Class Schedule: Fall 2002 #1304
Instructor: Ron Smith, Professor of Public Communication
E-mail: smithrd @ buffalostate.edu
Phone: 878-6039
Fax: 878-6730
Office: Bishop 221
Catalog Description: Writing techniques for publicity and advertising; practice in purposive communication including news releases, pamphlets, publicity campaigns, advertising copy and layout, type selection, and media selection.
Prerequisites Courses:
COM 301 and COM 308 or permission of
instructor
Texts:
(Recommended) Advertising: The Business of
Branding (Bendinger)
(Optional) Strategic Planning for Public
Relations (Smith)
Purpose: This is the capstone course for the students preparing
for careers in public relations, advertising, and related disciplines. The
primary goals of this course are that, upon completion:
- the student will
demonstrate mastery in preparing and presenting a public relations or
integrated communication proposal to a client
- the student will
successfully plan and participate in a news conference
- the student will be
able to explain the ethical issues surrounding the development of a public
relations or advertising campaign
- the student will demonstrate
proficiency in conducting secondary and primary research in the development of
a campaign
Professor's Overview: This is a rigorous course with high
professional and academic standards. It is the final capstone course for every
public communication major. As such, it is your final proving ground before
leaving Buffalo State and entering the professional world. If you find that the
intensity of this course is beyond your interest or ability, you may want to
reconsider your plans to enter a profession where intense, challenging,
exacting and critically important work may be a daily activity. Careers in
public relations and advertising demand the very best, and they are highly
competitive fields with dozens of applicants for every job available. I expect
that this will be your most demanding course this semester, and I don't
apologize for that because COM 418 is such an important aspect of your intended
profession. Amid the rigor and high standards, however, I also hope that you
will enjoy this class. Have fun with the assignments; experience the thrill of
a tough job well done; and realize that your best efforts will pay off. And
don't ever hesitate to ask for assistance or explanation of the course
material. Personally, I'd like to see every student excel in this
course.
As a student in COM 418, you will be treated as you can expect to be treated in the work place; that is, as an adult professional, each responsible for your own performance.
Attendance: As a communication professional, you will be expected to be on the job every day. And as a student, you learn best when you come to class. Therefore, you are expected to come to every scheduled class meeting on time and prepared to participate. Missing more than four classes means you miss more than 15 percent of the class meetings; this will prevent you from getting higher than a C grade.
Assignments: Deadlines are a significant aspect of the communication professions, and in this class they will be strictly enforced. You will receive ample notice of assignment deadlines. All writing assignments must be typed and proofread. Assignments are due on the assigned day, either in class or in the instructor's office prior to 5 p.m. Late assignments will be accepted only until the next class, with a 10-point penalty. No assignment will be accepted beyond the one-class grace period. If you are ill or otherwise incapacitated, you may e-mail your assignments or have them delivered to the professor's office.
Participation: This class is meant to be an exercise in cooperative learning. You are expected to participate fully in each class. Participation involves more than mere physical presence. You are expected to be actively involved in this class. Take the initiative in discussion and projects; ask relevant questions; contribute to the over-all learning environment of this class. You are not in competition with other students.
Each student begins this class with the presumption that s/he is an average student capable of upper-level undergraduate work. Students will determine their grade from this basis according to their academic performance. You should plan on the following weekly workload schedule: 4 hours in class + 2 hours reading and studying + 2-4 hours meeting, planning and writing. That's a minimum of 8-10 hours a week.
Academic integrity is expected of each student; college guidelines on academic misconduct will be enforced. This includes issues such as plagiarism, cheating, and other breaches of academic and professional ethics.
Because of the professional nature of this class, standards of grammar, punctuation and spelling will be expected in every writing assignment the student submits. Neatness and a professional look also are expected.
Examinations ... 0%
No exams are scheduled for this course
Team Project 1 ... 30%
10% ... Group written report (grade
will be the same for all team members)
10% ... Group presentation (grade
will be the same for all team members)
10% ... Individual performance grade
(based on confidential evaluations by other team members)
Team Project 2 ... 30%
10% ... Group written report (grade
will be the same for all team members)
10% ... Group presentation (grade
will be the same for all team members)
10% ... Individual performance grade
(based on confidential evaluations by other team members)
Individual Work ... 30%
5% ... Article review from Public
Relations Strategist
5% ... Article review from academic journal (public
relations)
5% ... Article review from Advertising Age
5% ...
Article review from academic journal (advertising or marketing)
10%
... Worksheet on public relations & integrated communication. See
Worksheet of Terms
Participation ... 10%
This part of the final grade will
include the professor's assessment of each student's participatory role in the
class. It will involve objective data such as attendance and timely submission
of assignments, as well as subjective assessment of the student's attitude,
interest level, and so on.
General Grading Criteria
Team Project 1 (Public Relations)
Client: Big
Brother/Big Sister
Issue: Recruitment & overcoming negative
publicity
Team Project 2 (Integrated Communication - Public Relations &
Advertising)
Client: Child & Family Services Foundation
Issue: Organizational image & promotion/marketing of programs
Agency Teams: Each student will be assigned to a team, which will develop a comprehensive campaign for the client.
