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Universitat Internacional de Catalunya

Online Communities

Online Communities
3
13388
4
Second semester
OB
Main language of instruction: English

Other languages of instruction: Catalan, Spanish

Teaching staff

Introduction

Nowadays, the core of communication lies in the digital ecosystem. The sustained and continuous growth of internet access and its multiple applications is reshaping the landscape of Journalism and Advertising. In this context, Communication professionals need to develop new skills that help them face this paradigm shift and embrace technological innovations that affect the way we communicate.

Our social and professional lives are now filled with new opportunities for dissemination, new ways of producing and distributing content, and communicating with audiences. In this context, disciplines such as journalism, audiovisual communication, marketing, or advertising are blending and merging into one ecosystem. This course offers a broad understanding of this reality with clear practical applications of digital .

 


Objectives

  1. Understand how the emergence of the Internet has transformed marketing, communication, business, and culture.
  2. Identify and master the main tools of Marketing in this digital context.
  3. Understand the new ways of producing and disseminating content through digital tools.
  4. Develop a personal branding strategy.
  5. Apply knowledge of innovative practices in digital marketing focused on specific and measurable objectives.
  6. Develop digital marketing and communication action plans.
  7. Master the most relevant content management tools.


Competences/Learning outcomes of the degree programme

  • 06 CG - The ability to read, analyze and synthesize
  • 08 CG - The ability to reflect and memorize.
  • 09 CG - The ability to innovate
  • 10 CG - Knowledge and mastery of bibliographic repertoires
  • 16 CE - The ability to make judgments and well-argued critical assessments
  • 23 CE - The ability to contextualize and critically analyze mass media products
  • 24 CE - The ability to contextualize and critically analyze contemporary legal and political institutions
  • 25 CE - Ability to contextualize and critically analyze macroeconomic aspects
  • 38 CE - Knowledge and mastery of concepts, data, statistics and economic graphs
  • 54 CE - The ability to analyze and understand audiences

Learning outcomes of the subject

  1. Understand the characteristics of Web 2.0 and its implications in marketing and communication.
  2. Distinguish the main formats and digital advertising tools.
  3. Design a plan for social media and digital communication.
  4. Develop a digital marketing plan and understand the main metrics and indicators to assess the degree of achievement of set objectives.
  5. Master the main tools for managing and disseminating digital content.


Syllabus

Topic 1: Introduction to digital marketing and online communities
Topic 2: Types of media: own, paid and earned
Topic 3: Digital use and consumption: audience analysis and metrics
Topic 4: Inbound marketing and content marketing
Topic 5: Applied digital content generation workshop
Topic 6: Digital Marketing Plan I
Topic 7: Digital Marketing Plan II
Topic 8: Digital communication applied to digital media
Topic 9: Personal branding plan for communicators
Topic 10: Social Selling. Employee Advocacy. Employer Branding.

 

 

Teaching and learning activities

In person



Week

Date

Topics and Assessment Due Dates

Week 1

January 

22

Course Introduction and course outline

Welcome to the Attention Economy 



Readings:

Demographics are dead. 2018. Think With Google


Derek Thompson. 2017. Hit Makers, Chapters 1 and 2 (“The Power of Exposure” and “The Maya Rule”)



Week 2

January 

29

Defining Audiences: A New Approach to Demographics


The Power of Exposure: an Intro to Content Virality

Week 3

February 

5

Hit Pause: Marketing 101

  

Reading:

Philip Kotller. 16th edition. Principles of marketing 

Lee, E. (2019) ‘Netflix is Raising Prices. Here’s Why’ in: New York Times


Making Content "Go Viral"

Creating Shareable Content for Social Media

 

An introduction to social media typology; creating content tailored for shareability in social media and viralization.

 

Reading:

·Case Study – Buzzfeed: The Promise of Native Advertising. 2014. Felix Oberholzer-Gee. Harvard Business School Publishing.

·Good Native Advertising Isn’t a Secret. 2015. Colin Campbell, Lawrence J. Marks. Kelley School of Business.



Week 4

February 

12

Seminario de Podcast

Week 5

February 19

The Streaming Giant - YouTube: A platform for Ads and Communities

 

This session explores the possibilities of branding in the digital ecosystem using video, with a specific focus on the largest video platform nowadays, YouTube.

The session also provides a deeper understanding of marketing metrics. 

 

Reading:

  • Case Study – YouTube for Brands. Thales Teixeira, Leora Kornfeld. 2015. Harvard Business School Publishing.

Week 6

February 26

TikTok: Consumer Behavior, Streaming and AI


Mapping the social media landscape, its different purposes and uses; understanding users’ behaviors; using social networks to solve complex problems. TikTok as a new and disruptive force in the media landscape.


