Digital Bootcamp: Teaching Advertising in a Digital Age: Special Report from the AEJMC Ad Division Pre-conference on teaching

The 2015 Advertising Teaching Workshop at AEJMC took advantage of tech savvy agencies and Silicon Valley businesses in the San Francisco area. They were our guides into the evolving digital world of content, media and analytics. This article looks at the big picture from the six speakers and the thinking from the workshop attendees (i.e., Taking it to the classroom) on how these ideas might best be implemented in your classroom.The digital environmentChris Nilsen, an account manager at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, laid the groundwork by addressing how digital communication has evolved from information and commercial transactions to participatory and locationbased. He noted it's no longer about big budgets and mass work but rather about hyper-targeted work that's relevant. As an example he asked, "How do you make mobile interesting?" Importantly, it should be so simple you can describe it in a single sentence.Those of us in advertising can make a difference. In fact, we should be asking ourselves - and our students - what can we do to change the world? For example, Goodby and Structure Capitalists do a Brand Camp, a weekend-long hackathon for start-ups that helps them understand their brands and gives them the tools to grow. By the end of 72 hours the Brand Campers have created idea videos, manifestos, logo designs, digital plug-ins and mobile apps. In exchange, Goodby and Structure Capitalists have a piece of the equity. Win. Win. Win.Taking it to the classroomIdentify problems and how businesses can engage people differently - in ways that affect their lives. Create assignments with the intent of creating core ideas. Look for nuggets of insight that can then be used across multiple applications. Unleash students where they live - in digital. If you have five teams, send them in five different directions. Some agencies say they don't necessarily want to hire advertising majors. Rather, they want problem solvers and creative thinkers. However, problem solving is the essence of what the idea industry - advertising - does for its clients. Advertising programs can fill this void.Leveraging social and mobile media in brand buildingVee Tegen, founder of Team Robot, notes that no one likes advertising, but they do like brands. The internet has dramatically changed the brand/consumer relationship with consumers turning to the web for information when making purchasing decisions. This session explored various ways to connect with the customer and build brands across multiple platforms. One obvious way is if someone tweets at you, then respond. Information tweets are challenging because people tend not to respond. Think of it this way: If you were at a party, what would you say? Tegen's alter ego, Mr. Robot @AskMrRobot, is a person similar to how Chester Cheetah is a person. It allows you to feel like you're talking to someone rather than to a faceless brand.Tegen notes that if you have to pay for social media, you aren't doing it right. You want to know what works, and you want to build your brand personality. Her advice: let go, and let people play with your brand. Find a good person with experience and pay them well to answer your tweets. Or you may need a team that works as "one" personality. Your brand will be more strategic, and that's a good investment. The big takeaway: Less paid advertising. More of a real personality through social media. Twitter is a conversation. Have fun with it.Taking it to the classroomRetrain your students' social media tainted brains. Make clear that social media isn't one-way advertising - it's a two-way conversation. Use it like you're at a party, but always be intelligent. Know that engagement isn't the same as brand impact. Don't ignore questions on social media. Consider gender choice. For example, Mr. Robot is the brainchild of its female CEO. Or what is the difference in the buying of Mrs. versus Ms.? Bring into strategy, creative and ethics classes how to protect yourself, your client and your consumers. …