SPECIALISATION
Creative Advertising

DEPARTMENT
Design and Applied Arts

INSTITUTION
NABA, Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti - Milan Campus

ACCREDITED BY
Italian Ministry of Education and Research

TITLE AWARDED
Second Level Academic Degree

CFA
60

LANGUAGE OF TUITION
Italian or English

COURSE DURATION
1 year

The Academic Master in Creative Advertising is a course of study aimed at students from all over the world, that grows future art-directors, copywriters, and account managers for creative agencies.

The didactic method consists of a cycle of meetings with well-established names in the world of Italian and International advertising who, through a typical learning-by-doing approach, will teach the students the main techniques of the creative advertising process.

There is no ideal profile to fit into this Academic Master course: in the world of advertisement, the chances of success are the same for people with a background in literature, law, or economics. On the other hand, crucial soft skills are the ability to find solutions or to apply creative thinking to traditional situations, and of course being passionate for communication all-round. For all “legal” aspects and admission procedures, please refer to the Academic Regulations.

This Master aims at providing the students with advanced training in all aspects of advertisement communication:

• Insight: how to identify fundamental points in the brand/product that is the object of communication, and turn them into the key- stone of a comprehensive communication plan.

• Copywriting: how to translate ideas into effective, persuasive words, and turn them into the soul of the multimedia communication strategy for a brand/product

• Art-Direction: the art of transforming ideas and words into complete and effective communication experiences to promote a brand/service, following the rules of each specific media.

During the course, the students are engaged in different kinds of activities, according to the specific learning goals. The activities may include:

• Front lectures

• Use of tutorials, videos or other multi-media material

• Individual or group projects

• Individual or group study and research

• Active participation to classes through debates and presentations

• Exercises and revisions

• Classroom demonstrations

• Visits to companies and organisations in the relevant professional field

• Seminars and workshops with industry professionals or representatives

• Possible seminars on specific topics

• Individual sessions and tutoring

• Participation in national and international competitions

The reaching of the learning goals is usually assessed at the end of each course through group activities called “project works”, where - guided by the professors - the students have to put into practice everything they have learnt, in exercises proposed by the professors which are often supported by promoting companies. The grade for each groupwork carried out over the year, where the group composition is always different, contributes to the average score for the admission to the final project. The latter work is individual and is evaluated by a committee of 4 professors.

The Academic Master in Creative advertising is an annual course divided in 26 weeks of study, for a total of 34 credits, followed by an internship (in Italy or abroad) of about two months, for 16 credits, and by the final project - worth 10 credits. The total amount of credits for the legal validity of this master course is 60.

Each of the Main Media is the subject of a dedicated course with a related project work: Print, where the professor or a creative couple shows the basics of an efficient and effective campaign on printed media, such as magazines or billboards. Radio, where the students can test themselves with the creation of a radio copy and have the chance to visit a production house. Video is structured over several courses, as it represents a crucial discipline in many forms of communication: video as tv commercial, for social media, for institutional communication, and for viral videos.

Also, there are more general courses such as Strategic Marketing, where the professor shows the necessary techniques to the research and definition of insights and creative ideas. Sound, on the other hand, is a fundamental course to understand the role of music and sound in commercial communication.

Also among the main subjects: Multimedia communication where, after having learnt how to deal with each medium, the students learn how to combine them into a consistent communication plan.

The curriculum of this Master course is also completed by a wide range of opportunities for extra-curricular projects and educational experiences (workshops, collaboration with public and private institutions, activities with visiting professors, etc.).

At the end of this learning path, the students have the chance to challenge themselves by taking part in school-editions of the main creativity competitions of the world: ONE SHOW, D&AD, YOUNG LIONS and CLIO AWARD.

At the end of the lessons term, every student has to complete a period of about two months of internship at a creative agency, graphic design studio or advertising agency, ore at one among some of the main global brands (ex. LEGO) in Italy or abroad, with the goal of acquiring new competencies in their chosen fields, and experience professional practice.

The Master in Creative Advertising graduates possess all the theoretical, technical and design tools to start a professional career in different fields of the advertising system:

• Art director

• Copywriter

• Account

• Social media manager

• Strategic Planner

At the end of the course, successful students will be able to:

• Develop original ideas within their research contexts.

• Prove thorough knowledge of communication metrics and successful KPIs for every medium: video, audio, and digital in all their instances.

• Prove thorough knowledge of the theoretical tools, and in part of the practical ones, that are necessary to create contemporary advertisement campaigns and communication strategies.

• Prove thorough knowledge of the media communication codes, both in their analogue version and in digital contexts.

• Master the typical vocabulary of advertising: campaign, target, goal, brand awareness, etc.

At the end of the course, successful students will be able to:

• Organise their individual or team work by means of applying the most efficient methods, as necessary to the creation of a communication project that concerns different media.

• Develop and carry out projects for brands, products and services in different contexts and with different communication goals: brand awareness, product awareness, positioning, heritage, performance, drive to store, etc.

• Develop and carry out research, design, and creative development projects starting form a client’s brief.

• Act professionally, bringing their own valuable contribution into mixed work teams, characterised by people with very diverse backgrounds in terms of training and experience.

• Organise and professionally interact with the tools used by agencies in the information and context research phase for their clients.

• Develop social media and digital property presence projects for their clients.

• Adopt the most efficient strategies to promote their projects and/or personal profiles.

At the end of the course, successful students will be able to:

Profitably work individually and in a group, develop their organisational skills and deal with different professional figures.

Efficiently communicate their ideas, in a clear and straightforward fashion, as well as the knowledge and reasons behind them, to specialised and non-specialised people, graphically or verbally.

Identify and properly address their professional aspirations, also evaluating the necessary tools and strategies to develop an independent professional career.

Assess their own competence and identify, if any, further study itineraries in the academic or professional environment.

At the end of the course, successful students will be able to:

• Apply their knowledge, understanding skills and problem-solving abilities to new or unfamiliar situations, in wider (or cross-disciplinary) contexts related to their scope of study.

• Analyse communication scenarios, both contemporary and not, through mindfully chosen interpretation tools.

• Interpret briefs both in the scope of international competitions, and within agency contexts. Assess the limits that come from the context, and devise consistent and efficient proposals that take into account the related constraints to pure creativity.

• Apply a personal and mindful approach to projects, based on a strict procedural method and on the consistent use of critical thinking towards the values and meanings of the brief, and of the socio-cultural, as well as work context in which they’ll have to work.

• Apply an innovative and experimental approach to projects, by identifying new possible relations and links among the project itself and its context.

• Develop an aptitude to be flexible and adaptable in their theoretical and design competencies.