines on plagiarism and cheating.
If you plagiarize and are caught you will either fail the assignment or the course
depending on the circumstances. For additional details on plagiarism, please see the
student handbook. If you have any questions about plagiarism, it is your responsibility to
ask them in advance of possible violations. Submitting the same assignment used for
other classes in previous semesters or in this semester is considered academic dishonesty.
You will get “zero” in this case without dispute.
Last, but not the least!!!
 It is expected that all students follow the Code of Student Conduct to ensure
constructive learning environment. See a brochure from the Office of Judicial
Affairs.
 Eating, drinking, chatting, reading newspapers/magazines, doing work for other
course, coming and going in the middle of the class without a prior permission
from me are not allowed in the class. I will ask you to leave the classroom when
these behaviors become persistent and disruptive to me and to your classmates.
 Students may not attempt this course for a third time without a prior permission
from the Academic Standards Committee. Further information regarding this
policy is available through the Registrar’s Office.
A List of Assignments
A. Mandatory Assignments: (all typed)
1. Ad Reports:
 Each class will start with a 10-minute media reports made by two students
(each student will take 5 minute with a different topic.
 Each of you will read advertising-related articles from several major
trade magazines or newspapers (e.g., www.adage.com, www.adweek.com,
www.mediaweek.com, Wall Street Journal, or New York Times) and
report to class any specific news/developments/changes taking place in the
advertising industry or affecting advertising practices (Make sure you will
choose a decent length of an article with significant content, not just
account switch or news brief).
 For example, articles on ethical issues (e.g., cigarette advertising,
misleading advertising toward children), celebrity spokesperson,
4





comparative advertising, or industry trends would be appropriate for this
assignment.
Every student will report once in the semester. Once we set a schedule,
you can’t miss your turn and if so, you will NOT have any make-up
opportunities and receive “0” for this assignment.
You need to prepare one page synopsis consisting of three components:
summary of major points of an article, relevance/connection to our class
and topics, and two questions for class discussion. You will turn in a copy
of your article and synopsis to me after your presentation.
Specify the source of your article (title of the article, date and name of the
publication), and use a bullet format to highlight your article’s major
points.
Do not copy the sentences from the article. This will result in 50%
reduction in your grade.
Your thoughtful questions, presentation, prepared synopsis, and selected
article are all counted for grade.
2. Search a local/regional agency from the Redbook
 Find the Standard Directory of Advertising Agencies (Redbook of Agencies)
from Circulation Desk
 Choose one local/regional agency that interests you in selected areas (i.e., NY,
PA, DE, MD, and VA) and might lead you to internship possibilities.
 Describe how you found your agency from this book, and why you chose that
agency. Also, provide following information on “your agency”: Type of
agencies, their major expertise /specialties, major clients, and contact
information: address, phone number, name of person who is in charge of
internship, etc.
 Do not select any global agency for this assignment.
 If there is no one specified for internship, call the agency and ask for the
right contact information for future internship or search its website to
find that information. It is vital to include this information in your report.
 Attach a copy of the page that has “your agency”.
3. “Draw and Report” Assignment
 Your textbook has many interesting stories and discussions on various issues and
cases. I will provide a “pot” with relevant entries of these stories (e.g., stories
from “A Matter of Principle,” “The Inside Story,” or “Practical Tips”), and you
will draw one entry from the pot.
 The entry you pick has a page number. You need to find the story with this page
number from the textbook, read the story, and report to the class. You need to
highlight the main idea of the story and provide your comments/thoughts based
on your experience and knowledge.
 The due date for this assignment will be all different, depending on what your
story is about. We will discuss this assignment further in class.
5
4. Critique Advertisements
Select two advertisements (full page ads) from current magazines: one bad ad and one
excellent ad. Using course readings, lectures, and discussion, critique the ads. All of the
following sections must be in your paper with the headings listed. Attach the ads to the
back of the paper.






Type of Advertisement: national consumer? business ads? etc.
Audience Analysis: Whom is the ad intended for? Where did it appear? Does
it reach the intended audience?
Content: What is the central point of the ad? Are the claims supported? How
is it personalized? Examine the visual content: critique it.
Examine the verbal content: critique it. Would anyone be offended by the ad?
Placement: Where is the ad placed in the magazine (first, third, back cover,
etc.)? What is it surrounded by (other ads? story about? similar products?) Is
the placement appropriate?
Effect: Critique the effectiveness of the ad.
Recommendation: What would you do to make this ad more effective?
Provide specific recommendations.
5. Group Mini-Campaign Project: Create Advertising Copy and Materials for a
choice of product or service
 As a group, you will design a small-scale of an advertising campaign for a
product or service.
 Do brief situation analysis (product analysis, competitive analysis, and consumer
analysis), define your target market, decide advertising objectives, and message
strategies.
 Create an advertisement for each medium (newspaper, magazine, TV, radio, the
Web).
 Oral presentation at the end of the semester.
 More detailed instruction will be provided.
B. Selective Assignment: Choose one assignment from the following list.
Turn in a 4-5 page report for each assignment by due date. You can volunteer to do an
informal presentation about your assignment to class.
1. Interview two representatives who work at two different advertising agencies
or advertising department in a company and do an oral presentation before
the class.



