Advertising Track Options
All students earning a B.S. in Advertising receive a thorough education that combines experiential learning with innovative classes. The advertising curriculum is designed to provide a foundation for problem-solving, strategic thinking, and persuasion techniques that drive audience-centered marketplace communications.
Alumni have graduated from this program and earned positions at some of the top agencies and companies in the world. These alumni have proven that with a degree from our program you have countless possibilities with what you can do. In the spirit of this, students have two track options to graduate with their degree: the Advertising Agency Track and the Persuasive Messaging Track.
Advertising Agency Track
Students in the Agency Track receive a comprehensive education that helps prepare them for any entry-level agency role after graduation. Along with their core requirements, students choose 12 electives credits in the major. After completing the required prerequisites, students then take the Campaigns class, which allows them to experience agency roles and work hands-on before they graduate.
Campaigns
ADV 4800 Advertising Campaigns 3 Credits
An advanced advertising course requiring the student to prepare and produce a complete general advertising campaign. Emphasis is placed on production methods, costs, research and media analysis.
Prerequisites: 4JM ADV; minimum grades of C or better in ADV 4101 and ADV 4300.
Persuasive Messaging Track
Students in the Persuasive Messaging Track have a more customizable educational experience, and graduating students may find themselves in a wide array of industries and organizations. Students will choose 18 electives credits after completing their core requirements. To graduate, students choose a class from a selection of experiential learning opportunities based on their personal interests. These experiential learning opportunities include courses that are more specific or experimental, as well as experiences such as an advanced internship. This culminating experience will take all of what a student has learned, weaving in electives and experience, and put it to use.
Experiential Learning Opportunities
Students must complete one of the following three-credit-hour experiential learning opportunities to fulfill their graduation requirements.
ADV 3943 The Agency Immersion (0-3 Credits)
The Agency is an innovative, real-world advertising and public relations firm at the UF that offers students an opportunity to build their expertise and gain experience in a hands-on environment, working directly with clients and industry professionals. Real-world work in a diverse and inclusive team environment will help you gain relevant experience, hone your skills through through client feedback, gain industry access and perspective, and build a robust resume and portfolio.
Prereq: ADV major and sophomore standing. Must be in The Agency to take this course.
ADV 4302 Great Ideas in Marketplace Communications (3 Credits)
Focuses on two aspects of strategic communications. First: creating, developing and producing advertising and promotional content for real live case studies. Second: evaluating topical issues and industry innovation in media content innovation.
Prereq: ADV 3008 and ENC 3252 and Advertising major of junior standing or higher.
ADV 4323 Branding and Social Media (3 Credits)
The basics of developing an Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) plan, the role the social media marketing plan plays in the IMC, learn to develop a Social Media Marketing Plan with a focus on branding, and the impact of social media on a brand.
Prereq: ADV3403 with a minimum grade of C and Advertising major.
ADV 4710 Creative Bootcamp for Traditional Media (3 Credits)
Create concepts through hands-on experiential learning while working on typical ad agency projects. Explores all the traditional media: TV, radio, print, OOH, guerrilla, and in-store pieces.
Prereq: Advertising major, Minimum grade of C in VIC 3001 and ADV 3001; Co-req: ADV 4101.
ADV 4801 Sports Advertising Creative Campaigns (3 Credits)
Students create a competitive creative campaigns for a sports-related client. Students hone creative skills and learn to prepare professional pitches or presentations.
Prereq: ADV 3001 and MAR 3203, all with minimum grades of C; 3JM, Co-req: ADV 4101
ADV 4822 Ads for Social Good ADV (3 Credits)
This course is a creative, hands-on course in which students work like professionals in a creative department within an advertising agency to generate and develop campaign ideas that advance social purpose. Students practice writing and working from creative briefs, producing strategic and persuasive work across multiple formats and presenting their concepts through critique and collaboration. The course emphasizes persistent idea generation, polished execution, and portfolio development.
Prereq: ADV 3008 and MAR 3023 with minimum grades of C and Advertising major of junior standing or higher.
ADV 4910 Advertising Undergraduate Research (0-3 Credits)
Mentored but self-directed work enables individuals or small groups to explore an issue of interest to them and to communicate their results to others. Depending on the topic, projects may involve inquiry, design, investigation, scholarship, discovery, or application.
