Course Syllabus
Content Strategy & Development 3357 Fall 2015
Course: Branding and Social Media
Class Time: Tuesday, August 26th 5:30-8:30 PM Room GB 307 TR LAB: 5:30-8:30, Room GB 218
Location: U of H Sugarland Campus: The Albert and Mamie George Building Instructor: Erica Reid
Email: [email protected] Mobile: 2817881024
Office Hours: To schedule meetings outside of class email me and I will respond promptly
Text and Support Materials:
-Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff
-Chasing Cool: Standing Out in Today’s Cluttered Marketplace by Noah Kerner and Gene Pressman
In-class Handouts:
-The Cross-Cultural Report by Jeffrey Bowman of Ogilvy & Mather -Wowing the Millenials: Creating brand equity in the wine industry
-Social Media? Get Serious! Understanding the functional building blocks of social media -Facebook Page Best Practices
-Twitter Tool Kit
-An Introduction to Pinterest for Business
-The Marketer’s Crash Course in Visual Content Creation
Course Description: The course explores branded content strategies across multimedia platforms (social media, web, e-campaigns, and mobile media). Students will be introduced to frameworks and practices on content creation and strategy and analyzing its performance. Organization: This is a lecture-based course with one guest lecture. Students are encouraged to be actively engaged and present some of their findings to the class.
Course Objective: This course provides a framework for students to navigate the fast changing environment of the web and social media under the lense of content creation.
After completion of this course, the student should be able to 1.) Discuss the elements of a content strategy with employers and/or possible clients. 2.) Research and curate visual inspiration boards 3.) Develop personas for audience development 3.)Produce, manage and distribute messaging across various social platforms 4.) Gather data from analytics reports and
tell a story. Evaluation:
Participation/Attendance 35% Individual Presentation 30% Final Team Project 35% Grade Policy 100-90% = A 89-80% = B 79-70% = C 69-60% = D Below 59% = F Classroom rules:
We’re all adults, so let’s respect each other. Please refrain from texting during the lecture. Schedule
Date Reading Topic/Activity
Aug 25 (week 1) /
TR Lab: Review and critique student and teacher portfolios http://www.slideshare.net/mw
eigel/how-to-not-fail-16647530
Baratunde Thurston- Tracking the Success of a Digital influencer
https://www.youtube.com/wat ch?v=ydIumAMjjwg
-Student and teacher introductions
-Review of the syllabus
Sept. 1 (week 2)
TR Lab: In class student portfolio presentations
Hand out Microcosmic God The Groundswell Ch. 1 & 2 Chasing Cool Ch. 1
Introduce Microcosmic God Discuss important concepts in Chapters 1 and 2
Presentation- The
Groundswell: A discussion on people creating, people collaborating and people connecting
4 C’s guideline
Handout study Questions for Groundswell Chapter 3 and 4
TR Lab: Quiz on Groundswell Ch. 3 and 4
-Discuss MicroCosmic God and how it relates to the current trend on the web
-The story of Wikipedia https://www.youtube.com/wat ch?v=A1YYv_J2csk
the Groundswell Ch. 1 and 2, and Chasing Cool Ch. 1 -Presentation: Digital Brand Identity
-In-Class Project- Archetype cards
Sept. 15 (week 4)
TR Lab: Quiz on Chasing Cool Chapter 1-4
Watch Episode of Mad Men
-Discuss reading Chasing Cool Ch. 2 and 3
-Cross Cultural Report
A discussion on digital trends / Introduce Content Strategy Part I
Presentation- Cross Cultural Report
Consumer Target and Persona Presentation Sept. 22 (week 5)
TR LAB: Archetype personas project
-The Groundswell 5 and 6 -In class reading- Wowing the Millenials- creating brand equity in the wine industry Adweek Article Disucssion on Instagram and imagery http://www.adweek.com/news/ advertising-‐branding/how-‐ instagram-‐changing-‐way-‐ brands-‐look-‐photography-‐ online-‐and-‐beyond-‐ 166385?utm_source=socialtime s&utm_medium=newsletter&ut m_campaign=dailynewsletter20 150825
Highlight concepts in case study Chapter 5, The Groundswell, Constant Contact: Energizing by creating a community.
Pew Research Study: Photos and Videos as Social
Currency Online
Visual Content Presentation
Sept. 29 (week 6)
Archetype Competitor’s Project
Review Chasing Cool 4 and 5 In-class reading of Social Strategies for 2014 report / discuss key learnings
Introduce team project
Oct. 6 (week 7) Highlight important concepts in Chasing Cool Chapter 6
Google analytics part 1: and gathering insights: KPIs,
TR LAB- Quick on The Groundswell Ch. 1-6
and 7
Introduce study questions for The Groundswell, Chapter 1-6 segmentation, convergence. https://www.youtube.com/pla ylist?list=PLI5YfMzCfRtZmnY o8IWIXlI90EqJoJuKU Oct. 13 (week 8)
TR LAB- The Content Eco-system / Review great content storytelling / NY Times article Invisible Child http://www.nytimes.com/proje
cts/2013/invisible-child/#/?chapt=1
Brand Affinity vs. Brand Loyalty
Good vs. Bad content and branding
The Evolution of the Drake vs. Meek Mill beef on social media
Oct. 20 (week 9)
TR LAB - Award winning copywriters and journalist on the web
-The Power of Social Attribution
-Internet Fame: YouTube Celebrities, influencer and advocates
-Social Media at top-of-the-funnel strategy
In-class working session
Oc.t 27 (week 10) TR TBD
Read Case study on Bell Canada - Groundswell page 243
Ashley Harris guest lecturer
Nov. 3 (week 11) (Election Day)
TR LAB- TBD
Twitter politics, movements, and revolutions- an In-class discussion
Platform Report overview Nov. 10 (week 12) Cross Channel Content
Creation: from social, to CRM to purchase
Google Analytics part 2 Conversions and reporting https://www.youtube.com/wat ch?v=09czVztVIOI&list=PLI5 YfMzCfRtZmnYo8IWIXlI90Eq JoJuKU&index=13
Nov. 24 Thanksgiving Week
Dec. 1 Last Day of Class
