MKTG 4320: ADVERTISING
management of advertising, publicity & sales promotion strategies


Herbert Jack Rotfeld
Professor, Department of Marketing
Harbert College of Business
Auburn University, Alabama
246 Lowder Hall
          rotfehj@auburn.edu
          http://webhome.auburn.edu/~rotfehj
          http://webhome.auburn.edu/~rotfehj/essays.html

Office hours for Spring Semester 2019 (January 9 to April 26)
Tuesday & Thursday, 7-7:40 a.m.; 11 a.m.-noon; Wednesdays 8-10 a.m. AND whenever the door is open (most weekdays from 7 a.m. till early afternoon)
Course prerequisite Grade of C or better in MKTG 3310
Required Materials
There will be a book to read, and a packet of supplemental articles that must be read, and email lecture supplements that must be read, too. Because too many students get to their junior or senior years of college education foolishly clinging to the mistaken idea that copying from the screen is the same as taking notes on a class (even though it isn't), students are required to buy the slides containing all on-screen verbiage, thereby enabling everyone to take what should be the important class notes that would help them remember and learn the lessons of the class discussions. Class slides are illustrations to assist in understanding the different elements of the course: no slides be from publisher-provided collections will be used, no slide will be read to the class, and no test will ask for a recitation of a list, especially not a list shown in a slide
Specifically, Four Required Purchases
1) Advertising, MKTG 4320, McGraw-Hill Create compilation, ISBN-10: 1-307-37765-3 This is drawn from Belch & Belch, Advertising & Promotion, 11th edition, 2018, ISBN 1259548147. In case anyone finds a used book that's less expensive than the compilation, the reading assignments also provide the chapters of the original book. This is a different book than the one used during Fall semester 2018
2) 12 Scranton #882-E (smaller sized forms) and pencils for quizzes
3) Required readings that supplement text
4) class slides
→ both (3) & (4) are sold at Sofy Copy Center, 145 E. Magnolia, & are changed from Spring 2018
Required Online Materials - Canvas will not be used
1) Additional required reading assignments and videos available via syllabus links in class outline below
2) University email will convey assignment updates, plus required reading materials that include lecture supplements
3) Online discussion questions provide most of the questions that students will be called upon to answer during class
Important Dates
 In this course, "Syllabus Day" is not a thing

 Test #1: February 12
 Test #2: March 21
 American Academy of Advertising International Conference, Dallas: March 28-31
 Comprehensive final exam: There might be a combined section final exam, and if not. . . .
8 a.m. class: Thursday, May 2, 8-10:30 a.m.
9:30 class: Wednesday, May 1, 8-10:30 a.m.
As per university policy, the final exam will be administered at the assigned time. An earlier test will not be granted for students wanting to depart for jobs, job interviews, graduate school interviews, family vacations, to assist a roommate recovering from an end-of-term bar crawl, or to spend time with a strange woman with two hearts who stepped out of a 1960s-era blue British police box that materialized in front of your apartment and that you discover is smaller on the outside than it is inside. (If I have to explain this last one, never mind.)

A signed class contract is a precondition for anyone to be considered present for class, to take any tests, or to have scores counted for any quiz or homeworkMission Impossible Mouse
Grades
will be based on point totals, not averages, percentile scores or letter grades on each item. There might be extra credit values from an additional quiz, or extra points on any individual quiz, test or the final exam - hence the notation of "at least" by the number of possible points - but the availability of extra credit points doesn't change the points required for each letter grade that will be determined by the sum of the raw scores from the following items:
    Quizzes on assigned readings of 6 points each (at least 60 points)
    2 tests of 30 points each (at least 60 points)
    Comprehensive final exam (at least 80 points)
A = 180-200 points; B = 160-179 points; C = 140-159 points; D = 120-139 points; F =  0-119 points; FA = either 0-119 points & absent from all or part of more than 25% of the non-test classes, or an unexcused absence from any test or the final exam. "Absences" includes arriving late, leaving early, stepping out for a significant part of the period, or unauthorized use of electronic equipment. Further details on absences are outlined in other parts of the syllabus and in the class contract

Course Learning Objective is an understanding of the business strategy options that fall under the advertising budget, the mass communications tools of advertising, publicity and sales promotion: the business context for decision making; common business activities & terminology; perspectives applied when making optimal decisions; and the rationale behind common less-than-optimal practices. Anyone who signed up for the class because the title created an expectation of an entertaining semester of viewing Super Bowl commercials or revealing a “secret” formula for writing consumer-manipulating advertising copy, they were mistaken. The course should create a different perspective for students that they will no longer view mass media content as part of the audience watching television commercials, driving past billboards, or waiting for their online video choice to start, but instead, as managers trying to inform and persuade audiences whose decisions are made for a variety of different reasons.


