This version of the course guide is provisional until the period for editing the new course guides ends.

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Creative Advertising

Code: 103146 ECTS Credits: 6
2025/2026
Degree Type Year
Advertising and Public Relations OB 2

Contact

Name:
Anna Fajula Payet
Email:
anna.fajula@uab.cat

Teachers

Roberto Rabanal Ramírez
Maria Leonor Balbuena Palacios

Teaching groups languages

You can view this information at the end of this document.


Prerequisites

The subject Advertising Creativity is the first subject specifically on creativity that we find in the curriculum of the degree. It is not defined, therefore, the need to have taken previous subjects before being able to access this one. However, and in line with the concept of accumulation of knowledge as subjects and courses of the degree are passed and that of lifelong learning, we do consider it relevant to mention that the subject works with knowledge in relation to the market, products and brands that students have previously acquired in the subject 103133 Marketing and Documentary Management. From a more practical point of view, it also recovers concepts introduced and worked on in the subjects 104894 Technologies and Persuasive Communication and 104895 Written, Oral and Audiovisual Expression of the first course in the part concerning the creation of advertising communication pieces.

 


Objectives and Contextualisation

At a theoretical level (knowledge acquisition):
- To introduce students to the concept of creativity in general and advertising creativity in particular.
- To be aware of the importance of strategy in the development of advertising creativity.
- To know the main elements of advertising creativity.
- To understand and have the ability to apply the different steps of the idea generation process.


At a practical level (acquisition of competences and skills):
- Be able to put into practice processes and techniques to produce ideas.
- Stimulate productive thinking and the production of ideas focused on the resolution of communicative problems.
- Generate innovative and applicable creative ideas to respond to specific problems.
- Elaborate creative advertising pieces focused on objectives and targets.
- To put theoretical knowledge into practice.
- To enable students to make decisions, manage time, work in heterogeneous groups and to present and defend their ideas in public.
- Acquire a professional vocabulary and lexicon.
- To begin to forge criteria in the selection and evaluation of ideas.

 


Learning Outcomes

  1. CM15 (Competence) Devising creative and persuasive messages that respond to the communication needs of advertising agencies without violating the democratic values or the fundamental rights of the public.
  2. CM16 (Competence) Incorporate communication innovation and new social trends to update creative advertising and public relations strategies.
  3. CM17 (Competence) Incorporate creativity as a tool for transforming values and behaviour in the service of general social welfare.
  4. KM17 (Knowledge) Identify the four "P's" (person, process, place, product) in advertising creativity as the cornerstone of the theories that explain the creative phenomenon.
  5. KM20 (Knowledge) List the stages and strategies of the creative process involved in the development of an advertising campaign, from conceptualisation and creative briefing to execution.
  6. KM21 (Knowledge) Describe the relationship between the responsibilities of the creative department and those of the other departments in advertising agencies.

Content

1. Creativity and communicative environment
2. The creative person
3. The advertising creation process: the advertiser's brief as a starting point for advertising creativity
4. Creative strategy and creative brief
5. The creative product. Communicative ideas and advertising campaigns
6. Let's land the idea: media, contact points and advertising pieces
7. Creative ideas evaluation


Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Practical sessions and seminars 37.5 1.5 CM15, CM16, CM17, KM17, KM20, KM21, CM15
Theoretical classes 15 0.6 CM15, CM16, CM17, KM17, KM20, KM21, CM15
Type: Supervised      
Tutorials 7.5 0.3 CM15, CM16, CM17, KM20, CM15
Type: Autonomous      
Final course project, readings, exercises, preparation of presentations, individual study. 82.5 3.3 CM15, CM16, CM17, KM20, CM15

Methodology

The approach of the course in relation to learning is interactive and includes several activities:

  • Lectures (expository, case method)
  • Practices related to theoretical concepts
  • Readings
  • Course project
  • Presentations

Some of the sessions require the preparation of material before class and critical thinking during and after the session.

The main concepts of the course will be illustrated with cases and/or real examples with the main objective of learning the basic concepts related to advertising creativity.

The topics are organized sequentially, from the most generic topics (which act as a context) to the more specific ones. However, this organization may be altered due to unforeseen events that may force a change in the schedule.

The active participation of the students is essential for learning. Their participation is expected in the different sessions as well as their predisposition to share points of view and opinions and to debate on the cases/examples that are presented.

