CREATIVE ADVERTISING
14 ON-DEMAND LESSONS
6 JAN 2025 – 21 FEB 2025
DURATION:
7 WEEKS
14 ON-DEMAND LESSONS
Creativity takes teamwork. Learn how to merge copy and visuals into creative messages that exceed your campaign goals.
Yi Ma & Ryan Brown, Leo Burnett’s creative leaders, will explain the duality of successful advertising through collaboration between copywriters & art directors. Join them!
THIS COURSE IS FOR YOU, IF...
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YOU WANT TO LAND A CREATIVE ROLE AT AN AD AGENCY
Is getting into art direction or copywriting your goal? Delve into each role’s responsibilities, challenges, and expected portfolio pieces.
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YOU HAVE A CREATIVE BACKGROUND BUT NEED GROUNDBREAKING IDEAS
Learn strategies that will highlight your client’s brand while building your own brand as a creative leader. Think outside the box, add value, and stand out.
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YOU WANT TO BE THE LEADER YOUR CREATIVE TEAM NEEDS
Become versed in creative processes to direct your team, both remote & on-site, from the brief and beyond the launch.
Our students work in 1600+ companies worldwide
Ready to take the lead in a creative team?
Learn the unique skill set required to perform exceptionally as a Creative Director - from spotting and nurturing innovative ideas, to delivering a strategic vision with tight deadlines.
Achieve, upskill and lead by example
Our live online course has been designed to thoughtfully combine team leadership skills with hands-on expert guidance, interactive workshops, extensive case studies and live industry insights from an expert instructor and 7 guest speakers.
Ignite your imagination with creative brainstorming techniques for visuals and copy. Learn how to select effective media channels and create your campaign project.
Can you break down the elements of a 360 campaign? Analyze key elements of briefs and reverse engineer an ad campaign designed by your instructors.
You’ll be tasked with creating a 360-degree ad campaign. That includes the logo, podcast ad copy, social media campaign, and other facets that will allow you to exercise your visual and written vision.
- Creative Director, Leo Burnett
- Over 12 years of experience in viral campaigns for high-profile clients including Samsung, McDonald, Comed, and Chicago Chinatown
- Worked his way from a Jr. Art Director into leading creative direction
- Recognized as a Leo Burnett worldwide Star Reacher and a Founder of Leo Burnett Asian ERG group: AZNCY
- Balances work life as a hip-hop dancer and ABS graffiti crew member
- Senior Copywriter, Leo Burnett
- Over 9 years of experience as an agency and freelance copywriter working for clients like John Middleton, ComEd, Bacardi, Basil Hayden, Marlboro, E&J Brandy
- Recognized as a Leo Burnett worldwide Star Reacher and a board member of Leo's only Black resource group
- Supports diversity & inclusion and helps people from diverse backgrounds get into the ad industry
- Balances work life as a DJ, lyricist, music producer, YouTuber, and a member of a hip-hop group (Souls of Liberty)
MODULE 1
Starting the Creative Process
Welcome to your first day on the team. As a writer or art director, you have to learn the basics. Let’s talk about who makes up a creative team, their roles, and the tools you’ll need to be a good teammate.
- Designer vs. art director vs. creative director
- Core art director skill set
- Art director’s tools
- Editor vs. copywriter
- Core copywriter skill set & tools
Assignment #1: Create your creative team or decide if you prefer to work on the course project independently.
You know good ideas don’t come out of thin air, they start with the brief. Let’s read the brief and get to work. We’ll take a look at different elements to help you understand how to start working creatively.
- Key elements of a brief
- Plan of attack: timing and meetings
- Case study: Dissecting a brief (ComEd)
Assignment #2: Review one of the two provided briefs for an ad campaign and try to develop 10 ideas.
Before we get to work, you have to learn the brand. Let’s talk about how using a brand’s identity creates great work for them.
- Brand identity & brand model
- The visuals & voice of the brand Identity
- Brand Case Studies
- How to develop brand positioning from scratch
- Case Study: Reading a brandbook (Starbucks)
Ok, so we’ve got branding down. Let’s break down our target audience and dive deeper into our goals. We’ll explore a quick case study and talk about how to build our campaign.
