Self-funded Undergraduate Programmes

This course introduces the principles and practices of advertising media planning and the process of evaluating and selecting media platforms to meet specific strategic marketing and communication goals. The latest media industry developments, media scene and use of data in Hong Kong and globally will also be examined.

A broad spectrum of theoretical development is explored encompassing interpersonal, group, organizational, mass, public communication and digital communication theories. Application of the theories is an important component of the course, especially in making the ideas relevant to the context of Chinese society and Hong Kong experience in order to provide a foundation to meet the dynamic changes in the discipline of communication.

This course deals with the concepts and techniques of advertising copywriting by introducing their importance for advertising copy. By establishing a basic understanding of advertising approach, starting from a brief to an advertising campaign, conceptual thinking and practical works in both traditional and digital media will be demonstrated simultaneously.

This course introduces the fundamental principles in public relations and advertising. The instructor will guide students to get familiar with the concepts of strategic management of public relations, ethics, brand promotion, integrated marketing communication (IMC) in the digital era. In addition, as agencies play a key role in many business operations in Hong Kong, students will be introduced to the traditional and digital agency structures and operations.

The technological advancement has revolutionized the process of developing content for output to screens and printed pages. Moreover, technology has made it easy for individuals to access printing, designing, and publishing skills all at once. This course provide platform for students to engage in the process of computer-based publication design. The process includes the concept creation, development and manipulation of graphics (including Brand Identity), typo-graphics, and photo-graphics in the digital space, as well as from the output of images and integrated designs to the print solutions. This course will empower students to become effective communicators using an array of graphics and print technologies and knowledge.

This course introduces students to the principles of marketing in the global economy. There is a strong emphasis on how organizations create customer value through marketing strategy planning. Students will be able to learn buyer behaviour, market segmentation, product planning, service quality, promotion, pricing, and managing channel relationships. The challenges for marketing in the digital era will also be covered.

This course examines various theoretical approaches for prospective young managers to appreciate various communication phenomena in organizations in the digital-driven era. Analyses of organizational communication problems with particular attention will be paid to in fact-to-face and mediated interpersonal communication settings will be conducted. Emphasis will be given in evaluating the applicability of existing communication theories to the local organizational practices in the contemporary digital media-based organizational environment.

The students will learn basic concepts of research and research methodologies as applied in communication.

Taking a social scientific approach, this course is designed to provide students with foundational theories of persuasion and their applications to everyday situations in the digital era. Specifically, this course focuses on audience analysis, attitude formation, the attitude-behaviour relationship, and changing attitudes and/or behaviours. The first part of this course will present students with the necessary groundwork for the understanding of attitudes such as background, theory, and measurement. The second part of the course will examine the various theories of persuasion as well as persuasion techniques. Students will be introduced to how these learned theories & techniques can be applied in the development of persuasion campaigns, including marketing, advertising, political, and public campaigns in the digital era.

This course provides an in-depth examination of advertising as a form of social communication in contemporary society. Stressed are the meanings and functions of advertising in modern culture and advertising's psychological, ideological, and sociological implications. Relevant ethical dimension and responsibilities are considered.

The project allows students to develop an independent, integrated marketing communication campaign (IMCC) proposal for an actual client. Under the guidance of an adviser, students are assigned to work on an account (the client), research the competitive situation, identify the target market, and construct a specific part of an integrated marketing communication campaign such as creative, media, public relations, internet marketing, multi-media presentation, or other promotional activities. To enhance students’ learning and experience in developing an IMCC proposal, emphases will be placed on communication with the client, environmental scanning, consumer research, creative idea generation, preparation of creative tactics and execution including but not limited to graphic design layouts, storyboards, short videos, television commercials and so on in addition to the preparation of a written IMCC proposal. Students can also choose to conduct an original research study on a specific topic in the communication areas including but not limited to public relations, advertising or marketing. To enhance students’ learning in research study, emphases will be placed on literature review, critical analysis of related conceptual framework(s), parsimonious research method and methodology, sampling and data collection, and significant analysis of data with relevant recommendations for the communication field. Qualitative and quantitative analytical tools, e.g. NVivo or SPSS, will be used. Students should strive for a standard for publishing in academic journals for their research outputs. For both types of projects, students should provide solutions to various communication activities in the digital era.

