COMM 455 Syllabus

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Internet Advertising & Promotional Communications

COM 455 -- Spring 2009

CPB019

Instructor: Dr. Kuen-Hee Ju-Pak, Department of Communications, CSUF

Office Hours: T & Th12:45– 2:15 pm or by appointment

Office/Phone: CP460-14, 714-278-7006

E-mail:

Course website:

Required Textbook and Readings

  1. Joe Plummer, Steve Rappaport, Taddy Hall, and Robert Barocci, The Online Advertising Playbook, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (Hoboken, New Jersey), 2007. ISBN 9780470051054 (hard cover)
  2. Robbin Zeff and Brad Aronson (ZA book from here on), Advertising on the Internet, 2nd edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (New York, NY), 1999. ISBN 0471344044 (paperback)

Other Requirements

Access to the Internet, e-mail, and a PC with MS Frontpage 2003 or later version installed

Catalogue Description

Prerequisites: Comm 350, 352 and 353, or consent of instructor. Exploration of Internet advertising and marketing issues and ideas. Students learn to evaluate, develop, and execute Internet-based advertising and promotional campaigns. Each class will consist of a discussion of Internet advertising and marketing issues and a hands-on lab session.

Course Objectives

The course is designed to help students develop understanding and skills to use the Internet for effective advertising and marketing communications. The specific objectives of the course are:

  1. to provide an understanding of the Internet as an advertising and marketing communication medium; the trends and issues concerning the current and evolving forms of Internet-based advertising and brand communication media;
  2. to provide an overview of the processes and elements considered in the conceptualizing and production of integrated brand communication campaigns;
  3. to create knowledge on how to develop, promote, and manage Internet-based integrated communication campaigns;
  4. to explore and discuss important issues in the Internet brand communications in general and advertising in particular.

Course Requirements & Grading

2 Quizzes and Final Exam 300 points (each @ 100 pts)

Two quizzes (non-cumulative) will be given throughout the semester and cover materials from lecture, textbook chapters, and supplementary reading materials. These will consist of 25 to 40 multiple-choice or true-false questions. Quiz 1 (March 10) will cover topics discussed from Classes 2 through 5, and Quiz 2 (April14) Classes 6 through 10. Test guides will be announced under Assignment section of the course site. The final exam (May 19, 5-6:50 pm) will consist of 25 multiple-choice, true-false questions (on topics discussed from Classes 11 through 14) and two essays (comprehensive, any topic from Classes 1 through 14). Note: Students may cash-in their points (via relevant questions, comments, answers to be written on a flash card up to 3 points per class session) and use these points to upgrade their quiz and final exam scores by up to one letter grade.

The Journal250 points (5 @ 50 points each)

At the end of each lecture, you will be asked to participate in one or more activities, called Experiential Exercises (see Assignment section in the course site for details). These activities are designed to provide you an opportunity to experience the Internet as an advertising and marketing communication medium and to critically think about certain topics discussed in the lecture. There are a total of ten exercises and you may choose five and,for each, write a 1-page, single-space report (in MS Word or in FrontPage) to describe your experience and ideas in as much detail as the space allows. You will put all of your (five) reports in one file with a table of content, save it as Com455Journal_Your Name, and submit it by May 12 by the beginning of the class.

Presentation of one Exercise from the Journal 50 points

Of the above five exercises you decide to do, you may choose one to complete and present in class on the designated date (Ex 1-5 on March 17 or Ex 6-10 on April 28). The last day to sign up for the presentation is Feb 10. It is first come, first serve. The presentation should be in 5-10 minutes and in Power-point or in Frontpage or other html format.

Topical Research or Text Chapter Summary & Presentation 150 points

Each student will a) choose a topic for in-class discussion from the list to be provided, b) find and study any relevant and updated information on the topic (referring to the textbook, power-point lecture presentation and exploring various sites (such as those listed in the resource links provided), and c) present it to class on the date designated. Students are required to submit the material (e.g., articles, published reports, statistics/tables, etc.)and 2- to 3-page (single-space) summary. The summary should be turned invia email at least 48 hours before the presentation date. The last day to sign up for the topic is Feb 10. More about this later.

Class 455 Website Project (Optional, if you want to earn an A or desire to improve your course performance from a B to an A) up to 100 points

Students pursuing maximum learning and achievement in this class may join the team to produce a website for this class. We will need a team of one or two with knowledge and proficiency in Flash-, or Dreamweaver-basedweb design software, one or two event planners, one or two reporters/editors/writers, and a director/organizer/historian. More about this later.

