Students of Culture

Advertising in the 21st century is essentially the study of brands in culture. Today’s brands must anchor themselves within the culture, while at the same time differentiating themselves from their competitors. Gone are the days of the Mad Men. Today’s advertising works across a rich meshing of art and science, rooted in culture, with executions disseminated across multiple platforms – many of which we have yet to hear about. In short, great brands become indispensable parts of everyday life, in a rapidly changing world.

Brand Ambassadorship

Our program focuses on developing advertising professionals who think like cultural critics and act like brand ambassadors. We train our students to be culturally fluent, savvy data miners, media experts, strategic thinkers, great writers, and creative mavens. In the process, ÏòÈÕ¿ûÊÓƵadvertising majors develop the flexibility to thrive in the ever-changing world of advertising.

Professional Engagement

The Milwaukee advertising community includes large and small ad agencies and design firms, with many of the local ad community participating as adjunct faculty, guest speakers and mentors. Our students work with national clients including: Coca-Cola, Fox Sports, and Toyota; as well as local and regional clients including: The Medical College of Wisconsin, Red Cross of Southeastern Wisconsin, and Navy Pier. Our Ad Club is vibrant and well-connected to the local community. Finally, we have alumni working in cities across the U.S. Without fail, our alumni are there to support our new graduates.

Learning Outcomes

Students who graduate from the Advertising program at ÏòÈÕ¿ûÊÓƵ will be able to employ a wide variety of research and design tools to develop insight-driven message and media strategies which, in turn, drive the creation of advertising designed to meet the needs of integrated marketing campaigns across a wide variety of media channels.

Students who graduate from the Advertising program at ÏòÈÕ¿ûÊÓƵ will be able to demonstrate an advanced level of Communication Competence defined by increased levels of motivation, knowledge, and skill as defined by measured change over four years.

For more information, check out the curriculum for the , or contact Dr. Nathan Gilkerson, Department Chair of Strategic Communication.