Social Media: Changing Advertising Education

Creating an academic assignment that closely parallels an advertising agency‟s real world business experience is a challenge, but social media has destroyed many of the barriers that historically limited media options and completion of advertising plans. Because digital media is cost effective and easily used, commercials, videos, podcasts, and multimedia messaging can be filmed, edited, and broadcast, within the time frame of an advertising course This article presents an applied advertising project that incorporates YouTube, Flicker, MySpace, Face book, Twitter, Linkedin, Ning, Tagged, Google +, and other online social networking sites as the foundation for an integrated marketing communication strategy. Infusing social media into communication preferences expands the options students have at their disposal to visually display their ingenuity. Engaging students through media they identify with and comprehend augments learning while their familiarity and expertise with social media increases the likelihood of producing a germane product. This project is an experiential learning process where the real world business client benefits from the creative deliverables produced by motivated, technology savvy undergraduates.