THE SITUATION ANALYSIS

1. How long should it be?
   Eight to 10 pages single-spaced, plus endnotes. Some of this content can be tables, charts, and graphs. When possible, present information in digestible ways (e.g., headings, bullet points, summaries).

1. How should I cite my sources?
   A specific citation style isn’t required — whatever style you choose to use should be consistent throughout the document. Be clear where you got the information so the instructor and TA are able to check it.

THE CAMPAIGN STRATEGY

1. How long should it be?
   About the same length as the situation analysis — eight to 10 pages single-spaced, plus endnotes. Again, some content should be tables, charts, and graphs, with information presented in digestible ways (e.g., headings, bullet points, summaries).

THE FINAL CAMPAIGN BOOK

1. How should the campaign book be organized?
   You should organize your reports around the key sections and subsections contained in this packet. For example, within the situation analysis section, have separate subsections dealing with the competition, the consumer, the brand, etc. You can write these sections as bullet points or prose, but there should be some narrative stitching it together, while also being easy to follow. Regardless of the approach, be sure to include the rationale for all of your decisions. Assume that the person reading each section is unfamiliar with the supporting details. Make sure to include the evidence to support your decisions and the details behind your thinking. Large amounts of data should be summarized in charts and figures. Be sure to review some of the posted examples from past semesters. Also, be sure to include the names of agency members in the campaign plan so that it’s clear who held primary responsibility for each section.

2. Now that we’re putting the book together, some of the content seems repetitive. Do we include it twice?
   Over the semester, you’ve been developing each of these sections separately and then bringing them together as an agency. You’re finding now that there’s redundant or repetitive information in some of your sections. You should refine it so, for example, details of the stakeholder and public opinion analysis are taken out of the situation analysis, where they might be covered briefly to set the strategic stage, and moved to the public relations and promotions section, structuring the PR and promotions tactics.

3. How long should the campaign book be?
   About 50 pages, including all tables, charts, figures, and examples of creative, PR efforts, and promotions.

4. What if it’s a few pages over 50?
   We won’t stop reading on page 50, but you should do your best to keep it to that limit. The tighter your writing is, the more effective it will be. (Think about it — would you rather read a 50-page report or an 80-page report?) So, condense and rearrange where you can. And any endnotes can be beyond 50 pages.

5. Do PR costs count toward the budget we’ve been assigned?
   No, your budget should only account for the cost of media (traditional, impact, and interactive). PR and promotions costs are separate and estimated; you should provide a budget for what you propose.

6. How many examples of ads do I need to create?
   You should produce print ads and storyboards to serve as examples of the type of creative work you intend to complete over the course of the campaign. You do not need to create multiple examples of each type of advertising (e.g., four television spots, six magazine ads, three billboards, a website, etc.), but this may be a good way of demonstrating how your campaign can be extended and refreshed. At a minimum, you should produce at least five creative examples (more examples will better communicate the creative theme of the campaign). That is a minimum — you SHOULD produce an example for the dominant media being purchased by your Media Director, so coordination is key here. Remember that a smaller number of well-crafted ads are better than many of mixed quality. An effective strategy is to lay out one broadcast ad in a storyboard, then transfer the idea to print or outdoor pieces that reflect the thematic connection among executions. Also recognize how interactive media can be used at various stages in the attention cycle. You also will want to show how the campaign transfers to other media, such as ambient or streaming.

7. How should I produce the ads?
   Creative executions should be as finished and polished as possible, particularly with regards to print and digital executions. We advise that you use graphic editor software, such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, GIMP or XPaint, to design your creative executions. Given the rise of multimodal AI video generation systems, you can also employ tools such as Google’s Veo 3, Open Ai’s Sora, Luma Labs, Pika Labs, etc. Creative pieces should be saved as higher resolution images, with at least 200 dpi (dots per inch). This ensures a higher quality of image when viewing the file as a PDF and when printing a copy of your campaign plan. The minimum pixel resolution of your full-page advertisements should be at least 768 x 1024 pixels. This means, if you have an image smaller than these dimensions (768 x 1024) that you are trying to print as a full-page ad, the advertisement will come out blurry. Creative directors should aspire to 300 dpi, the minimum for professional high-resolution photos.