A detailed schedule outlining the content of each session will be presented on the first day of the course and will be available on the course’s Virtual Campus, where students will find all teaching materials that the teaching team deems appropriate and necessary information for effective course monitoring. Should the teaching modality change for reasons of force majeure, the teaching staff will inform students of any modifications to the course schedule and teaching methodologies.

Gender perspective and inclusive language

The course content will be sensitive to issues related to gender perspective and the use of inclusive language.

 

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.


Assessment

Continous Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Course project 40% 3 0.12 CM15, CM16, CM17, KM20
Creative profile project 10% 1 0.04 CM17, KM21
Exercises 20% 1.5 0.06 CM15, CM16, CM17, KM20, KM21
Theory exam 30% 2 0.08 CM16, CM17, KM17, KM20, KM21

Continuous evaluation

The grade for the course will be obtained from the following concepts:

Theoretical exam: 30%
Course Project: 40%
Exercises (seminars): 20%
Project on advertising creatives and creatives: 10%


Requirements to pass the course

In order to be able to apply the percentages it is mandatory to pass the theoretical exam with a grade equal or higher than 5.

The course is passed if, once the exam has been passed, a grade equal to or higher than 5 is obtained by applying the percentages.

 

Continuous evaluation reassessment

Re-evaluation activities will be carried out during the period established for this task in the academic calendar.

According to regulations, students will be entitled to the recovery of the subject if they have been evaluated of the set of activities, the weight of which is a minimum of 2/3 parts of the total grade of the subject.
Students who obtain a grade lower than 5 in the exam will have to take the reassigment exam.
Not recoverable: The course work, given its importance, is not recoverable. Neither is the work related to creative and/or creative advertising. These projects involve work processes, from the point of view of information search, analysis, production and presentation, which cannot be carried out in the period established for re-evaluation activities.
Exercises are only recoverable if 1) they have not been done for justified reasons of force majeure (this does not include leisure trips, vacations, outings...), 2) if, once the requirement of passing the exam is fulfilled, when applying the percentages, the final grade of the course does not reach 5. In this case, the failed practicals can be recovered by doing exercises on the same subject of the practicals that did not reach the pass mark.
In cases of re-evaluation, the final grade will not exceed 6.9.
It is not contemplated the possibility of taking a recovery to raise the grade.


Single evaluation

This course provides for a single assessment system, which includes the following evaluable activities:

  • Theoretical-practical exam: 50%
  • Final project: 25%. The proposal must be presented orally (date to be determined by the teaching team and will be communicated to the student in due time).
  • Biographical work on creative advertising people: 10%
  • Documentary/practical work (in which the theoretical concepts of the course must be applied): 10%.

The details and content of each activity will be detailed to students who request this type of evaluation.

Single evaluation reassessment

According to regulations, in order to participate in the re-evaluation process, students must have been previously evaluated in at least 2/3 of the total number of evaluable activities of the course.
Students who obtain a grade lower than 5 in the exam must take the reassessment exam.
In the single evaluation only the possibility of recovering the exam is contemplated. The other projects involve work processes, from the point of view of information search, analysis, production and presentation, which cannot be carried out in the period established for re-evaluation activities.
In cases of re-evaluation, the final grade will not exceed 6.9.
It is not contemplated the possibility of taking a re-evaluation to raise the grade.

 

Not evaluable (Continuous evaluation)

It will be considered that the course is not evaluable if any of the following assumptions are fulfilled:

  • Failure to take the exam
  • Failure to submit the Course Project
  • Failure to complete the exercises and/or the project on the creative/creatives


Not evaluable (single evaluation)

The subject will be considered not evaluable ifany of the following assumptions are fulfilled:

  • Failure to submit all the assigned activities
  • Failure to orally present the final Course Project
  • Failure to take the exam

Plagiarism

In the event that the student performs any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation of an evaluation act, this evaluation act will be graded with 0, regardless of the disciplinary process that could be instructed. In the event, that several irregularities occur in the evaluation acts of the same subject, the final grade for this subject will be 0.In the event that the student performs any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation of an evaluation act, this evaluation act will be graded with 0, regardless of the disciplinary process that could be instructed. In the event, that several irregularities occur in the evaluation acts of the same subject, the final grade for this subject will be 0.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

For this subject, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is permitted exclusively for support tasks, such as bibliographic or information searches, text correction, translations or the use as a tool in order to improve your project or presentation (e.g. image generation, video). In any case, precise instructions in this regard will be given in each practice. Students must clearly identify any parts generated with these technologies, specify the tools used, and include a critical opinion on how AI has influenced the process and final outcome of the assignment. Failure to disclose the use of AI in this assessed activity will be considered a breach of academic integrity and may result in a partial or total penalty to the assignment grade, or more serious sanctions in severe cases.

