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

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Strategic Digital Planning for Advertising and Public Relations

Code: 43404 ECTS Credits: 6
2025/2026
Degree Type Year
Strategic Planning in Advertising and Public Relations OB 0

Contact

Name:
Ileana Lis Zeler
Email:
ileana.zeler@uab.cat

Teachers

Guillem Marca Frances
Aranzazu Danés Vilallonga
(External) Andrea Oliveira

Teaching groups languages

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


Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for taking this subject.


Objectives and Contextualisation

  • To understand the fundamentals of digital public relations to develop effective strategies.
  • To develop skills to strategically plan digital communication, from research to execution.
  • To manage digital communication strategically, including collaboration with influencers.
  • To acquire competencies to prevent and manage online communication crises.
  • To implement tools to measure and evaluate the effectiveness of digital communication strategies.

Competences

  • Continue the learning process, to a large extent autonomously.
  • Design, plan and direct marketing actions in the new scenarios posed by the information society.
  • Identify the different strategic communication problems of institutional corporations and non-profit organisations.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Know how advertising and PR are integrated in digital strategic planning.
  2. Know the specific characteristics of digital strategic planning.
  3. Work with internet-based social media.

Content

  • Introduction to public relations in the digital age
  • Strategic planning of digital communication: formative research
  • Identification and segmentation of publics in the digital context
  • Strategic planning of digital public relations: objectives, strategies, execution and evaluation
  • Strategic management of communication on social media
  • Crisis management in digital communication
  • Digital leadership and communication: competencies and professional profiles 2.0

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


Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Classes of digital problems and strategy formulation 15 0.6 3, 2
Master classes in face-to-face format 30 1.2 1, 2
Type: Supervised      
Tutorials 12 0.48 3, 2
Type: Autonomous      
Development of assignment 50 2 1, 2
Self-study 40 1.6 3

There will be in-person lectures and classes on problem-solving and digital strategy planning, as well as tutorials and independent individual work activities.

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 and necessary information for effective course monitoring. Should the teaching modality change for reasons of force majeure according to the competent authorities, the teaching staff will inform students of any modifications to the course schedule and teaching methodologies.

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
Attendance and participation 10 0.2 0.01 1, 2
Case studies 35 1.1 0.04 3, 1, 2
Module project 30 1 0.04 3, 1, 2
Practical activity 25 0.7 0.03 3, 1, 2

For the assessment of the subject, the presence of students in directed, lecture-based, and problem-solving classes (at least 80% attendance is mandatory) will be taken into account, as well as their participation in supervised and independent activities. The assessment is continuous, and there is no final theoretical exam for the module.

Students will have the right to retake the subject if they have been assessed for a set of activities that account for at least 2/3 of the total grade of the subject. Activities excluded from the retake process are oral presentations of assignments and attendance at lectures.

This module does not provide for a single-assessment system.

Plagiarism: If a student commits any irregularity that could lead to a significant change in the grade of an assessment task, that assessment task will be graded as 0, regardless of any disciplinary process that may be initiated. If multiple irregularities occur in the assessment tasks of the same subject, the final grade for that subject will be 0.

For this course, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is permitted exclusively for support tasks, such as initial information searches o gramatical text correction. Students must clearly identify any parts generated with these technologies, specify the tools used, and include a critical reflection 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.


Bibliography

  • Capriotti, Paul & Zeler, Ileana. (2023) Analysing effective social media communication in higher education institutions. Humanities & Social Sciences Communication 10, 656. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02187-8   
  • Cuenca-Fontbona, Joan, Compte-Pujol, Marc; & Zeler, Ileana (2022). La Estrategia Aplicada a Las Relaciones Públicas En El Medio Digital: El Caso español. Revista Latina De Comunicación Social, 80 (febrero):163-82. https://doi.org/10.4185/RLCS-2022-1537
  • De la Cierva, Yago (2020) Navegar en aguas turbulentas: Principios y buenas prácticas en gestión y comunicación de crisis. IESE.
  • Gutiérrez-García, Elena & Sadi, Gabriel (2020). Capacidades profesionales para el mañana de la comunicación estratégica: contribuciones desde España y Argentina. Revista De Comunicación, 19(1), 125–148. https://doi.org/10.26441/RC19.1-2020-A8
  • IAB Spain (s.d.). Estudio anual de redes sociales en España. Recuperado de https://iabspain.es/categora-de-estudio/redes-sociales/
  • Losada, José Carlos (2014). Comunicación en la gestión de crisis. Editorial UOC.
  • Marca Francés,Guillem (2018). Como hacer un plan estratégico de comunicación. Vol. IV: La investigación estratégica de evaluación. Editorial UOC.
  • Matilla, Katty (2017) Como hacer un plan estratégico de comunicación. Volumen I. Un modelo de planificación estratégica, paso a paso. Editorial UOC.
  • Maxwell, John (2010) El poder de las relaciones: Lo que distingue a la gente altamente efectiva. HarperEnfoque
  • Oliveira, Andrea (2018). Como hacer un plan estratégico de comunicación. Vol. II: Públicos y Stakeholders. Editorial UOC.
  • Vargas Portillo, Patricia (2021). Qué hacer cuándo arde la Red: gestión de crisis de comunicación on-line. Comunicación Y Hombre, (17), 381–383. https://doi.org/10.32466/eufv-cyh.2021.17.660.381-383
  • WE ARE SOCIAL (2024). DIGITAL IN 2024: https://wearesocial.com/es/blog/2024/01/digital-2024/

Software

The work is primarily done with digital resources: social networks, Google Analytics, virtual campus, among others.

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
(TEm) Theory (master) 30 Spanish first semester afternoon