Advertising is the creative expression of strategic persuasive communication. As a marketing function, advertising focuses on the promotion of products, services, companies, organizations and ideas through paid media space or time. Examples of advertising media include magazines, newspapers, television, radio, online, outdoor/transit and alternative.
Students of advertising will develop and hone critical and creative thinking skills. Students will develop an understanding of the intended audience and use that understanding to create relevant messages, using powerful verbal and visual imagery capable of communicating the intended message(s) in order to capitalize on organizational opportunities and solve communication problems. The skills necessary for creating persuasive messages and developing the means to expose those messages to the intended audience will be learned in this program. These skills include the ability to conduct research to measure program needs, develop program quantifiable objectives and focused strategies, implement state-of-the-art tactics and develop the tools to measure a program’s return on investment.
Requirements
Students are responsible for ensuring that they have met all University, College, major and minor requirements.
Students seeking to major in advertising may pursue one of the following options:
- Advertising major (37 hours): prepares students for account management and media buying
- Advertising creative concentration (40-42 hours): prepares students for careers in art direction (42 hours) or copywriting (40 hours); students are competitively selected for this concentration based on an application process
- Brand management concentration (37 hours): prepares students for careers in consumer research/insight development, brand value, etc.
- Integrated channel planning (37 hours): prepares students for careers in media relations, media strategy, etc.
Core Curriculum and General Education Requirements for All Advertising Majors
| Code and Title | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| Freshman Composition (FC) | ||
| EN 101 | English Composition I | 3 |
| EN 102 | English Composition II | 3 |
| Computer Science (C) or Foreign Language (FL) | ||
| CIS 250 | Intro to Design Software 6 | 3 |
| CIS 260 | Intro to Research 6 | 3 |
| Humanities (HU) and Fine Arts (FA) | ||
| COM 123 | Public Speaking 4 | 3 |
| Select three hours in Fine Arts (FA) | 3 | |
| Select six hours in Literature (L) | 6 | |
| Natural Science (N) and Mathematics (MA) | ||
| Select eight hours in Natural Science (N) | 8 | |
| Select three to four hours in MATH 110 or higher | 3-4 | |
| History (HI) and Social/Behavioral Sciences (SB) | ||
| Select three hours in History (HI) | 3 | |
| EC 110 or | Principles of Microeconomics 3 | 3 |
| EC 112 | Honors Prin of Microeconomics | |
| Select three hours in Social/Behavioral Sciences (SB) 1 | 3 | |
| Select three hours in History (HI) or Social/Behavioral Sciences (SB) 5 | 3 | |
| Writing (W) | ||
| Select six hours of W-designated courses 2 | 6 | |
| Total Hours | 53-54 | |
| Footnotes | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Satisfied by MC 101 Intro To Mass Communic in the major; must earn at least a C-. |
| 2 | Must earn at least a C-. Writing core for advertising majors without a concentration: APR 302 Advertising Strategy and APR 423 A+PR Management; writing core for advertising creative concentration: APR 302 Advertising Strategy, APR 322 Copywriting Seminar (only for copywriting students) and/or APR 310 Concepting; writing core for the brand management concentration: APR 302 Advertising Strategy and APR 423 A+PR Management; writing core for integrated channel planning concentration: APR 423 A+PR Management and MC 400-level course with the “W” designation or a course in the student's minor with the "W" designation |
| 3 | Must earn at least a C- in EC 110 Principles of Microeconomics or EC 112 Honors Prin of Microeconomics. |
| 4 | Must earn at least a C- in COM 123 Public Speaking. |
| 5 | SB core can be satisfied by APR 221 Intro To Advertising in the major (if not taking APR 241 Intro to Ad and PR instead); must earn at least a C-. |
| 6 | Must earn at least C- in CIS 250 Intro to Design Software and CIS 260 Intro to Research. |
Advertising Major
All courses in the advertising major and their prerequisites require at least a C-. Be sure to check course prerequisites to ensure a timely progression through the advertising major coursework. Click here for the comprehensive advertising major handout.
