Experiential Learning 6 | College of Media

Advertising department collaborates with Amazon Ads to bring industry experience and certifications to students through new courses

May 16, 2022 | Holly Rushakoff

As the first advertising education program in the country, the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising continues to pioneer innovative learning experiences in the classroom.

This academic year, students not only worked on research-based ad campaigns for real brands, but they also learned resources and tools from Amazon Ads, gaining professional certification in addition to course credit.

Advertising - Amazon Ads class — At the end of fall semester, students in ADV 392 presented their ad campaign results to their real clients over Zoom as well as to an in-person team from Amazon Ads and Global Overview.

In Fall 2021, the Sandage Department of Advertising developed a new course, ADV 392: Industry Immersion Experiential Learning, in a collaborative relationship with Amazon Ads Education Alliance, Global Overview, and real-world clients. In the course taught by Steve Hall, senior lecturer in advertising, students learned ecommerce and Amazon advertising solutions and then put that into practice through integrated campaigns that were funded by Global Overview, which also provided the brand clients.

Throughout the process, students had access to Amazon Ads and Global Overview professionals, including account executives, account managers, campaign managers, creative managers, strategists, advertising managers, and operations officers. Students learned about their advertising responsibilities and got to ask questions at networking events. At the semester’s end, student teams pitched their presentations to their clients. The class has directly led to interviews and full-time employment at both companies.

The course will be offered again in Fall 2022, called ADV 392: Advertising Immersion—Amazon Advertising Certification and Global Overview Campaign Course.

“Our collaboration with the Amazon Ads Education Alliance has helped our students develop and strengthen valuable practical knowledge and skills in an experiential learning environment,” said Professor Mike Yao, head of the Sandage Department of Advertising. “We greatly appreciate the opportunity to work with Amazon Ads to discover talents and future leaders, and we look forward to expanding the relationship and future collaborations.”

Networking event — Amazon Ads and Global Overview employees discussed job roles and career opportunities, and answered students’ questions at an informational networking event last fall.

Ayesha Baweja, a sophomore in computer science + advertising, said it was exciting to work on a real campaign for a large skincare company.

“Working directly in the industry is an experience that people in other majors may not get to have in the classroom,” Baweja said.

“It’s crazy to think that, as a student, [I] was working with a real budget,” said Ethan Fazio, a junior in advertising. “Being able to execute that and put it into numerics and show the client back the return that they were getting on their ad spend—it really showed me how valuable it is to be working with a client.”

Due to the success of the pilot class, student interest, and the department’s ability to respond quickly as media evolves, two new courses have been created for Fall 2022—ADV 400: Amazon Advertising Experience, and ADV 490: Advanced Ecommerce Advertising.

In ADV 400: Amazon Advertising Experience, students will work with a local Amazon e-tailer to grow its business. Working in teams and supervised by a faculty member, students will gain hands-on experience in designing, planning, and executing advertising campaigns for an ecommerce enterprise.

In ADV 490: Advanced Ecommerce Advertising, students will explore conceptual and practical issues in ecommerce advertising and marketing. The course will analyze topics such as online shopping behavior, interface and consumer experience design, brand development and management for e-tailers, marketing and business analytics, and ecommerce advertising strategies.

The collaboration between the Sandage Department of Advertising and Amazon Ads Education Alliance was facilitated by the Hub for Brand Innovation and Advertising Technology.

Learn more about the new courses at https://brandhub.illinois.edu/amazon-ads-experience/.

Multimedia Reporting students produce stories about impact of labor shortage on local businesses

Classwork by students in JOUR 215: Multimedia Reporting, taught by Charles “Stretch” Ledford, associate professor of journalism, was featured on CU-CitizenAccess.org in May. The journalism students produced stories in Fall 2021 about how the nation’s pandemic-induced labor shortage has affected local businesses.

Farrah Anderson, a sophomore in journalism, wrote the article that gave an overview of the projects. Students interviewed people from the Champaign-Urbana businesses Esquire Lounge, Cracked, World Harvest, Black Dog, Maize Mexican Grill, and Jarling’s Custard Cup, as well as a local family seeking care for a child with disabilities. Anderson’s story about childcare was featured additionally on Illinois Newsroom from Illinois Public Media in May.

