This course is concerned with strategic approaches to managing advertising and sales promotion programs. Topics include selecting target audiences; setting program objectives; developing and implementing creative strategies, and judging creative media; use of sales promotion tools; testing, evaluating, and revising advertising and promotion programs.

• The regulatory and social environment: governmental and industry regulation
• The marketing management context of advertising and sales promotion: roles and objectives of promotion programs; agency/client relationships; the strategic focus of promotion programs; appropriating, budgeting, and allocating resources; the advertising/sales promotion planning process
• Analyzing target audiences and setting communication and action objectives
• Developing creative strategies: strategic considerations in creative development; strategy research for assessing efficiency
•  Media strategy, scheduling, and vehicle selection: reach &  frequency relationships; selection of primary and secondary media; the concept of minimum effective frequency; evaluating media vehicles; scheduling media; adapting media plans to specific geographic settings
• The strategic use of sales promotion: setting action and communication goals; the interaction of sales promotion with advertising, distribution, and price; target audiences and objectives for sales promotion; interactions among trade, retail, and consumer sales promotion; techniques and tools of trial and loyalty in consumer sales promotion
• Research and testing advertising and sales promotion programs: testing communication effects; settings for pre testing; management judgment methods; media and vehicle research
• Adopting an integrated marketing communications orientation; organizational, planning, and execution implications