Just as your employer will hire whom s/he will and assign employees to work together on various projects, so too will I assign students to teams for the midterm and final group projects. These assignments will be based on a variety of criteria, including my knowledge of your strengths and skills and my assessment of the variety of skills needed within each group. Personal friendships or lack thereof will not be a consideration.
If an individual student finds it necessary to withdraw from the group or, for good reason, is asked by the group to leave, it will be up to the individual student to arrange a swap with another class member, subject to my approval. Each agency team will develop its own name and logo. Teams are encouraged to identify various roles for each member. For example, a Public Relations agency team might include an account manager, research director, special events manager, community relations director, etc. An Advertising agency team might include an account manager, research director, creative director, media buyer, etc.
Project Content & Format: Smith's Nine Steps for Public Relations and Strategic Communication can serve as the basis for class discussion and team preparation for these campaign proposals. This process outlines the four classic steps of campaign development: formative research, strategy, tactics and evaluative research.
Research: General client research will be done on a class-wide basis, so each agency team will be working from the same set of facts. As time permits and interest dictates, each team will be free to conduct additional research.
Strategy: Each team will outline a plan of effective and creative strategy to address the client's needs. This strategy will form the basis of the campaign tactics. For the public relations client, the strategy should consider both proactive and reactive opportunities, and it should consider effective ways to frame and communicate the client's message to the publics. For the integrated campaign with an advertising component, the strategy should include the element of what the recommended textbook called "effective surprise." In both scenarios, the strategy should involve a clear statement of goals and objectives and a clear articulation of the campaign message, theme, and any relevant slogans, taglines, jingles, and so on.
Tactical Recommendations: Each team will develop a full set of communication tactics, ranging (as appropriate) from interpersonal communication channels, organizational media, news media, and advertising/promotional media. This package of tactics will be accompanied with a complete budget and an implementation schedule.
Evaluation: Obviously it's not possible to evaluate a campaign before the tactics are implemented. However, a campaign plan should include detailed steps in how the evaluation will be accomplished.
Campaign Book: Each team will present a professional presentation book. It should be printed in full color, bound, and typed (single spacing); it should have page numbers. This campaign book will offer a 1- or 2-page executive summary of the proposal; introduce the agency and its members; outline the complete proposal; provide an appendix outlining and summarizing the research; and provide appendices with tactical implementations such as news releases, brochures, artwork for advertising media, etc. Campaign books COM 418 usually run between 30 and 40 pages.
Presentation: Project 1 will be presented in the form of a news
conference, with team members playing appropriate roles as they announce the
campaign to solve the client's problem; the team also will prepare a media kit
for the news conference. Project 2 will be presented in the form of a client
meeting, in which each competing agency will pitch its proposal to solve the
client's problem. Both presentations will be videotaped.
Public Relations Strategist: Select a feature-length professional article (not a news brief) from this magazine, which is on reserve in Butler Library; selected articles are available online at Public Relations Strategist. Photocopy the article you select. Write a review of about 500 words (2 pages double-spaced). .
Advertising Age: Select a feature-length professional article (not a news brief or breaking news story) from this publication, which is available in Butler Library; selected articles are available online at Advertising Age. Photocopy the article you select. Write a review of about 500 words (2 pages double-spaced.
Academic Journals: Select two academic reports from a journal such as the Journal of Public Relations Research, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Journal of Marketing, Communication Quarterly, Human Communication Research, Journal of Communication, Journal of Applied Communication, Journal of Applied Communication Research, or Journal of Advertising Research. These journals are available in Butler Library. One of these reports should be oriented toward public relations, the other toward advertising or marketing. Write a review of about 500 words (2 pages double-spaced for each article.
Grading Criteria for Article Reviews:
25% ... Summary &
overview of main points
25% ... Objective Analysis: Does the information
seem balanced? biased? well-presented? logical? credible? current? reliable?
relevant? What is the author's apparent purpose, and did s/he accomplish this?
Who is the apparent audience for this article? How do graphics support the
message?
25% ... Subjective Conclusions: What did you learn from this
article? Does the information agree/disagree with what you already knew about
the topic? ...with what you expected? What is your personal evaluation? Why?
What are your reasons about recommending or not recommending it?
25% ...
Writing mechanics
A Technique for Producing Ideas. James Webb Young
Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual. French, Powell &
Angione
PR Strategies & Tactics. Wilcox, Ault &
Agee
Strategic Planning for Public Relations. Ron Smith
Strategic Program Planning for Effective Public Relations Campaigns.
Laurie Wilson
Creative Strategy in Advertising. Jewler
Public
Relations Cases. Jerry A. Hendrix
Advertising Age. Weekly
newspaper of marketing & advertising
Successful Advertising Research
Methods. Haskins & Kendrick
How to Write a Successful Advertising
Campaign. Taylor
Business First. Weekly Buffalo business
publication
Public Relations Tactics. Monthly publication of the
Public Relations Society of America
Using Research in PR: Application to
Program Management. James E. Grunig
Essentials of Advertising
Strategy. Schultz & Tannenbaum
The Practice of Public
Relations. Frazier Seitel
Becoming a Public Relations Writer. Ron
Smith
Effective Public Relations. Scott M. Cutlip, Allen H. Center,
& Glen M. Broom
Connect with Ron Smith's home page.
http://faculty.buffalostate.edu/smithrd