Prereq: ADV 3500 with a minimum grade of C.
*Must fill out form and have a supervising faculty member sign it.
ADV 4921 The Cannes Lions Experience (3 Credits)
This course, part of the UF in Cannes Study Abroad Program, offers an 18-day immersion in France with visits to studios, universities, museums, and cities in the South of France, culminating in the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Students analyze award-winning branded communication to sharpen creative strategy and campaign development skills.
Prerequisite: ADV 3008 and MAR 3023 with minimum grades of C and Advertising major of junior standing or higher.
VIC 4314 The Craft of Visual Communications (3 Credits)
“The Craft of Visual Communications” immerses students in hands-on design, covering both traditional and non-traditional advertising techniques. Students explore fundamental design principles across various advertising mediums, from print and digital to experiential and packaging design. This course is designed to cultivate adaptable and forward-thinking visual communicators, empowering students to excel in the evolving landscape of advertising.
Prereq: ADV 3008, ADV 3001 and VIC 3001.
ADV 4930 Special Study in Advertising: Advertising and Digital Brand Storytelling (3 Credits)
This asynchronous, experiential online class introduces students to the power of storytelling and outlines a process for creating and delivering effective brand stories in a digital-first integrated advertising plan. Using a team-based approach, the course will provide a ‘real-world’ agency experience for our students. From the earliest works on storytelling to the latest research, this class explains why and how storytelling works, the forms storytelling takes, and how to develop an integrated strategic marketing communications campaign that leverages the power of story within the reality of today’s digital-first media landscape.
Prereq: ADV 3008 and ADV3403 with minimum grades of C and Advertising major of junior standing or higher.
ADV 4930 Special Study in Advertising: Performance Advertising in the Digital World (3 Credits)
In ‘Performance Ads in the Digital World,’ you’ll move beyond basic advertising and learn to think strategically about driving conversions. We’ll explore the core principles of performance marketing, focusing on data-driven decision making and the interpretation of key metrics. You’ll learn to design effective search and display campaigns, build targeted audiences, and refine your strategies through in-depth analysis of user behavior and campaign data. We’ll delve into the nuances of attribution modeling, retargeting techniques, and A/B testing, empowering you to create optimized campaigns across multiple channels. You’ll also gain insight into emerging trends, such as AI-driven optimization and connected TV advertising, and learn to apply them to your performance marketing strategies. This course will equip you with the analytical and creative skills needed to excel in the competitive landscape of digital advertising.
Prereq: ADV 3008 and MAR 3023 with minimum grades of C and Advertising major of junior standing or higher.
ADV 4930 Special Study in Advertising: Brand Activations (3 Credits)
Brand Activations will provide real-world professional experience by partnering with brands that host activations on the University of Florida campus. Students will help brands in the research and development of promotional plans that supports activation goals, learn how to participate and execute an in-person brand activation, and evaluate brand activation outcomes by measuring the results after the event is complete.
Prereq: ADV 3008 and MAR 3023 with minimum grades of C and Advertising major of junior standing or higher.
ADV 4940 Advertising Internship (0-3 Credits)
Complete an internship in advertising or related field with supervised on-the-job training. Requires 65 hours of work per credit, weekly progress reports, a summary report, and a supervisor’s evaluation.
Prerequisite: (ADV 3008 and MAR 3023 and ENC 3252 and SPC 2608) or ORI 2000 with minimum grades of C and ADV major with a 2.50 minimum major GPA and department permission.
ADV 4941 Advanced Advertising Internship (0-3 Credits)
A structured internship program that is approved by the department as an immersion experience related to the field of advertising. Requires 65 hours of work per credit hour and submission of electronic portfolio including a culminating project from the internship.
Prerequisite: ADV 3008 and MAR 3023 and ENC 3252 and SPC 2608 or ORI 2000 with minimum grades of C and ADV major with a 2.50 minimum major GPA.
ADV 4950 Creative Bootcamp Beyond Traditional Media (3 Credits)
This course continues the development of professional-level advertising portfolios and emphasizes the mastery of strategic, creative and conceptual thinking. Portfolios will be reviewed by creative professionals. Students will also enter creative advertising student competitions to showcase their work.
Prereq: VIC 3001 with minimum grade of C and Advertising major; Co-req: ADV 4101