A personal objective for any course should be to have the people in the class actually learn, which isn't as simple as you might think. Since that objective can't be met by last-minute night-before-test cramming that is quickly forgotten before the start of the next semester, the assignments and grading are designed to generate learning that will be retained


The MKTG 4320 Prime Direction
is a requirement for all course work presumes that the business' managerial decisions makers are not dishonest, bigoted, lazy, cheap or dumb and that consumers are not mindless gullible fools.


TRIGGER WARNINGis because of a fact of the advertising business: advertising decision makers are rarely (if ever) members of their target audiences. This does not prevent them from communicating with those audiences, but a failure to recognize that the fact exists does. This means that they must make decisions based on what a target audience might perceive and understand, not in terms of what personally appeals to the decision maker. As a result, the mass communications managers' success can require constructing strategies for products, services and consumer choices with which the manager might personally disagree. This class is rated TV-MA, student discretion is advisedSimilarly, class discussions and videos will use examples of products or services some people in the class would not buy, using mass communications strategies that would never consider them part of the target audience, with the potential result of course materials that some students might find personally offensive. In MKTG 4320, as in business, it is unavoidable. In addition, video segments are used for their entertaining approach to explaining class materials in a way that the instructor is not capable of doing. Many are taken from advertising-supported television programs for which copyright allows "fair use" in a classroom. These video segments are not screened to protect adult AU juniors and seniors from exposure to expletives heard on FX, TBS, SyFy or CBS networks, scatological references, and formerly innocent metaphors or acronyms whose current colloquial coital innuendoes might not be discerned by anyone who hasn't read current Urban Dictionary definitions

All tests and assignments will require writing. Well, the quizzes are multiple choice, but everything else is essay writing, meaning critical thinking and explaining stuff. If you are tired of classmates hurting your grade by being unwilling or unable to pull their weight on a group project or presentation, there won't be any group work on egalitarian team projects. Slackers or others who have managed to give themselves a pharmaceutical lobotomy will have to fend for themselves. Tuition-wasting education-avoiders who came to campus primarily devoted to parties, to cheer for sports teams, or to go to parties to cheer for teams, or who would rather be elsewhere but the family made them go to college, all would probably see this link as a “how to” manual

Quizzes will be multiple-choice, using a Scranton #882-E (the smaller sized forms), or a quiz might be replaced by a short homework assignments. There will be at least 11 quizzes of least 6 points each and the worst score will not count toward the total. If there are 12 quizzes, the sum of the scores from the best 11 will be used for grades. Use the online and in-packet discussion questions for guidance on how to study the readings in preparation for class meetings & quizzes. A quiz can be administered on any day that a topic is under discussion, with the first one at the start of the second class.

Quiz scores will always be returned before the start of the next class meeting, after which students may come to my office to read (not write notes on) the answer key for the most recent quizzes. No key will be kept on hand longer than five business days after scores are returned

No make-up quizzes will be given because a make-up unannounced quiz is not possible. A student who is absent for a quiz day for any reason will have that quiz be the one dropped. Students that have a valid excuse for missing multiple quizzes resulting in less than 10 quiz scores, documentation of excused absences must be provided for all quiz days missed, not just those in excess of the one dropped. If such materials can't be provided for all quiz dates missed, the additional missed quiz is considered unexcused for grade purposes. Students who arrive late might not be allowed to take the quiz on that day, as will students who ran out to make a last-minute Scantron purchase. For homework to be accepted, students must be present when it is collected.

Tests & the Final Exam will be essay format. The two tests will each cover material from a specified third of the course. The comprehensive final exam equally covers all materials from the entire semester. On test days, students who arrive late will not be allowed to start the test once anyone has completed the test and has left the room.

Test scores will be returned before the start of the next class meeting. For one week after the test is returned, students may come to my office to read their scored test if they bring the card that was returned with their test score.