Any student suspected of submitting work that includes AI generated content may be asked for preliminary work or other materials to evidence the student’s original and unaided authorship. The student may also be asked to separately explain or support their work. AI identification methods may also be employed by the professors. After review, if it is determined by the instructor that submitted work likely contains AI generated content, the work may receive a zero and the student may be subject to further misconduct measures.

 


Bibliography

  • Alonso, Carmen M. (2008). Cómo anunciar. Manual para creativos publicitarios. LC.

  • Amabile, Teresa M. (2016). The Motivation for Creativity. In R. J. Sternberg, S. T. Fiske, & D. J. Foss (Eds.), Scientists Making a Difference: One Hundred Eminent Behavioral and Brain Scientists Talk about their Most Important Contributions (pp. 275–278). Cambridge University Press.
  • Caballé, Jordi (2023). Una paraula val més que mil imatges. Copywriting per persuadir les audiències. UOC.
  • Castellblanque, Mariano (2006). Perfiles profesionales de publicidad y ámbitos afines. UOC, Barcelona.
  • Catmull, Ed (2024). Creatividad, S.A.: Cómo llevar la inspiración hasta el infinito y más allá. Ed. Conecta.
  • Cosme, Santiago (2017). Superpoderes creativos : trucos y astucias para crear anuncios. Advook.
  • De Bono, Edward (2018). El pensamiento lateral: manual de creatividad. Paidós.
  • Fajula, Anna (2016). L’Anunciant davant les idees comunicatives: valoració i aprovació : una aproximació qualitativa. [Tesi doctoral, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona]. Tesis Doctorals den Xarxa (TDX). https://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/385845#page=1
  • Farran, Eduard (2010). Des de la trinxera. Manual de supervivència en creativitat publicitària. UOC.
  • Goldenberg, Jacob (2009). Cracking the ad code / Jacob Goldenberg ... [et al.]. Cambridge University Press.
  • Hernández, Caridad (1999). Manual de creatividad publicitaria. Síntesis. 
  • Mahon, Nik (2012). Ideación. Cómo generar grandes ideaspublicitarias. Gustavo Gili. Barcelona.
  • Muela, Clara (2018). Manual de Estrategias creativas en publicidad. Pirámide, Madrid.
  • Obradors, Matilde (2007). Creatividad y generación de ideas. Aldea Global.
  • Pricken, Mario (2002). Creative advertising : ideas and techniques from the world’s best campaigns / Mario Pricken. Thames & Hudson.
  • Pricken, Mario (2010). Creative strategies : idea management for marketing, advertising, media and design / Mario Pricken (First published). Thames & Hudson.
  • Ricarte; José María (2016). Creatividad y comunicación persuasiva. Ed. Electrónica. Servei de Publicacions UAB.
  • Ricarte, José María (2000). Procesos y técnicas creativas publicitarias. Ideas básicas. Servei de Publicacions, UAB.
  • Romo, Manuela (2019). Psicología de la creatividad: perspectivas contemporáneas. Paidós.
  • Romo, Manuela (2018). ¿Tiene género la creatividad? Obstáculos a la excelencia en mujeres. Estudios de Psicologia35(3), 247-258. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1982-02752018000300003
  • Sallés, Eduardo (2024). Proceso creativo. Una guía para tener tu próxima gran idea. Grijalbo.
  • Santana, Eva (2017). Tapas de publicidad : introducción y fundamentos. Promopress.
  • Segarra, Toni (2009). Desde el otro lado del escaparate. Espasa Calpe.
  • Solana, Daniel (2010) Postpublicidad: Reflexiones sobre una nueva cultura publicitaria en la era digital. Doubleyou.
  • Young, James Webb (1982). Una técnica para producir ideas. Eresma.

 

 


Software

This subject does not require any specific software.


Groups and Languages

Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.

Name Group Language Semester Turn
(PLAB) Practical laboratories 51 Catalan/Spanish second semester afternoon
(PLAB) Practical laboratories 52 Catalan second semester afternoon
(PLAB) Practical laboratories 53 Catalan second semester afternoon
(TE) Theory 5 Catalan second semester afternoon
(TE) Theory 90 Catalan second semester afternoon