Universitat Internacional de Catalunya
Copy Writing
Teaching staff
Introduction
This course involves a mainly practical approach, by considering the theoretical principles on which advertising copywriting is based. Its main objective is to get students used to creating advertising concepts and their creative verbal expression. It will be taken into account that the copywriter is meant to write ‘on probation’, that is, according to multiple factors, such as the objectives of communication, the brand’s personality, the target audience, the tone conveyed, the characteristics of different media and advertising formats, or even the most common types of advertising appeals.
Important: classes are taught in Catalan.
Pre-course requirements
No pre-course requirements are needed to enrol in this subject.
Objectives
- Understand that thinking comes previous to writing.
- Create and develop ideas, concepts and advertising texts.
- Learn to adapt advertising texts to your target audience, products, brands, media and different advertising formats, keeping in mind a suitable style for advertising communication.
- Understand the role of the copywriter in all its dimensions: technical evolution, skills, tasks and current professional profile.
Competences/Learning outcomes of the degree programme
- 09 - Lingustic ability in Catalan, Spanish and English
- 12 - The ability to produce spoken and written texts
- 13 - Reading skills
- 14 - Ability to analyse
- 15 - The ability to synthesise
- 60 - Knowledge and mastery of the techniques of continuous narrative transmission
- 75 - Knowledge and mastery of language use
Learning outcomes of the subject
At the end of this course, students should be able to:
- Be creative about shaping the advertising message.
- Create accurately advertising texts according to the conditions of creativity imposed by a strategy and a brief.
- Understand the complexity of the copywriter’s tasks, roles, attitudes, skills as well as competences.
- Know about the verbal identity of brands and how this identity can be managed.
Syllabus
T1: Copywriting; beyond persuasion.
T2: The copywriter: technical and functional evolution, skills and qualities.
T3: Text and image: how they coexist.
T4: Basic principles of copywriting.
T5: Copywriting applied to different platforms and advertising formats.
T6: The verbal identity of brands: naming and nomenclature, tone, style, messaging and brand-related words.
Teaching and learning activities
In person
| TRAINING ACTIVITY | ECTS CREDITS |
| Lectures. In lectures, lecturers/professors not only transmit content or knowledge, but also, and above all else, attitudes, motivation, skills and values, etc. They also ensure that participants can express their opinions and arguments to the other students. | 2 |
| Workshop. Advanced and intensive workshops of a longer duration, led by lecturers and/or foreign professionals, in which the language used is English. These culminate in the creation of a professional or semi-professional product which is also produced in English. | 1 |
| Peer learning. The aim of this activity is to ensure that students gain the ability to analyse and be critical. One way of achieving this is by correcting their peers' exercises and results, etc. Each student will be evaluated twice: as both a recipient and a transmitter of critical knowledge. | 0.2 |
| Coaching. Monitoring how students learn the content of the subject, either individually or in groups. In the coaching sessions, mistakes will be corrected, queries answered, and exercises and activities to achieve the established objectives will be suggested. | 0.2 |
| Meeting Point. Meetings will be organised with notable people from the professional and scientific fields or the international field, and students. These sessions will take the form of conferences, work sessions, discussions, or interviews, etc. | 0.6 |
Evaluation systems and criteria
In person
The grade in this course will be based upon:
30% Final exercise.
70% Exercise pack
In order to pass the course, students need to obtain a grade of 5,00 both in the exercise pack and in the final exercise.
Continuous assessment is based on class attendance and curriculum-based assignments.
In case of second and third exam calls, students should repeat exercises.
Handed-in assignments are required to:
- Be correctly referenced (APA).
- Follow the spelling/writing criteria established by this university.
Bibliography and resources
ALTARRIBA, Miquel. Què dir, a qui i per què: retòrica i redacció publicitària. Barcelona: Trípodos, 2005.
CURTO, Víctor; REY, Juan; SABATÉ, Joan. Redacción publicitaria. Barcelona: UOC, 2008.
IEZZI, Teresa. The Idea Writers. Copywriting in a new media and marketing era. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.
REY, Juan (2004). Palabras para vender, palabras para soñar: introducción a la redacción publicitaria. Barcelona: Paidós.
SAWYER, Robert. Kiss & Sell. Redacción publicitaria. Barcelona: Index Book, 2006.
The Copy Book. How some of the best advertising writers in the world write their advertising. Köln: Taschen / D&AD, 2018.