Reading:

  • Case Study: TikTok’s Rise to Global Markets. Mengmeng Wang, Noman Shaheer, Sali Li, Liang Chen, and Jingtao Yi. Ivey Publishing.



Week 7

March 4

The When and the What - The impact of digital on the moment of truth


Readings:

  • Ryan Holiday. 2017. Trust me I'm Lying

Week 8

March 11

The WHAT - The Importance of Diversity and Inclusion and the pitfalls to avoid - Part 2

  

Assignment 1: In-Class Brand Debate (25%)

 

Reading:

  • Ryan Holiday. 2017. Trust me I'm Lying

Week 9

March 18 

TikTok: Consumer Behavior, Streaming and AI


Mapping the social media landscape, its different purposes and uses; understanding users’ behaviors; using social networks to solve complex problems. TikTok as a new and disruptive force in the media landscape.


Reading:

  • Case Study: TikTok’s Rise to Global Markets. Mengmeng Wang, Noman Shaheer, Sali Li, Liang Chen, and Jingtao Yi. Ivey Publishing.


Decoding decision making through the messy middle


Reading:

Book: Decoding Decisions: Making sense of the messy middle. Think With Google

Week 10

April 8 



The Streaming Giant - YouTube: A platform for Ads and Communities

 

This session explores the possibilities of branding in the digital ecosystem using video, with a specific focus on the largest video platform nowadays, YouTube.

The session also provides a deeper understanding of marketing metrics. 

 

Reading:

  • Case Study – YouTube for Brands. Thales Teixeira, Leora Kornfeld. 2015. Harvard Business School Publishing.


The WHAT - The ABCD model



Reading:

ABCD: Your step-by-step guide to effective creative on YouTube

Week 11

April 15


Brand Purpose and building sustainable brands




Assignment 2: Social media consultant submission (25%)

Week 12

April 22


Make-up class

Week 13

April 29

The HOW - A recap of classical research approach and their shortcomings



Reading:

Saunders. 2019. Research Methods for Business Students

Week 14

May 6

The importance of experimentation and measurement 

 

Week 15

May 13


Wrap-Up Session and Final Submission Briefing

 

May 21

Final Submission

TRAINING ACTIVITY ECTS CREDITS
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. 0,4
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. 0,4
Focused Praxis. Handing in occasional exercises to learn theory through practice. 1,2
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. 1,0

Evaluation systems and criteria

In person



  1. Attendance and Participation (15%): All course participants must attend class regularly since the content of the course is built up over time and each class is a continuation of the next. Students who miss classes will find it hard to follow the module. Students must actively participate in class and come prepared with questions and discussion points. There will be a participation bonus for those who stand out during class capped at 15%. 

 

  1. Assignment #1 (25%): In-class Debate

Students will be asked to prepare for both sides of a debate topic. They will come to class and be asked to defend a randomly assigned brand, so each student must be well prepared on both sides of the debate. During the debate, the instructor can move students to either side at any time. The aim is to understand the merits of both sides of any topic or approach.

Type: in-class group activity. Due week 5.

 

3. Assignment #2 (25%): Social media Consultant

Students need to select an existing brand or influencer and do a social media audit. The outcome should focus on what the brand/influencer is doing well as well as what is wrong and what are the strategic recommendations and success metrics to focus on based on class learnings and independent research. Students must also present a crisis the brand/influencer went through and critically assess how they handled it on social media. Students will present their ideas using slides.

Type: Groups of 3

Deliverable: 20min Presentation in class (15min + 5min Q&A) Due week 10.

 

4. Assignment #3 (35%): Online Communities Strategic Plan

In groups, students are required to pick a social media influencer or a brand and create the audience marketing strategy based on learnings throughout the module. Students have to cover the WHO, HOW, WHAT, and WHEN of the strategy. The outcome should be submitted in slides or in a written document with proper citations and references.

  • Make sure to have clear references using a consistent style like APA.

Type: Group Work

Deliverable: 30 slides or 1800-word written report

Due week 15.

Bibliography and resources

Textbooks and Additional References

1.

Derek Thompson (2017). Hit Makers: The Science of Popularity in an Age of Distraction. Jeffrey K. Rohrs (2013). 

2.

Anita Elberse (2013). Blockbusters: Why Big Hits –and Big Risks– are the Future of the Entertainment Business. Faber & Faber. London. 

3.

Guy Kawasaki (2014). The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users. Portfolio/Penguin, London.

4

Tim Wu (2016). The Attention Merchants: From the Daily Newspaper to Social Media, How Our Time and Attention Is Harvested and Sold. Atlantic Books, London.

5. 

Albert-László Barabási (2002). Linked: How Everything Is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means for Business, Science, and Everyday Life. Perseus Books Group.

6.

danah boyd (2014). It's complicated : the social lives of networked teens. New Haven :Yale University Press,

7.

Essays and journal articles as listed on syllabus.