Individual Assignment Guide
Individual Assignment (20%)
Choose one advertisement or a series of related ads that were released for a specific holiday in China (e.g., Chinese New Year, Children’s Day, Mother’s Day, 11.11 Singles’ Day, Mid-Autumn Festival). The brand can be domestic or foreign, but the ad content must clearly tie to the holiday context.
Individual Assignment Tasks
1. Advertising Research and Marketing Mix Analysis (Goal: Understand how the brand competes in China).
§ Brief brand overview in China
§ 4Ps in the China market
§ Evidence: cite credible sources.
2. Target Audience Identification and Profiling (Goal: Specify who the ad is talking to and why).
§ Primary target: demographics, psychographics, behaviors.
§ Match to the ad: explain how the ad’s message and execution align with the target’s motivations and media habits.
3. Creative Strategy, Tactics and Media Selection (Goal: Deconstruct the ad’s strategic choices).
§ Message strategy
§ Creative execution: copy, visuals, symbols, color palette, casting, setting, cultural cues (holiday rituals, idioms, zodiac, family roles), audio/music, pacing, humor/drama.
§ Media selection fit: placement (short video platforms, OTT, OOH, social), format (15s/30s, vertical vs. horizontal), and how that suits the audience.
4. Campaign Evaluation (Goal: Assess effectiveness using clear criteria).
§ Use appropriate model to evaluate the effectiveness of the ad.
§ Identify strengths and weaknesses with examples from the ad.
5. Redesign Proposal (Goal: Improve effectiveness while staying true to brand and holiday context).
§ Creative changes: propose specific edits to copy, visuals, audio/music/VO, casting, story arc, shooting style, format/length, and placement. Show “before → after” for key frames or lines.
§ Justification: link each change to an identified issue and audience insight. Refer best practices (e.g., early branding).
§ Optional prototypes: Revised storyboard (6–8 frames) with captions. Revised script. (15–30 seconds).
Report Structure
§ Your assignment should be presented in a well-structured report.
§ Cover (your name, Class No., Group No., Student No, brand name, and advertisement link)
§ Advertising Research and Marketing Mix Analysis
§ Target Audience Identification and Profiling
§ Creative Strategy, Tactics and Media Selection
§ Campaign Evaluation
§ Redesign Proposal
§ Reference
§ Acknowledgments
§ if you interview someone or get help from others, acknowledge them
§ AI usage statement
AI Use Policy
§ Allowed, limited AI uses
§ Language support
§ Grammar and clarity suggestions on text you already wrote.
§ Plain-language rephrasing for readability without adding new claims.
§ Prohibited AI uses
§ Research substitution
§ Do not use AI to generate literature, market data, brand facts, or statistics. Gather evidence from credible sources (industry reports, company filings, audited ad databases, academic journals, reputable news). No blogspam or AI-only summaries.
§ Ad content substitution
§ Do not ask AI to watch, summarize, or describe the ad for you. You must analyze the actual ad yourself.
§ Creative generation as a shortcut
§ No AI image/video generation of final creative to replace your own storyboard/script. thinking. Your redesign must reflect your own strategic reasoning; use hand sketches or simple layout tools instead.
§ Citation laundering
§ Do not list sources you have not accessed and read. No AI-invented references. You will be asked to provide URLs/PDFs upon request.
Report Submission
§ Deliverables
§ Format: Double space, 4-6 page report (approx. 1,500–2,000 words).
§ Include: ad links or files, screenshots/stills, and citations for all sources (APA 7th Style).
§ Language: English or Chinese accepted; be consistent throughout.
§ Font: Times New Roman or Songti.
§ Font size: 12
§ Submit a PDF file
§ Be careful about the academic honesty. 20%/30%
§ Due 20:00 on Nov. 8 on Moodle