Subjects in Advertising

Macleay College's advertising course is the most comprehensive available anywhere in Australia. It has been designed after wide consultation within the advertising industry. It is a hands-on course designed to maximise practical experience in the major media. Students take all subjects listed below which have been designed around three major areas:

• Creative writing and production
• Media buying and scheduling
• Market research and marketing strategies.

Advertising Business Practice
An overview of the business roles of advertising.  Topics include: Advertising within the marketing mix; results of advertising; client/agency relationships; media/agency relationships; how advertising agencies are conducted and organised; influences on advertising costs; agency finances; developing, planning and spending on a campaign; client briefings; presentation skills; strategic planning in an agency.

Copywriting
Designed to develop copywriting skills for the print media.  Topics include: role of the copywriter in an advertising agency; the creative brief; the idea of a strategy; the idea of creativity; stopping power; what makes a good poster; writing readable and effective copy; preparing a portfolio.

Graphic Design and Production
This area covers illustration and graphic design plus the methods and techniques used in print reproduction.  Topics include: principles of visual communication; type and rendering in black and white; space, cropping; processes of print production; finished art and bromide production; artwork preparation; typography as design; logo design and corporate identity; finished art for printing; brochure design; personal stationery; small space ads; artwork/client presentation; preparing a portfolio.

Art Direction
A practical subject on the role of art direction in the print media and television.  Topics include: art direction in print media; visual techniques for illustration; packaging; television commercials; posters and point of sale design; brochures and direct mail; new business presentations.

Television Commercials
A practical subject on the concept, design and production of television commercials.  Topics include: objectives of television commercials; types of television commercials; agency briefs; creation of a commercial; storyboard presentation; writing for television; art direction for television; casting; budgeting; pre-production, production and post-production.

Radio Commercials
A practical subject on the concept, design and production of radio commercials.  Topics include: types of radio commercials; writing copy for radio; use of music and sound effects; recording equipment and techniques; MCA code; writing and recording promotional spots; recording students' own commercials with talent.

Public Relations
A subject designed to show how public relations complements marketing and advertising strategies and to provide students with skills in public relations practice.  Topics include: PR agents and campaigns; PR, advertising and sales promotion; publicity; media conferences; brochures and newsletters.

Media Planning and Evaluation
This subject provides an overview of the principles and objectives behind media space and time buying.  Topics include: types of agencies; interpreting the media brief; target audiences; media selection; planning, timing and budgeting; newspaper and magazine buying and planning; radio buying and planning; television buying and planning; direct marketing; computer analysis of media plan; presentation of media plan.

Media Presentations
Students learn to prepare, structure and deliver speeches and presentations. In doing so they develop skills for communicating with clarity and confidence. Areas of presentation covered are: public speaking; handling television media interviews; pitching ideas and products to potential clients.

Media Law
A study of the essential law for professionals working in advertising in the print and electronic media.  Areas covered include: common law and statute law; Trade Practices Commission; consumer protection legislation; misleading and deceptive practices; broadcast law and regulation; advertising self-regulating bodies; patents, brand names and trademarks; copyright; defamation; disparaging copy; accreditation and agency ethics; therapeutic and restricted-sale products.

Marketing and Consumer Behaviour
An overview of the concept of marketing, the motivations and behaviour of consumers and the place of advertising within a marketing strategy.  Topics covered include: marketing concepts and management; market segmentation; buyer behaviour; marketing planning; marketing within an agency; marketing decision making; market research; marketing systems; creativity in marketing; planning the marketing and advertising program; product life cycle; product policy decisions; new product decisions; price decisions; distribution decisions; promotional and advertising budgets.

Introduction to Management

Topics include: small business definitions; skills of successful business managers; business planning; stress management; time management; market research; staff recruitment and management; financial and accounting principles; dealing with government; business insurance; managing the marketing mix; business structures.

Job Seeking and Career Planning
This subject studies the range of employment opportunities available throughout the advertising industry and encourages students to set personal career goals. Skills developed include: job application letters and telephone calls; professional resumes; job interview techniques; personal job search campaigns; long-term career orientation.

Keyboarding
This subject is designed to develop professionally-acceptable typing speed and standards. The college provides instruction and practice in the use of one of the standard commercial word processing packages. Skills developed include: entering and formatting data, saving files, spelling check, printing.

Word Processing
Experience in preparing copy on electronic systems is now widely expected in the publishing industry. The college provides instruction and practice in the use of one of the standard commercial word processing packages.  The college provides instruction and practice in the use of one of the standard commercial word processing packages. Skills developed include: entering and formatting data; saving files; spelling check; printing.

Computer Layout and Design
Provides hands-on experience to develop competence in the principal computer-based design, layout and typographic system used in the advertising industry, Quark Xpress and InDesign.  Areas covered include: planning a document, working with electronic text, graphic and picture files; laying out documents; selecting and designing type faces; drawing on the computer; importing and manipulating illustrations.

Internet Design and Copy
This area covers website design and production, including the design and layout of online material, development and editing online copy, communication of ideas through graphics and text and issues in navigating and searching the Internet.  Topics include: marketing on the internet; web browsers, hyperlinks and searches; web site development; corporate websites; interactive copy; online advertising.

Click on the arrow to see course overview.

Location: Level 1, 175 Liverpool Street, Sydney, 2000 Postal Address: PO Box 433, Paddington NSW 2021 Australia Telephone, local: (02) 9360 2033 Fax: (02) 9331 7368 Telephone, international: 61 2 9360 2033 Fax: 61 2 9331 7368
Click here to request printed information about the courses.