Watch the student-produced videos:

Read “As national labor shortage drags on, local businesses and workers suffer consequences of the ‘Great Resignation'” on CU-CitizenAccess.org
Read/listen to “Labor shortage leaves families of children with disabilities scrambling for care they need” on IllinoisNewsrom.org

UIUC Student Film Festival 2022

Update on the winners of the 2022 UIUC Student Film Festival:

Jury Award: Joanna Raimo, for her film “A Tint of Red.” Among the jury’s comments was an appreciation of the film’s formal command and creative use of genre tropes.
Audience Award for favorite film: “Bodies of Water” by Ryan Leshock
World-Building Award for favorite film with a message of social justice: “Another Day” by Michael Leshock
Award for Favorite TikTok: “What Song” by Michael Leshock

Students in MACS 464: Film Festivals organized the first in-person festival since the pandemic caused the class to move the annual event online two years ago. The UIUC Student Film Festival, held April 30 in the Knight Auditorium at Spurlock Museum, drew 200+ attendees in person and 200+ views on the livestream channel.

Throughout Spring 2022, students organized, promoted, and produced this event featuring short films of all genres created by undergraduates, filmmaking clubs, and production classes across the University of Illinois campus. Watch the film fest recording here.

The UIUC Student Film Fest is sponsored by the Department of Media & Cinema Studies.

Below, see photos of the audience, production crew, and filmmakers. (Photos courtesy of Jon Knipp, lecturer in media and cinema studies, and instructor for this course.)

MACS and acting students collaborate on film project

In Spring 2020, seniors in MACS 480: Advanced Filmmaking, taught by Victor Font, lecturer in media and cinema studies, collaborated with a Department of Theatre class (Acting for the Camera). Unfortunately, as the pandemic unfolded, students had to halt filming in their second day of production, leaving this movie unfinished. Below, watch their final project, featuring nine minutes of two scenes from the movie The Invitation.

What does it look like behind the scenes? Get a sneak peek here:

ICR student Pham publishes research in ‘PLOS ONE’

Giang V. Pham, a doctoral student at the Institute of Communications Research who is graduating with the College of Media Class of 2022, has had a paper accepted for publication in the journal PLOS ONE.

Pham is the lead author of “Regretful pleasure: Toward an understanding of flow cost in media use.” Pham’s ICR advisor Brittany Duff, associate professor of advertising, is co-author.

The paper address the idea of “flow” states and how there can be negative sides to flow in media use.

Abstract: “Flow (state of intense focus) during media use has been largely considered a desirable experience, with technologies developed to maximize the chance of encountering flow in computer-mediated environments. However, the total absorption of attention due to flow could be problematic in contexts where the user has multiple predetermined goals, and engaging with the flow-inducing media could cost them resources that may be otherwise devoted to other goals. When flow imposes a cost on the user’s goal performance, it may also reduce their post-experience gratification with the flow-inducing media. The present study proposes a novel theoretical framework to begin understanding the potential cost of flow in media use with supporting evidence from two survey and vignette studies (N = 235 and N = 245). Its findings will extend human-computer interaction research by highlighting the double-edged impact that flow might have on media users’ larger goal performance and downstream well-being.”

ICR student secures IBM data science internship

Kat Tian, a PhD student at the Institute of Communications Research (ICR), has accepted a data science internship at IBM’s New York office this summer. The position involves intensive hands-on-experience with data analysis across a variety of business cases. Senior data science interns will deploy machine-learning models built using various platforms and handle data at scale, and make recommendations for managers with real business impact. At the internship, she will work with large, untidy datasets and deliver business solutions supported by statistical research.

In her doctoral program, Tian has been doing research on cross-cultural communication processes in the marketing and advertising context by applying big data analytics and machine learning techniques. At ICR, her advisors are advertising faculty members Mike Yao, the Sandage Department of Advertising interim head, and Michelle Nelson, associate dean for research and creative endeavor.

ICR student wins 3rd place in campus Image of Research competition

Kirby Cook (MS ’21, advertising), a doctoral student at the Institute of Communications Research in the College of Media, won third place and a $200 award in the annual Image of Research competition, a multidisciplinary event celebrating the diversity and breadth of student research at UIUC. The graduate student edition of the competition is organized by the Scholarly Commons of the University Library and the Graduate College.