| Code and Title | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| Foundation Courses: | ||
| MC 101 | Intro To Mass Communic | 3 |
| JCM 103 | Mechanics of Media Writing | 1 |
| APR 221 or | Intro To Advertising | 3 |
| APR 241 | Intro to Ad and PR | |
| APR 280 | Intro to Audience Analysis | 3 |
| APR 290 | Intro to Channels and Msg | 3 |
| APR 302 | Advertising Strategy | 3 |
| Intermediate Courses: | ||
| APR 300 or | Basic Principles of Design | 3 |
| APR 325 | Social and Digital Media | |
| APR 422 | Channel Planning | 3 |
| APR 423 | A+PR Management | 3 |
| Two APR 400-level or MC 400-level electives | 6 | |
| Capstone Courses: | ||
| One course chosen from MC 401, APR 451, APR 452 or APR 453 | 3 | |
| APR 424 | Advertising Campaigns 1 | 3 |
| Total Hours | 37 | |
| Footnotes | |
|---|---|
| 1 | EC 110 Principles of Microeconomics is a prerequisite to APR 424 Advertising Campaigns. |
Minors for Students Majoring in Advertising
The A+PR department requires each of its students to complete a minor. C&IS students may choose to select any minor outside of the College. Within the College, no overlap of major and minor classes is permitted. Advertising students minor in such diverse areas as communication studies, general business, political science, art, psychology, history, mathematics, cultural studies, and languages such as Chinese, Japanese, Russian and Spanish. A minor is not required if the student pursues a second major.
Residence in the College and in the Major and Minor
While enrolled in the College of Communication and Information Sciences, students must earn a minimum of 30 hours on this campus. A minimum of 12 hours in each major and six hours in each minor must be earned at the 300- or 400-level in residence.
A+PR Department Requirements
Students are asked to make special note of the following Department of Advertising and Public Relations requirements.
Student Responsibility
As an A+PR student, you are here to become a leader — to shape the future of global advertising and public relations in a socially conscious manner. You are here to do the extraordinary, not just what is expected. The faculty expects you to be passionate about your work, fluent in your discipline and engaged as a learner. We are your partners in these endeavors.
It is the student’s responsibility to understand the requirements for the advertising major or minor and to seek the advice of their assigned adviser when choosing coursework. Advertising students receive advisor assignments from Tisch Student Services soon after they declare the advertising major via MyBama.ua.edu, or they may go to 190 Phifer or email tischstudentserv@ua.edu to request one.
Prerequisites
A number of courses within and outside the department require other courses as prerequisites. A student who registers for any course without satisfying the proper prerequisites will be required to drop the course. Before registering, students are advised to review course descriptions for prerequisites and other requirements.
Minimum Grade Requirement
A grade of C- or higher is required in all courses counted in the advertising major or minor. In addition, grades of C- or higher must be earned in all required external courses, including those established as prerequisites for courses in the advertising major or minor and those required directly in the major or minor. In keeping with University policy, when a course is taken more than one time, each enrollment will be counted in the cumulative hours attempted and used in computation of the grade point average, but only the final enrollment may count as credit toward the degree.
Minimum Grade Point Average
A 2.0 or higher overall grade point average is required of all students who have earned 45 hours or more of college credit and wish to transfer into the college. A student must have an overall grade point average of 2.0 or higher in order to register for any 300-level or higher-numbered course in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations.
Advertising Creative Concentration Requirements
Application
Admission to the advertising creative concentration will be selective, and based upon a faculty panel’s evaluation of applications used to assess students’ unique qualifications for entry. The application requires students to submit two samples of creative work as evidence of their capabilities: one that demonstrates facility to solve a specific problem creatively and another that permits a longitudinal examination of their creative thinking ability.
Creative/Artistic Standards
Advertising students admitted to the advertising creative concentration will be required to produce work that meets creative/artistic standards (as evaluated by qualified faculty) in order to continue taking courses in the concentration, consistent with common practice in fine and performing arts programs.
The instructor in each concentration course will evaluate each student at the end of every semester and determine whether or not a student’s work meets these standards. Students whose work falls short will discontinue coursework in the concentration and have the option to pursue the general advertising major, provided that they qualify academically.
Advertising Creative Concentration
The 18-to-20-hour advertising creative concentration prepares students for careers in art direction (42 hours) or copywriting (40 hours); students are competitively selected for this specialization based on an application process initiated after the first phase of coursework in the major. All courses in the advertising creative concentration and advertising major and their prerequisites require at least a C-. Be sure to check course prerequisites to ensure timely progress through the advertising creative concentration and advertising major. Click here for the comprehensive advertising major handout, which contains more details about this concentration.