Class Attendance & Participation 100 points

Class attendance and participation in class discussion and lab activities are required. One letter grade drops for every seven sessions (2 sessions per day) missed. You should be prepared to ask and answer questions. Please be on time, and come prepared each day. Various class activities will be performed (including discussion of the journal exercise and evaluation of student presentations), and some of these will be graded as part of the class participation.

Grading Scale

Total PointsGradeGPATotal PointsGradeGPA

965-1000A+4.0865-899B+3.3

935-964A4.0835-864B3.0

900-934A-3.7800-834B-2.7__

765-799C+2.3665-699D+1.3

735-764C2.0635-664D1.0

700-734C-1.7600-634D-0.7__

<600F0.0

Course Policies

  • As a matter of courtesy and professionalism, set your beepers and cell phones to silent alerts during class time
  • You are responsible for all notes, in-class handouts or materials. If you must miss a class, it is up to you to get notes and materials from fellow students. Develop a buddy system and exchange phone numbers!
  • You must turn in all out-of-class assignments on time, at the beginning of class, including your in-class presentation materials with proper name/label. No late assignments are accepted, regardless of reason. Computer problems and crashed disks are not valid reasons for late work. It is a good idea to complete your work in plenty of time in advance and make frequent back-ups for your work.
  • Only documented severe medical problems or documented family emergency are acceptable reasons for missing exams, assignments, or class activities, and it is your responsibility to make immediate arrangements with me for make-up work. If a medical emergency arises, you must notify me in advance of the class and provide verification in order to be excused and scheduled for make-up work.
  • See me immediately if you have any difficulties in this course. Do not wait a week or until the end of the semester to contact me with problems. I’m always happy to help you in any way I can, but any delay in communicating directly with me greatly reduces your chances of getting help.
  • Any proven case of plagiarism or violation of ethical conduct will result in immediate failure of the class. In COMM 455, plagiarism includes but is not limited to: borrowing another person’s ideas without acknowledgment; using paraphrased material without attribution, not citing quoted material; copying from any source and presenting the work as your own; downloading and using as your own any sentences, paragraphs, or entire documents off the Internet, or using anyone else’s assistance (other than the instructor or a lab TA) to fulfill course requirements.

Course Outline and Readings

Note: PLAY refers to the Advertising Playbook text andZA refers to the required textbook authored by Zeff and Aronson. Print and bring the Power-point lecture slide to each class.

Class /

Topic

/

Readings

1 (1/27) / Introduction to Course
Frontpage 2003 Manual and Self-Tutorial / Walking through Course Site
Google search for ‘Frontpage 2003 Tutorial’
PLAY 1
2 (2/3) / Internet as a brand communication medium;
Internet Advertising: History, Industry Structure & Players / PLAY (glossary) & IAB Glossary; ZA Ch. 1
Last day to sign up for PLAY Chapter/ResearchTopic
3 (2/10) / The Campaign Process
Frontpage Workshop /

PLAY 4;

Last dayto sign up for Journal Presentation

4 (2/17) / Integrated Brand Communication (IBC) / Readings List (if applicable)
5 (2/24) / Integrated Brand Communication (IBC) - continues / Readings List (if applicable)
Message / Content Issues I
Q&A for Quiz 1 / Bring Frontpage user manual
Bring Quiz 1 guide
6 (3/3) / Quiz 1 (40 minutes)
Message / Content Issues I (continues) / PLAY 5 8; ZA Ch. 2 & 3
8 (3/10) / Message / Content Issues II / PLAY 6 & 7
9 (3/17) / Research Topic Presentations (1-4)
Journal Presentations (EX 1-5)
Report by the Class 455 Project Team
7(3/24) / Measurement/Research Issues; / PLAY Appendix; ZA Ch. 4
3/31 / Spring Break- NO CLASS
10 (4/7) / Internet Users and Targeting
Research Topic Presentation (5-7) / PLAY 2; ZA Ch.8, 5 & 6; Readings List
11 (4/14) / Quiz 2 (40 minutes)
Media / Placement Issues / PLAY 3; ZA Ch. 7, 9 & 10 (pp. 239-249 only)
Readings List-Class 11
12 (4/21) / Legal, Ethical, and Managerial Issues / ZA Ch. 13 & pp. 327-349
13 (4/28) / Journal Presentations (EX 6-10)
Research Topic Presentation (8-12)
14 (5/5) / Global and Technological Issues
Future of Online Advertising & Brand Communication / PLAY 9; ZA Ch. 12 & 14; Readings List
15 (5/12) / Presentation of Class Website / Journal is due
16 (5/19) / Final Exam (5-6:50 pm) / Bring ES 882 and a blue book