Find out what their position is in an agency/company, and what their
responsibilities and duties are.
find out their educational background and past professional experiences
(i.e., how did they get into advertising and what have they done to reach
their current status? number of years of experience?)
ask them about changes that have taken place in their agency/company
6




and the industry during the last five years.
ask them what changes they expect in the near future (say, the next 5
years).
also ask, what is the biggest or most common mistake person (or s/he) in
advertising make in regards to maintaining client relationships?
the biggest single piece of advice for students?
add any information you find interesting or important.
2. Collect various types of ads
 Collect various types of ads (as specified in the below) from newspapers,
magazines, direct mail, radio, TV and etc.
 check whether your ads illustrate the following types of ads:
Brand advertising, retail ad, political ad, directory ad, direct response ad,
business-to-business ad, institutional ad, public service announcement,
direct-action ad, indirect-action ad, primary demand ad, and selective
demand ad.
 define each type of advertising and write a brief description of your example
to show how each one fits in a certain type of ad.
 You have to collect at least one example of each type of ad as listed, and
attach those samples to your report.
 Make sure to submit a nice packet with all definition, explanation, and
samples.
3. Great Campaign Analysis
 Search databases to find and choose two existing/past campaigns that have been
successful. Before you further your research, get my permission for your choice
of campaigns.
 Research “your” two campaigns and report the following information for each
campaign: the name of the agency that created that campaign, the history of the
campaign, its objectives, its target market, its selling messages, the media used,
its outcomes and achievements, any awards they received, and etc.
 This report should be written in paragraph form with proper text citations,
and have a “Sources cited” page at the end of the report with full
bibliographic information (in APA style). You have to have at least five
outside sources besides the agency’s campaign website.
4. Internet Search: 2 different professional/trade organizations (not advertisers) in
the advertising industry
 Identify two major professional/trade organizations in the advertising field, and
discuss why you choose these organizations.
 Analyze each organization and its website: compare their missions, goals, history,
memberships, functions, and services.
 Discuss how they are different or similar in terms of functions and services to
members.
7
 Compare their homepages: designs, ads on the sites, pictures and other graphics,
availability of useful/relevant information, easiness of navigation, and etc.
 Which site is more appealing to you? Why?
8
Course Schedule (subject to change)
Week
Topic and Chapters
Week 1
(9/2)
Week 2
(9/9)
Week 3
(9/16)
Week 4
(9/23)
Week 5
(9/30)
Introduction of the course and overview
Roles of Advertising in Our Society
History of Advertising,
Advertising and the Marketing Process
Ch. 1
Ch.1, 2. 15, 16, 17, 18
Advertising and the Marketing Process
The Advertising Industry I: Industry Structure and
Types of Agencies & Their Operations
Careers in Advertising
The Advertising Industry II: Advertising Regulation
Overview of the Advertising Campaign: Strategy & Planning
Selective Assignment: Interview assignment Due (10/1)
Ch. 2
Ch. 3
Ch. 7
Selective Assignment: Analysis of Websites of Advertising
Professional Organizations (10/1)
Week 6
(10/7)
Week 7
(10/14)
Week 8
(10/21)
Week 9
(10/28)
Week 10
(11/4)
Week 11
(11/11)
Week 12
(11/18)
Week 13
(11/25)
Mandatory Local Agency Assignment (10/1) [For everybody]
Overview of the Advertising Campaign: Strategy & Planning
EXAM I (10/7)
Budget
Understanding Consumers
Selective Assignment: Great Campaign Analysis (10/14)
Understanding Consumers
Defining the Target Market and Consumer Research
Ch. 7
Ch. 7
Ch. 4,5
Ch. 4,5
Creative Strategy and Execution
Ch. 12-14
Selective Assignment: Collective Ads assignment Due (10/28)
Creative Execution
Media Strategy and Execution
Ch. 8, 9, 11
Media Strategy and Execution
Exam II (11/13)
Media Strategy and Execution
Advertising and New Media
Ch. 10
Week 14
(12/2)
Work on Mini-Campaign
Mandatory Advertising Critique Assignment Due (11/25)
Thanksgiving Break
Group Mini-campaign Due (12/2)
Mini-campaign presentation
Week 15
(12/9)
Mini-campaign presentation
Evaluation and Review
Final Exam: December 19 (Friday): 12:30-2:30 pm
9
MCOM 214 (Fall 2008):
I have read the syllabus and the statement of plagiarism, and understand that I am
responsible for the information contained within those documents. I also understand and
accept course policies on assignments, attendance, and academic dishonesty.
I have attached an unofficial transcript of my course work and highlighted the prerequisite
courses. I understand that I will not receive any credit for any assignments until I have
completed this form and attach my transcript.
(Print your name)
(Date)
(Signature)
(E-mail address where you can be reached this semester)
(Phone number where you can be reached this semester)
(1) Interview assignment,
(2) Collecting various types of ads, or
(3) Great Campaign Analysis
(4) Analysis of Advertising Professional Organization
My choice:
(Choice of your selective individual assignment: Write down the number)
10