| Advertising Creative Concentration Courses | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| APR 300 | Basic Principles of Design | 3 |
| APR 310 | Concepting | 4 |
| APR 410 | Portfolio I | 4 |
| Choose one: | 3 or 5 | |
| Art Direction Seminar and Software Applications II and Software Applications III | ||
or | ||
| Copywriting Seminar | ||
| APR 411 | Portfolio II | 4 |
| Total Hours | 18-20 | |
| Advertising Major Core Courses | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| MC 101 | Intro To Mass Communic | 3 |
| JCM 103 | Mechanics of Media Writing | 1 |
| APR 221 or | Intro To Advertising | 3 |
| APR 241 | Intro to Ad and PR | |
| APR 280 | Intro to Audience Analysis | 3 |
| APR 290 | Intro to Channels and Msg | 3 |
| APR 302 | Advertising Strategy | 3 |
| Two capstone courses: | ||
| One course chosen from MC 401, APR 451, APR 452 or APR 453 | 3 | |
| APR 424 | Advertising Campaigns 1 | 3 |
| Total Hours | 22 | |
| Footnotes | |
|---|---|
| 1 | EC 110 Principles of Microeconomics is a prerequisite to APR 424 Advertising Campaigns. |
Brand Management Concentration
The 15-hour brand management concentration prepares students for careers in consumer research/insight development and other brand management careers. Be sure to check course prerequisites to ensure timely progress through the brand management concentration and advertising major. All courses in the brand management concentration and advertising major and their prerequisites require at least a C-. Click here for the comprehensive advertising major handout, which contains more details about this concentration.
| Brand Management Concentration Courses | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| APR 421 | Account Planning | 3 |
| APR 422 | Channel Planning | 3 |
| APR 423 | A+PR Management | 3 |
| APR 453 | Investigation and Insights | 3 |
| APR 454 | Consumer Psychology | 3 |
| Total Hours | 15 | |
| Advertising Major Core Courses | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| MC 101 | Intro To Mass Communic | 3 |
| JCM 103 | Mechanics of Media Writing | 1 |
| APR 221 or | Intro To Advertising | 3 |
| APR 241 | Intro to Ad and PR | |
| APR 280 | Intro to Audience Analysis | 3 |
| APR 290 | Intro to Channels and Msg | 3 |
| APR 302 | Advertising Strategy | 3 |
| Two capstone courses: | ||
| One course chosen from MC 401, APR 451 or APR 452 | 3 | |
| APR 424 | Advertising Campaigns 1 | 3 |
| Total Hours | 22 | |
| Footnotes | |
|---|---|
| 1 | EC 110 Principles of Microeconomics is a prerequisite to APR 424 Advertising Campaigns. |
Integrated Channel Planning Concentration
The 15-hour integrated channel planning concentration will teach students how to strategically integrate media channels from the perspective of both advertising and public relations disciplines in order to enhance client campaign outcomes and to better prepare them to become entry-level professionals in advertising and/or public relations. Be sure to check course prerequisites to ensure timely progress through the integrated channel planning concentration and advertising major. All courses in the integrated channel planning concentration and advertising major and their prerequisites require at least a C-. Click here for the comprehensive advertising major handout, which contains more details about this concentration.
| Integrated Channel Planning Courses | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| APR 325 | Social and Digital Media | 3 |
| APR 422 | Channel Planning | 3 |
| APR 455 | Advanced Media Strategy | 3 |
| APR 456 | Media Relations | 3 |
| One APR 400-level or MC 400-level elective | 3 | |
| Total Hours | 15 | |
| Advertising Major Core Classes | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| MC 101 | Intro To Mass Communic | 3 |
| JCM 103 | Mechanics of Media Writing | 1 |
| APR 221 or | Intro To Advertising | 3 |
| APR 241 | Intro to Ad and PR | |
| APR 280 | Intro to Audience Analysis | 3 |
| APR 290 | Intro to Channels and Msg | 3 |
| APR 302 | Advertising Strategy | 3 |
| Two capstone courses: | ||
| One course chosen from MC 401, APR 451, APR 452 or APR 453 | 3 | |
| APR 424 | Advertising Campaigns 1 | 3 |
| Total Hours | 22 | |
| Footnotes | |
|---|---|
| 1 | EC 110 Principles of Microeconomics is a prerequisite to APR 424 Advertising Campaigns. |
Graduates find employment at advertising or public relations agencies, advertising, public relations, or promotional departments of businesses, industries and government agencies and with traditional and nontraditional media outlets.
Types of Jobs Accepted
Our graduates work as copywriters, art directors, account executive assistants, media sales representatives, photographers, researchers, production specialists, media consultants, management advisers, public opinion surveyors and marketing researchers.
Jobs of Experienced Alumni
Owners, presidents & CEOs of advertising agencies, vice president–corporate communication, professors, art directors, account executives, etc.
Learn more about opportunities in this field at the Career Center