| Semester 1 Credit Value: | 20 |
| ECTS Credits: | 10.0 |
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None
1. To introduce students to themes, issues and ideas involved in media and communications industries.
2. To allow students to learn from a structured analysis of, and reflection on, communication strategies.
3. To enable students to develop basic key skills through practical exercises.
4. To familiarise the student with the theories and practices of underpinning professional communication processes.
This module provides students with an introduction to how information can flow from media and communication industries to its various audiences and stakeholders. Through an understanding of a range of practices, such as public relations, advertising, sales promotion and direct marketing, students will be exposed to the various communication channels, and will start to understand which communications techniques work best in which situation. The module culminates in studying how to integrate the different communications media together to get the best possible results.
The module will cover an introduction to public relations, advertising, sales promotion, direct and digital marcomms within a professional communications context. We start by looking at the purposes of communications and study basic theories such as PESO, DRIP and AIDA. We then move onto ask who do you need to communicate with, considering segments, audiences, publics and pluralism, all within the communications context. The next stage is to ask what is the message, where we look at branding, logos and symbols, and use motivation theories such as Maslow to assess what we are we saying. Once this generic groundwork has been covered, we then move on to look at the specifics of advertising, public relations and the other marcomms tools, looking at how they work individually and together.
A student successfully completing the module should be able to demonstrate that they:
a) are aware of the basic principles, practices and techniques involved in public relations, advertising and other marcomms techniques.
b) can identify the main paradigms and key concepts underpinning the questions: who do you want to communicate with and why, what do you want to say, and how will this be received by the various audiences and stakeholders?
c) can recognise the tensions and difficulties in planning and managing a communications strategy with the often competing demands of public relations, advertising and the other marcomms techniques in the professional communications process.
A student successfully completing the module will have developed their skills in:
a) Communication strategies
b) Analysis and research
c) Linking theory to practice
d) Team working
e) Independent learning and working
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 11 | 1:00 | 11:00 | Interactive non-synchronous lecture materials delivered online |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 11 | 1:00 | 11:00 | Present-in-person, applying theory to current scenarios |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 2 | 20:00 | 40:00 | Research into specific sectors and current campaigns, reviewing current activity |
| Guided Independent Study | Directed research and reading | 11 | 2:00 | 22:00 | Watching specific programmes, reading specific titles and visiting specific websites |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Workshops | 11 | 1:00 | 11:00 | Present-in-person activity to check learning & apply theory to practice |
| Guided Independent Study | Reflective learning activity | 11 | 2:00 | 22:00 | Combination of tasks, quizzes and discussion boards. |
| Guided Independent Study | Student-led group activity | 2 | 4:00 | 8:00 | Group work, to devise communications for a specific case, competitive pitching of ideas |
| Guided Independent Study | Independent study | 1 | 75:00 | 75:00 | Linked to major communications activity and campaigns throughout semester 1 |
| Total | 200:00 |
Students will have the opportunity to develop their knowledge and understanding about both the theory and practice of communication within a professional context. Each session provides an introduction to the underlying theories and concepts of a specific marcomms area, with an exploration of how well, or not, these are articulated in the everyday world. Students will be expected to research and discuss current communication campaigns, in class, online and in their own assessment tasks.
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | 1 | M | 50 | Review and report on a current communications campaign, 2000 words |
| Written exercise | 1 | A | 50 | Take-home case study. Apply communications theory to a case study situation and make recommendations in notes format. 2000 words |
Students will be required to select a current communications campaign and analyse it in terms of intended audience, message and channel using the key themes of rhetoric, language, and other communication materials (such as logos, signs, photos etc). This will allow students to show their understanding of how theoretical communication models are used in practice.
The second assessment, the take-home case study, will assess whether students have understood both the range of, and integrated use of, communications tools available by providing them with a case study and asking them to select and justify which media they will use to solve a particular communications need.
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Disclaimer: The information contained within the Module Catalogue relates to the 2021/22 academic year. In accordance with University Terms and Conditions, the University makes all reasonable efforts to deliver the modules as described. Modules may be amended on an annual basis to take account of changing staff expertise, developments in the discipline, the requirements of external bodies and partners, and student feedback. Module information for the 2022/23 entry will be published here in early-April 2022. Queries about information in the Module Catalogue should in the first instance be addressed to your School Office.