For an absence to be considered excused, prior notice must be provided for expected or planned events. Unexpected problems or emergencies require direct notification as soon as possible by phone or email - not later in the day - with documentation provided as soon as you are capable of returning to campus. Delayed notifications will not be accepted. A documented acceptable excuse for either of the two tests allows for either a make-up test early the next morning or to have the point value of that test shifted to the final exam. The only conditions under AU policy [in Student Policy eHandbook] are considered excused absences from exams.
thinking during class is not optional
Classes will always start on time in the business sense of the term: at the time designated for the start of class, students are expected to be in their seats and ready to work.
Attendance & class participation
are not part of the grade point totals except for turning in homework, taking quizzes, or distinguishing grades of F from FA

Other items, plus things the university requires be in every syllabus
→ All electronic devices are to be turned off and put away during the class period unless a reasonable exception is requested in writing & approved. Various options are under consideration to deter or penalize violators
→ Videos in class & assignments are entertaining, but their purpose for the course is not to entertain. They will be discussed as examples of course materials, or convey course-relevant information in a more interesting fashion than other presentation options. Even segments by comedians provide detailed information their staff researched and documented, information that can be part of any test or quiz, with the obvious exception of videos running before 8 a.m. or 9:15-9:30 that are considered "pre-class entertainment"
→ If you find it difficult to take notes and be an active participant in class at the same time, request permission to audio record class for notes to be transcribed later. The lectures exist under university and personal copyright, which means that any recordings made of the class are for individual use as a study aid and are not to be sold, publicly posted or otherwise distributed on any forum without written permission from the instructor.
→ Anyone with difficulty completing tests during the time limits of the class period can request an early start time, a consideration that is not tied to any requirements from the Office of Accessibility
→ Students are expected to do their own work in the classroom on quizzes and tests as per the Auburn University student academic honesty code in the Student Policy eHandbook (Title XII) Academic honesty violations or alleged violations of the SGA Code of Laws will be reported to the Office of the Provost, which will then refer the case to the Academic Honesty Committee.
→ If you have a disability, you must meet with me in my office to discuss possible accommodations after you electronically submit the approved accommodations through AU Access. Course requirements will not be waived, but accommodations will be made to assist in meeting the requirements, provided you are timely to develop a reasonable accommodation plan. Please note that the most commonly requested accommodations are in this syllabus as available to anyone in the class without regardless of concerns of the Office of Accessibility, 1228 Haley Center.

Web sites with job-hunting information, or general information on the business
→ Advertising Education Foundation (www.AEF.com), with resources on job hunting in advertising, public relations and research
→ Kantar Media, a large marketing and media research group, whose job search pages have general information on the business (http://www.kantarcareers.com/)
→ Advertising Age online (adage.com) the best trade newspaper covering the business
→ Medicine and Madison Avenue home page (http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/mma)
→ CGP Grey's YouTube channel of short explanatory videos on varying subjects (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2C_jShtL725hvbm1arSV9w). Very few of his short videos are related to anything in this course, but they are interesting, informative, entertaining and short

Page numbers are at top corner of page in gray boxReading assignments use "TB" to indicate pages from the textbook, which is a compilation drawn from a larger book. The page numbers refer to those of the compilation found in a gray box at the outside top corner of each page as indicated by the green arrow of the sample page to left of this paragraph. The reading assignments below will also note the chapter of the source material textbook, Belch & Belch, Advertising & Promotion, 10th edition (2015) ISBN 0078028973. "Packet" references required content found in one of the packets from Sofy Copy Center.

The "recommended" readings are listed following suggestions from former students of this class who felt that they would help you understand the materials.

Links for online articles marked by "**" require that you use an AU computer or a computer/phone/tablet using the campus Wi-Fi network. Being logged onto an AU internet address is recognized by the publication's system which then gives access to their subscription-required web pages. This also works if you are logged into the system of any other organization with a subscription, or  if you are away from campus, it works then same if you are logged into the AU VPN.
The pictures throughout this syllabus are relevant to the nearby content, and most have links provided for your interest or amusement
In MKTG 4320, "Syllabus Day" is not a thing. Topics will be covered in roughly one per week, though some topics take more class time and other topics will be covered in a day.