The project allows students to develop an independent, integrated marketing communication campaign (IMCC) proposal for an actual client. Under the guidance of an adviser, students are assigned to work on an account (the client), research the competitive situation, identify the target market, and construct a specific part of an integrated marketing communication campaign such as creative, media, public relations, internet marketing, multi-media presentation, or other promotional activities. To enhance students’ learning and experience in developing an IMCC proposal, emphases will be placed on communication with the client, environmental scanning, consumer research, creative idea generation, preparation of creative tactics and execution including but not limited to graphic design layouts, storyboards, short videos, television commercials and so on in addition to the preparation of a written IMCC proposal. Students can also choose to conduct an original research study on a specific topic in the communication areas including but not limited to public relations, advertising or marketing. To enhance students’ learning in research study, emphases will be placed on literature review, critical analysis of related conceptual framework(s), parsimonious research method and methodology, sampling and data collection, and significant analysis of data with relevant recommendations for the communication field. Qualitative and quantitative analytical tools, e.g. NVivo or SPSS, will be used. Students should strive for a standard for publishing in academic journals for their research outputs. For both types of projects, students should provide solutions to various communication activities in the digital era.

This course is designed to provide views on current professional practice in the advertising and PR fields. Students will learn how to develop generic skills and competencies necessary for the industry in managing projects, time and client requirements.

This course investigates the concepts of crisis management, the relationship between public relations and the handling of crises, and the theories and techniques of planning for crisis communications for young and corporate leaders of an organization of any kind. This course will concentrate not only what an organization should do during a crisis, but also on what strategic public relations can do to prevent a crisis from happening as well as advanced skills in transforming crises into opportunities.

This course introduces students to the principles and practice of event management required for a young event manager. Students will explore the management and planning of a variety of special events—festivals, celebrations, and fund-raising programmes—and analyse the key processes involved in staging a successful event.

The purpose of this course is to nurture leadership skills in managing the process in planning, executing and evaluating an integrated marketing integrated marketing communication campaign. Students will examine in depth the steps in researching, planning, implementing, and evaluating public relations and advertising campaigns and programmes; to analyse case histories; and to design appropriate PR and advertising campaigns and programmes for selected client and sponsoring organizations. Emphasis is on equal competency in traditional, digital and hybrid media settings practical application and integration of public relations and advertising techniques in developing a strategic communication programme.

The project allows students to develop an independent, integrated marketing communication campaign (IMCC) proposal for an actual client. Under the guidance of an adviser, students are assigned to work on an account (the client), research the competitive situation, identify the target market, and construct a specific part of an integrated marketing communication campaign such as creative, media, public relations, internet marketing, multi-media presentation, or other promotional activities. Students can also choose to conduct an original research study on a specific topic in the areas of public relations or advertising. For both types of projects, students should put an emphasis on providing solutions to various communication activities in the digital era.

The course will develop marketing communication manager’s cultural competency in dealing with cross-border consumers and clients. This module covers some important theories and practices which underlie the study of intercultural communication. Structures and barriers developed within and between cultures as they affect communication will be examined.

This course provides instruction and writing practice designed to develop the professional-level bi-lingual writing skills expected of beginning public relations practitioners, emphasizing the different approaches required for particular audiences of traditional and digital media.

This course aims to equip students with the latest skillsets for development of their careers in the communication field, including but not limited to, advertising, public relations and marketing in the digital era. The course will emphasize on the latest development and technology to enable students to connect with priority publics and target customers in the digital environment with the most advanced and sophisticated manner. The topics covered in the course establish the necessary contexts in production and performance for developing the digital solutions. Introduction to various social media and the related advertising strategies with the help of the big data analysis; planning of total digital campaign based on performance; search engine management and optimisation; Internet analytics and other evaluation methods for digital performance and various software applications for production of different content formats for the digital media will be covered.

This course uses interdisciplinary approach to investigate the practices and challenges of government and government related organizations, as well as non-profit organizations in the marketing of social services. The course discusses the characteristics of social services marketing, the design and implementation of social services campaigns, social services branding strategy, the different marketing communication tools application in different disciplines of social services marketing, and the evaluation of social services marketing efforts.