The graded elements of this class entail both individual and group activities. Writing is central to most of them. Two projects require a presentation to the class and two involve creation of a Web site. Your work will be graded in terms of content, grasp of concepts, creativity, AND command of writing and speaking skills.
Papers are due in class on the date shown for each project. Late papers are accepted only with written explanation of a medical or other valid emergency. Presentations can be given only on scheduled dates. In fairness to your classmates work that does not meet space/time limitations specified below will be marked down. All papers must be typed. If you do not have access to a personal computer, use the computer labs on campus.
Project groups will be formed during the second week of classes. During that class period as well as the following class, you will be given time to meet with your group and discuss trends in Cyber Advertising. Each student should prepare for that discussion by reviewing the last six months of Advertising Age. Focus on the Interactive section. Copy an article or two that you think illustrates and/or explains some key trends in computer-mediated advertising. Advertising Age is available both in the Knight Library and in the School of Journalism and Communication Reading Room.
As a group, you should make a list of key trends. Then prepare
a two-page written report that summarizes those trends. This
is a short paper, but it should be more than just a list. Include
a brief analysis of why these trends are important. Attach
copies of three Advertising Age articles with your two-page
paper. The group should select the three articles which best support
and/or illustrate the points that you agree to focus on in
the paper.
Write a two-page essay that address the following questions:
Is the Web good for advertising?
Is advertising good for the Web?
You may draw on readings that we have done in class and/or on
your own observations of the Web. Explain and defend your answers
to these questions.
This project may require some delegation of tasks among the group members. By this point in the term, you should be getting acquainted with the members of your group and getting a sense of who is strongest in various types of tasks. There are three primary parts to this project.
Not all members of the group will participate in all aspects of this project. It is probably impossible to meet the time deadline for the presentation and have all members of the group present. Work as a team to make sure that everyone participates in the project in some way.
Write a 5-7 page paper that analyzes a group of Web sites. Select a related group of sites (e.g., food products, advertising agencies, automotive products, software developers, etc.) Sites must be commercial in nature. This means you are looking for sites that are focused on brand-building and or sales of products and/or services.
Select 3 sites for analysis. Print the opening screen for each site and include these printouts as an appendix to your paper. Provide a brief summary of each site. Keep these descriptions brief. The primary portion of your paper should be analytical rather than descriptive. Among the questions you should consider in your analysis are the following:
If you do not already have a personal Web site, prepare a site you might use as an online supplement to your resume when you are searching for a job in advertising or a related field.
If you do already have a personal Web site, create a site for a non-profit organization. For example, you could create a site for a campus club or a community group. If you need assistance in identifying a non-profit organization for this project, talk with one of the instructors.
Because there is no Web-authoring prerequisite for this class, we recognize that there will be a wide range of ability among students. You do NOT have to be an experienced HTML programmer to complete this project. You DO need to illustrate basic skills. Your Web site should include:
On the day that this project is due, turn in a one-page paper that provides the URL for your site and briefly explains how your Web site has met the above criteria.
Each group will prepare a Web-based advertising campaign for CLIENT NAME. The client will visit class early in the term to brief you on the company's goals and objectives for the Web site. At the end of the term you will present a finished mini-campaign to the client. This presentation will include three elements: the Web page, a written report, and an oral presentation. Not all group members have to contribute to all three elements. However, all members of the group should contribute approximately the same amount of time and effort to the team.
Since the philosophy of this class is that we're all learning together, it makes more sense that we think about the project cooperatively rather than competitively. We hope to end up with different sets of recommendations from each group, but you shouldn't feel that absolute secrecy between groups is essential. Our final critiques of the projects will assess strengths and weaknesses (if any) rather than attempt a rank order.
The Web page does not have to be fully functioning. However, you should have enough graphic and textual information to provide the client with a good idea of what the finished site will look like. We will try to get the client to provide us with as much information as possible so that you can have actual text and graphics to work with. The Web page should include all or most of the elements described above for the personal Web page project. In particular, you should work on utilizing the interactive capabilities of the Internet as you develop this Web page. You may either provide a disk with the HTML files or post the Web site to an appropriate server.
The written report should include the following:
As with any marketing effort, the site should tie-in with current activities and build brand equity. Your plan should be written as a business recommendation and submitted on the presentation date. Please supply 3 copies. The report should be 7-10 pages in length.
The oral presentation should include a "walk-through" of the Web site that you have created. You should also provide a brief summary of the points that you addressed in the written report. You have a total of 20 minutes for the presentation. Make sure that you provide a balanced focus on both the strategies and the tactics of the campaign.
You earn 5% of your grade based on participation in class. Records will be kept of contributions to seminar discussions. Also, review the Course Outline for specific topics that you should be prepared to discuss. In some cases, you are asked to send e-mail to the class list (cyberad@jcomm.uoregon.edu) prior to a class period. These activities will all be considered in calculating your participation grade.
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Copyright © 1998 by Charles Frazer.