- What is an ad campaign?
- Know your target audience
- Understanding deliverables & responsibilities (art director)
- Understanding deliverables & responsibilities (copywriter)
- Case Study: Establishing the pillars for an Ad Campaign
MODULE 2
Ideation & Execution
Alright, it’s time to brainstorm! Let’s start with the visuals. Mood boards, storyboards, sketches, etc…it’s time to work.
- Brainstorm rules & methods
- What to bring to a brainstorming session
- Shaping ideas through visualization
- Visualization tips
- Post brainstorming session deliverables for art director
Assignment #3: Generate ideas & inspirations for your project by submitting at least one adcept board sketch. If you work on the Metro High School brief, additionally submit at least one sketch of their new logo.
Writers, it’s our turn! Let’s kick around some words/phrases and get our minds churning out creative copy.
- Copywriting brainstorm rules & tips
- Understanding your writing process
- Finding inspiration
- Creative techniques
- What to present & what not to present in your brainstorm
As copywriters, it’s our job to be sure about every word that the brand uses. Let’s go over some of the finer points of being a copywriter like writing headlines, creating big ideas, and managing your time.
- Understanding your style as a writer
- The science behind copywriting
- Writing big ideas and concept statements
- Writing copy for different platforms
- Understanding your workload & writing for multiple brands
Assignment #4: Generate big ideas and headlines for the podcast, print, and OOH ad of the campaign, and create 2-3 options for presentation.
Our brief told us what we’re delivering for this campaign, but let’s take a closer look at each media type. Let’s make sure everything works together to create the most appealing campaign.
- Types of media
- Developing various ad formats
- Print, social, OOH ads, email, TV & experiential ads
We’ve got pictures, we’ve got words…but how do they work together? We’re going to talk about bringing all of the creative elements together.
- How to build a 360 campaign
- Deciding what creative elements to keep
- Key visuals & campaign name
- Case Study: Breaking down the elements of a 360 Campaign (ComEd)
- Power up visuals with concise copy + Examples
Assignment #5: Create the remaining campaign deliverables, including one print ad, one OOH execution, podcast ad, video concept, and social media campaign idea.
Let’s have our first internal review and take a look at how we can refine our ideas as we get closer to our presentation date.
- Holding peer reviews
- Quality feedback vs. critique
- Efficient feedback methods
- Check and evaluate the brief and brand
MODULE 3
Communications & Career
When you work at an agency, you have to learn how to interact with everybody. We’re going to talk about working remotely & setting up tasks.
- Creative leader: role & functions
- Key stages and tasks
- Art of delegating & managing remote teams
- Defining key team roles
- DE&I for creatives
The ideas are coming together. Let’s talk about putting the deck together and selling our ideas. Making sure we tell a story and cover all of our bases.
- Presentation framework
- Telling a story with the brief
- Making words fit: storytelling & compressed narrative
- Simplifying the message
- Deck outside of the box
Assignment #6: Compile your integrated ad campaign into a pitch deck, covering the brief, big idea write-up, deliverables, and an appendix with all executions on one slide.
Let’s get hired. We’ll cover making a portfolio, interview tips, and what to look for based on your career goals.
- Career advancement options
- Developing your unique vision
- Developing a portfolio website
- Demo. Portfolio creation on Squarespace
- Portfolio & interview tips
Assignment #7 (Extra Credit):
Put together a killer portfolio highlighting your skills as an art director or copywriter. Submit it for review.
IT’S TIME TO PITCH! Let’s explore how to develop your signature presentation style and handle questions and objections like a pro.
- Finding your signature presentation style
- Yi’s presentation styles
- Ryan’s presentation styles
- How to handle questions and objections
What our students say
"I loved learning from two incredibly passionate and knowledgeable instructors. I also appreciate having had the opportunity to work with like-minded professionals from across the country, and the level of communication, service, and attention to detail has been phenomenal!"