Cook won for her image “The Identity Conflict: Lifelong Journey of a Korean Adoptee.”

“Art and qualitative research come together in this depiction of a lifelong identity journey for Korean adoptees,” Cook wrote in her description. “Beyond the boundaries of prescribed methods, data collection, and formulaic approaches, this collage represents the abstract complexities of research and what lies beyond charts and tables. How does one capture the essence of an individual’s personal history; their pain, their future? While my research focuses primarily on material items belonging to Korean adoptees and their meanings, I recognize that there is more behind their stories.”

View Cook’s full description and the other winning submissions.

Advanced Filmmaking class produces live action short film

This spring, students in MACS 480: Advanced Filmmaking are producing a live action short film called “The Goji Project,” written and directed by advertising senior Lincoln Rogers. Watch the final video.

The class, led by Victor Font, lecturer in media and cinema studies, built a dorm room set at Illinois Public Media in March and began filming just before spring break.

Students work on pre-lighting while others work on set decoration at the studio.

In February, students held auditions for the film in the new production studio in the basement of Gregory Hall.

CS + Advertising student pitches software platform to improve recruitment for clinical trials

In Fall 2021, computer science + advertising sophomore Carter Smith practiced presenting his business concept at SocialFuse, a campus pitching and networking event. He’s working on a platform to give pharmaceutical companies a way to identify and recruit participants for clinical trials using deep learning.

Smith was inspired by family members who work in clinical trial administration.

“Our conversations [about the patient recruitment process] led me to think about how much more efficient the process could be if pharmaceutical companies and physicians were brought together in one place, which was the beginning of Locus,” he said.

“SocialFuse was a great place to share what started as an idea, receive feedback on the way it was conceptualized, and shape my goals for the project,” Smith said. “It was a really exciting atmosphere and gave me a chance to connect with many entrepreneurial students on campus, as well as leaders of University incubator programs.”

After the experience of pitching his idea, Smith is now focusing on research and implementation of state-of-the-art natural language processing and data analysis methods.

Smith chose CS + Advertising because he wanted to learn from two prestigious programs at Illinois that will prepare him for many intriguing career opportunities.

“Learning technical and creative skills as part of two fantastic communities is really a one-of-a-kind experience,” he said. “A lot of my comfort with creating new ideas is because of the CS + Advertising curriculum.”

Media students create documentaries for Spurlock Museum exhibit on AIDS tribute

Students interviewing — College of Media students interview Bruce Lang in a studio at Illinois Public Media in Fall 2021. The interview was one of many conducted by Media students as they produced video biographies of the men represented by quilt panels from the "Sewn in Memory" exhibit at Spurlock Museum. (Photo by Professor Charles "Stretch" Ledford.)

Students in journalism and media and cinema studies produced a series of short documentaries chronicling the lives of local men commemorated in AIDS quilt panels, originally made in the 1980s and 1990s for the AIDS Memorial Quilt in Washington, D.C.

The students’ short films are featured in the exhibit “Sewn in Memory: AIDS Quilt Panels from Central Illinois” at the Spurlock Museum of World Cultures in Urbana, on display through July 10, 2022, and can also be watched online.

The videos were created as part of the course JOUR 280: Specialized Skills and Practices, taught in Fall 2021 by Charles “Stretch” Ledford, associate professor of journalism, in collaboration with Kimberlie Kranich, Illinois Public Media’s Director of Community Content & Engagement. In one special video, Stories Untold, the students shared their experiences attempting to find or verify eight of the men.

“It’s important that this project allows people to be exposed to something like this to catalyze deeper exploration,” Ledford said.

“I hope that this project helps to personalize and illuminate a part of our history that’s rarely talked about or taught,” said Owen Henderson, junior in journalism.

Watch a UI-7 Live report on this student project by journalism senior Amanda Brennan:

Students operating cameras — Journalism student Gwyn Skiles adjusts a camera while fellow journalism student Olivia Welshans prepares for an interview in a studio at Illinois Public Media. (Photo by Professor Charles "Stretch" Ledford.)

Additional collaborators for the exhibit include the Greater Community AIDS Project of East Central Illinois, which holds the panels and assisted in exhibit research and creation, and History Harvest, a course at UIUC, which seeks to gather historical stories and documents from local communities.