Submitted by Ken Rohrer, Decatur Middle School
Indianapolis, IN
Lesson Plan: The Ad Agency

Summary

This is a cooperative learning project. First, students are assigned positions at each table; Art Director, Creative Director, Copywriter, and Account Executive. (If you need more, you may add a graphic designer, photographer, or illustrator). Each table is given a budget, price sheet, and a campaign to create. The teacher is the client. Each table is to come up with a successful campaign using the product that has been given them. The teacher (client) visits each table and tells them what they think of the campaign and the "agency" makes any necessary changes.

If they want to design a brochure, will they have the money to do it in addition to a TV commercial? Is a roadside bulletin board an appropriate avenue to advertise the product? What are some strengths of the product that need to be advertised? These are some of the questions that each group will have to grapple with as a group. The copywriter writes the copy for all the ads, the creative director sketches out basic ideas of the project, the art director draws out in detail each project (you may want more than one students to do this), and the account executive relays to the group what the client (teacher) wants and communicates with the client directly.

This project can go on for weeks depending on your budget and how long students are interested. When groups are finished, the account executive presents each table's projects to the client for approval and discussion. The client then chooses which campaigns to use and explains why. This is all done in front of the class.

After the "client" chooses the campaign to use, students are allowed to enter into a critical discussion on the merits of this choice. They may also share their feelings about other campaigns in the classroom.