Hey Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Ads by Luke Sullivan

Recommended:

Read and watch everything you can. Not only should you be well-read regarding the advertising industry, but in order to be an interesting and creative person, you should immerse yourself in various topics - world events, various cultures, history, great writers, philosophy, people, places, etc. Be curious about everything.

This course is designed to make you think strategically about advertising. By learning to think strategically, you can then begin to think creatively about advertising. During the quarter, you will be involved in writing strategies for brands and learning how to execute those strategies into concepts for effective brand advertisements in various media forms.

We begin by exploring strategic thinking and understanding the consumer. Then we’ll move on to look at what is meant by creativity and how creativity specifically applies to advertising problem solving for a variety of brands and services.

The quarter will be spent deconstructing ads, writing strategies, creating concepts, developing ads and presenting your work to your peers in class. Please note: this class is not meant to make you creative, or lead you into a creative career choice, or even provide you a portfolio. The intent of this class is to teach you about the creative process in order that you may be more analytical about the creation of advertisements.

The purpose of this course is to provide an overview of the advertising creative process. This does not mean the focus is on the development of ads. The focus is on developing your critical, strategic and creative thinking. By the end of the quarter, you should have learned:

1. How to research and analyze facts regarding brands.

2. How to write concise and complete strategies for any brand or service.

3. How to use factual information, strategies and creative techniques to develop advertising concepts for various brands.

4. How to apply the principles of advertising copy and design to the creation of ads for any medium.

5. How to be more analytical and critical of your own work.

6. How to be more observant, analytical and curious about advertising in general.

7. How to be comfortable making presentations.