BA (Hons) Advertising (Full Time)

Designed by experienced advertising professionals, this course will equip you with the skills you need to launch a career in the industry.

Course overview

Whether you want to work in a creative team or areas such as account planning and management, you will gain vital hands-on experience that is highly attractive to future employers.

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You will learn how to create advertising campaigns by studying key areas of advertising strategy and planning, integrated marketing communication and conceptual and idea generation as well as art direction and copywriting. Throughout the course you will create your own advertising campaigns, gaining hand rendering and computer visualizing skills and often presenting your concepts in teams. Digital and online advertising features strongly on the curriculum reflecting its growing importance in the advertising industry.

Your campaigns will focus on major brands and multinational businesses, charities and government agencies.

The course has formed close relationships with advertising courses in Europe offering students the opportunity to work on pan-European campaigns in cross cultural agencies.

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Industrial focus

Strong links with the industry help you to make contacts in the advertising world – you'll take part in agency visits and work placements and learn from professionals who give guest lectures and portfolio surgeries. Recent speakers have included the National Advertising Benevolence Society (NABS), the Advertising Standards Society (ASA) and Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB).

Course content

Year 1

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Six core units:

• Introduction to Advertising 
• Creative Thinking and Reflective Learning
• The Language of Advertising
• Creative Concepts and Visualisation
• Marketing Fundamentals
• Inside Brands. 

Year 2

Six core units:

• Application of Creative Problem Solving Techniques
• Integrated Marketing Communications
• Cultural Influences
• Creative Concepts: Art Direction and Copywriting
• Digital Media.

Year 3

Three core units and two options:

• Account Management and Planning Pathway or The Creative Team Pathway
• Agency Simulation
• Dissertation/Creative Project.
  

Options:

• Online advertising
• Direct and Digital Marketing
• Advertising Design
• Not for Profit Advertising
• Work Experience
• Advertising as Persuasion
• TV, Press and Print production.

Why choose this course?

• The majority of the lecturers teaching on the course have advertising and marketing industry experience.
• Support from advertising agencies including EHS Brann, Five by Five, We are Social, Mother and Lean Mean Fighting Machine. This support includes work placements, agency visits, guest speakers and critiques of student work by advertising professionals.
• Strong links with the D&AD (British Design and Art Direction) and YCN (Young Creatives Network) offer students the chance to work on creative briefs supplied by industry.
• Student’s creative work is exhibited every year at the D&AD New Blood exhibition in London.
• Digital and online advertising features strongly on the curriculum reflecting its growing importance in the advertising industry.
• The course has formed close relationships with European advertising courses and participates every year in an Intensive Project which involves students working on Pan European campaigns in cross cultural agencies.
• As part of your studies you will gain an understanding of computers and software such as Microsoft Office, Photoshop, QuarkXpress/InDesign, Dreamweaver and Flash. 

Assessment

Reports, essays, creative portfolio building, 'live' projects, reflective logs, presentations and Year 3 dissertation or creative project. 

Key career skills

Creative thinking, problem-solving, IT skills, art direction and copywriting, report writing, presentation skills, teamwork.

Projects/work experience

The creative units across the course use ‘live’ creative briefs such as Umbro, Big Issue, Thames Clipper, The Army, Bovril, Nike and Open University.