Advertising

Michael Maynard, Ph.D., Chair
215-204-4268
maynard@temple.edu

Department Office:
Annenberg Hall, Room 300
215-204-4268

The Department of Advertising offers students professionally-oriented courses focused on preparing them for a wide variety of careers, rooted in marketing communications in a media-defined global society.

Advertising is a major industry, serving major businesses at the intersection of media and society.  Students in a professional department dedicated to the study of advertising will learn, and graduates will be well grounded in, the arts of marketing communications in a modern, high tech, media intense, interconnected world.  They must comprehend the nexus of economic communications and social communications.  They must be positioned to succeed in professional careers and to respond wisely as citizens, consumers, and community leaders.

Based on the evidence from over 5,000 survey questionnaires, full-time advertising students at Temple University fall into clearly-defined groups:

• Students energetically interested in advertising as a career
• Students who have creative talent and wish to express it
• Students who are broadly interested in media and the power and mystery of advertising
• Students interested in marketing, sales, or business, but who do not wish to major in business or finance
• Students who think advertising will be a fun way to get a job-oriented college degree

Students in the Department of Advertising will learn:

• How to identify appropriate research designs for understanding consumer wants, needs, and communication behavior, and be able to interpret the results for developing brand and advertising strategies
• How to conceive, write, design and produce advertising in all media formats which can be measured against marketing objectives and strategies
• How to establish strategies and to negotiate executions for the investment of advertising dollars in all media vehicles and how to evaluate the results
• How to manage client relations and the process of producing advertising from strategy through production at a profit

The Advertising Department consists of three major tracks:

1.  Creative – Copywriting or Art Direction
Students following the Creative Track will take three advanced courses in either copywriting or art direction.  These advanced courses prepare students for the competitive world of creative writing and creative art direction in the field of advertising.  The Portfolio class provides students the opportunity to work in teams and to produce a professional-grade portfolio.

2.  Management
This track provides instruction for the advertising generalist, the account executive, and the media expert.  In the three advanced management courses, students follow the leadership path in organization, command, and control of the advertising function.  Advanced Media prepares students for the complex, fragmented media landscape of today’s world.

3.  Research
Students following this track will receive training that guides them in conducting surveys, analyzing data, testing copy, studying America’s changing demographics, and attempting to get ahead of the fashion trend curve.  Ways of tracking the success of traditional as well as alternative advertising vehicles and the mass media in general are studied.

Internships or Diamond Edge Communications

All majors are required to take either an internship or Diamond Edge Communications (DEC), our student-run ad agency.  Both offer students valuable hands-on experience in actual production:  ads, logos, surveys, brochures, etc.  DEC works with local Philadelphia clients and sometimes, working in groups, takes on a national advertising competition.  In terms of internships, students will be directed to a number of quality situations where they will have the opportunity to work in relevant professional ways for course credit.

Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts

Summary of Requirements:

1. University Core Curriculum requirements, including completion of Library Skills Test, also known as the Temple Information Literacy Tutorial (TILT).
2. Maximum of 71 credits in the School of Communications and Theater.
3. Minimum of 48 credits in Advertising courses, maximum of 54 credits in Advertising courses.
4. A grade of C or higher must be attained in all required Advertising courses.
5. An overall GPA of 2.0 must be attained in the major.
6. 1000-level Advertising courses are prerequisites to 2000-level Advertising courses; 2000-level Advertising courses are prerequisites to 3000-level Advertising courses; 3000-level Advertising courses are prerequisites to 4000-level Advertising courses.
7. No more than 12 semester hours of transfer credits may be applied to Advertising major requirements.
8. No more than 8 credits may be taken in Kinesiology activities courses.