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*The following information is taken directly from the syllabus of this IMC course. While it is our intent to supply students with an accurate overview of the class, please note that the information was used in a previous session and, thus, is subject to change without notice.*

Course Description

Advanced Creative Strategies takes what you’ve learned in your basic Creative Strategies course to the next level. This course places an emphasis on the creative aspects of executing an IMC strategy for a client, including visual branding, verbal branding, creative direction and art direction. You will be asked to apply your recently acquired strategy building skills to create a visual launch strategy for a new shelter title in the magazine industry for a national client - Time, Inc. Most of the lessons and discussion in IMC 625 will revolve around conceiving, developing, expressing and executing a coherent visual identity built around a comprehensive IMC strategy.

Objectives

• Conceive, develop and express complex visual ideas using appropriate professional and technical vocabulary.  
• Translate your visual ideas and concepts into a coherent visual identity that reinforces the marketing objectives, builds the brand, and establishes tone, style and image.
• Apply professional creative direction and art direction techniques across diverse media: print, television, and new media.
• Conduct in-depth research and outline a case study of the brand, it’s mission, voice, visual identity and target market.
• Art direct a mock photoshoot for your marketing campaign.
• Write, design and produce advertising and promotions that effectively express the visual identity you have developed for the brand based on your research.
• Demonstrate graduate-level written communication skills.

Grades

There are a total of 385 points possible in this course. Grades will be based on the following:

• Nine weeks of discussion questions worth 5 points each (45 points total).
• Seven exercises worth 20 points each (140 points total).
• A final assignment worth 200 points.

Participation

I'll post one discussion question per week. In turn, you will be required to:

• Post one answer to the weekly question (due every Wednesday by 11:55 p.m.).
• Respond to a total of four of your classmates’ discussion postings (due every Friday by 11:55 p.m.).
• Read all of the postings each week.

Assignments

Each assignment is due by 11:55 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on the listed date. No late work will be accepted.

Final Project

The final project for IMC 625 requires that you thoughtfully build on each exercise to develop a coherent and appropriate visual campaign for the brand. This will require that you thoroughly research the brand, content (its “voice”, mission and lifestyle message) and its target audience, and that you execute the visual and verbal creative work to express the brand across a comprehensive IMC plan. This includes: 1) researching the product, market and competition and devising a plan to effectively differentiate the brand visually in the marketplace, 2) identifying the brand’s “voice”, content and lifestyle message and creating an appropriate visual expression of this content, 3) determining media and articulating technical specifications for a visual campaign; and 4) developing and designing advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing and public relations recommendations and creative pieces that are visually and verbally unified.

Weekly Schedule