I. Context for Decision Making (topics 1-4)
Topic 1) Background & History of Marketing Communications
        TB, pg. 2-41 [Belch & Belch ch 1]
        packet: "The Coming of the Ads" (Rotzoll)
        packet: "The Reality of Integrated Marketing Communications"
        recommended: The Stealth Influence of Covert Marketing
        recommended: **Mine is the Blue One on the LeftAdvertising does not have magical properties
Topic 2) Organizations
        TB, pg. 44-85 [Belch & Belch ch 3]
        packet: "Use and Abuse of Minority Agencies Expertise"
        packet: Spec definition [needed to understand the next article]
        packet: "Spec This"
        recommended: **Creative Women in Advertising Agencies
Topic 3) Communications Theories
        TB, pg. 88-165 [Belch & Belch ch 5 & 6]
        recommended (with video links): Fooled by Your Own Brain
        recommended: **Pragmatic Importance of Theory for Marketing Practice
        recommended: "Hey, Gang, Let's Put On a Show!"
Topic 4) Setting Goals/Objectives
        TB, pg. 168-186 [first half of Belch & Belch ch 7]
        recommended: **Mistaking Demographic Segments for People
- Test 1 -
II. Mass Communications Strategy (topics 5-7)Hypnotic pattern to control readers' thoughts
Topic 5) Creative Strategy
        TB, pg. 212-246 [Belch & Belch ch 8]
        packet: Garfield, all of his ad reviews in packet
        recommended: Advertising Only a Copywriter Could Love
Topic 6) Media Strategy
        electronic handout, "Media Strategy Terms"
        electronic handout, "Understanding Advertising Clutter"
        electronic handout, ".....The Nature of Vehicle Options"
        TB, pg. 248-283 [Belch & Belch ch 10]
        recommended: **Is There a Strategy Behind Buying Advertising time and Space?
Topic 7) Budget Setting
        TB, p.186 (bottom of page) to p.210 (second half of Belch & Belch ch 7)
        → this is the remainder of the chapter started under Topic #4
- Test 2 -
III. Media Vehicle Options & Strategy Effectiveness (topics 8-12)Math helps you figure out the answer
Topic 8) Media Options: Broadcast
        electronic handout, "Media Strategy Terms"
        electronic handout, "Understanding Advertising Clutter"
        electronic handout, ".....The Nature of Vehicle Options"
        →the above 3 readings are the same handouts from topic #6
        →READ ALL 3 AGAIN!
        TB, pg. 286-325 [Belch & Belch ch 11]
Topic 9) Media Options: Print
        TB, pg. 326-361 [Belch & Belch ch 12]
Topic 10) Media Options: Support Media
        TB, pg. 362-387 (LO 13-3); 389; 391 (LO 15-1)-396, 398, 415 (metrics)-420
                [most of Belch & Belch ch 13 & 15]
        packet: "Letters to My Late Dog" (Horne)
        optional: [the not-assigned pages of the two textbook chapters]
        recommended: **Movie Theaters' Suicide-by-Advertising
Topic 11) Sales Promotion & Publicity (but not PR)
        TB, pg. 422-458; 464-467; 486-489; 498-499
                [most of Belch & Belch ch 16 & 17]
        optional: [the not-assigned pages of the two textbook chapters]
Topic 12) Measuring Effects & Predicting Strategy Effectiveness
        TB, pg. 502-540 [Belch & Belch ch 18]
        packet: "The Enigma of Copy Testing" (Weilbacher)
             (Are you reading the discussion questions?)
        recommended: **Snapshot or Painting?

Celebrate, the end is now in sightIV. The Past As Prologue
Topic 13) Semester Review: a Perspective for the Future
 If you have trouble sleeping: Distinguished Erskine Lecture

**Links for these articles require that you use an AU computer or a computer/phone/tablet using the campus Wi-Fi network. Being logged onto an AU internet address is recognized by the publication's system which then gives access to their subscription-required web pages. This also works if you are logged into the system of any other organization with a subscription, or if away from campus, and logged into the AU VPN.

Herbert Jack Rotfeld
Professor, Department of Marketing
Harbert College of Business
Auburn University
246 Lowder Hall
rotfehj@auburn.edu
http://webhome.auburn.edu/~rotfehj
http://webhome.auburn.edu/~rotfehj/essays.html