Module: MCO5001-20 Promotional Media

Level: 5

Credit Value: 20

Module Tutor: Matthew Freeman

Module Tutor Contact Details: m.freeman@bathspa.ac.uk

1. Brief description and aims of module:

Through this module you will explore how the engagement of media audiences operates as a process of promotional construction, one which requires close analysis of the sorts of ephemeral, paratextual and peripheral promotional media materials that exist around and alongside the films, TV programmes and newspapers traditionally privileged within media communications. You will examine the role of promotional media materials such as trailers, interstitials, reviewers, PR agencies, branded leisure attractions and the type of online user-generated content circulating between and beyond the main media texts of the media industries. Through this module you will investigate the role of such promotional media on informing aspects of reception and fandom amongst contemporary audiences. You will examine these promotional media forms both as creative practices of the media industries and as sites of audience reception and engagement.

2. Outline syllabus

Part One: Industrial Practices of Promotional Media

• What is Promotional Media?: Concepts and Histories

• Models of Entertainment Advertising

• Media Branding

• Trailers, Spots, Interstitials and Idents

• Reviewers and PR Agencies

• Merchandise and Leisure Attractions

Part Two: Sites of Promotional Audience Engagement

• Viral and Participatory Advertising

• User-generated Content

• YouTube and Fan Reviewers

• Culture Jamming and Oppositional Advertising

3. Teaching and learning activities:

In the first half of the module we examine the key industrial practices of promotional media. Seminars will be used to further analyse the codes, conventions, practices and promotional functions of particular forms of promotional media across different platforms and industries.

In the second half of the module, you study contemporary reception practices, fan behaviours and online audience activity as sites of promotional audience engagement. Seminars consider how you can go about researching participatory reception practices in the digital age and assess the role of such practices on shaping the meanings and successes of media products.

For your summative assessment, you will research and analyse the functions of both industrially produced promotional media materials and promotional audience engagement sites for a Research Portfolio (100%). This module asks you to evaluate how particular promotional media items work to define the brand meanings of a chosen media text, contextualized in relation to the debates and industrial practices of promotional media studied in the first part of the module and encountered in the wider reading. You must also conduct audience research into your chosen media text and its online fan-base, analysing the role of online audience engagement sites (YouTube, user-generated content, online forums, reviewer fans, etc.) in defining or transforming the cultural value of the chosen media text. Individual tutorial sessions, online feedback portals and interactive presentations will all offer formative feedback.

The Minerva site for Promotional Media will act as a research centre and will contain weekly support materials (lecture slides, essential and further reading) and broader research materials.

Assessment Item 1:

• Assessment Type: Course Work

• Description: Research Portfolio (Including product and audience research and analysis)

• % Weighting: 100%