MKTG90009 Advertising and Communications Strategy
The Complete Exam Bible · Semester 2 2026MKTG90009 Overview
- University of Melbourne
- Semester 2 2026
- Postgraduate subject
- Two-hour examination
MKTG90009 Advertising and Communications Strategy examines how organisations develop, implement and evaluate advertising and integrated marketing communications. The Semester 2 2026 subject guide describes a postgraduate emphasis on selecting, integrating and critically applying frameworks to justify recommendations.
- Assessment focus The end-of-semester examination contributes 40%, the Major Advertising Plan contributes 30%, and the remaining components contribute 10% each.
- Strategic method Connect the problem, audience, response, objective, proposition, idea, execution and evidence instead of listing frameworks.
- Evidence boundary The available record publishes a two-hour exam but not its section pattern or permitted-material rule, so check current LMS instructions.
- Creative standard Judge every idea by audience relevance, strategic fit, expandability, feasibility, evidence and ethical risk.
How MKTG90009 is assessed
| Component | Weight | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Seminar Preparation & Participation | 10% | Individual preparation and participation across Weeks 2-11 |
| Advertising Encounter Analysis: Video Explainer | 10% | Individual video explainer due in Week 5 |
| “Gruen” Creative Pitch | 10% | Group presentation in the allocated Week 7 or Week 9 seminar |
| Major Advertising Plan | 30% | Group advertising and communications plan due in Week 11 |
| 2-hour end of semester examination | 40% | Individual examination during the official examination period |
Published weights total 100%. The current LMS controls exact submission and examination instructions. The available assessment sections do not publish a component-level hurdle.
Current MKTG90009 dates
| Date | Item | Control |
|---|---|---|
| 30 August 2026 at 23:59 | Advertising Encounter Analysis: Video Explainer | Individual task worth 10%, due in Week 5 |
| Allocated Week 7 or Week 9 | “Gruen” Creative Pitch | Group task worth 10% |
| 18 October 2026 at 23:59 | Major Advertising Plan | Group task worth 30%, due in Week 11 |
| 2 to 20 November 2026 | Official examination period | The subject exam is worth 40%; check the timetable for the exact sitting |
Dates are as published in the Semester 2 2026 subject guide. Confirm exact deadlines and submission settings in the live LMS.
What MKTG90009 covers
Follow the strategic chain from integrated communications and audience positioning through response, objectives, persuasion, creative strategy and execution.
Advertising and the IMC System
Advertising roles, integrated communication tools, channel hand-offs and feedbackAdvertising sits inside a connected integrated marketing communications system.
- Advertising roles
- Integrated communications
- Brand building
- Sales activation
- Channel hand-offs
- Audience feedback
Audience Strategy and Positioning
Segmentation, targeting, personas, insight, perceptual maps and ethical audience choiceAudience strategy converts market differences into communication choices.
- Segmentation bases
- Target selection
- Audience personas
- Audience insight
- Perceptual maps
- Positioning ethics
How Audiences Respond to Advertising
Communication, attention, perception, memory, response models and diagnostic evidenceAudience response is a chain rather than a single engagement score. This chapter traces encoding, channel, noise, decoding, response and feedback, then separates exposure, attention, interpretation, memory and action.
- Communication process
- Attention and perception
- Memory
- Response types
- Hierarchy of effects
- Funnel limits
Objectives, Briefs and Effectiveness
Communication objectives, creative briefs, brand building, activation and matched measuresObjectives connect the business problem to a response communication can influence.
- Business problem
- Communication objectives
- SMART check
- Creative briefs
- Brand and activation
- Effectiveness measures
Persuasion and Message Strategy
Audience involvement, appeals, source effects, endorsements and ethical boundariesPersuasion depends on fit among audience involvement, message strategy and source qualities.
- Audience involvement
- Rational appeals
- Emotional appeals
- Source credibility
- TEARS attributes
- Persuasion ethics
Creative Strategy and the Big Idea
Means-end laddering, propositions, campaign ideas and critical AI-assisted ideationCreative strategy turns an audience insight into a direction that can generate work. This chapter uses means-end laddering to connect attribute, functional consequence, emotional consequence and value, then selects a single-minded proposition.
- Creative brief
- Means-end ladder
- Audience value
- Single-minded proposition
- Big idea
- Critical AI ideation
Creative Execution and Copy
Executional frameworks, copywriting, campaign consistency and reverse strategic checksCreative execution is where strategy becomes a finished audience experience. This chapter compares demonstration, testimonial, slice of life and dramatisation by the kinds of proof, emotion and identification they support.
- Executional frameworks
- Demonstration
- Testimonial
- Slice of life
- Dramatisation
- Copywriting
This guide follows that standard: it links the business problem to an audience insight, explains how communication should change a response, turns that response into an objective and proposition, then carries the strategy through a big idea, executional framework and matched evidence.
The teaching sequence available here begins with advertising inside the integrated marketing communications system.
It then moves through segmentation, targeting, positioning and perceptual maps; communication, attention, memory and response models; objectives, creative briefs and effectiveness; persuasion, source credibility and ethical limits; means-end laddering, single-minded propositions and big ideas; and creative execution and copywriting.
Each chapter uses original scenarios so that the method can be transferred without reproducing University assessment prompts or client briefs.
Assessment combines individual and group work. Seminar Preparation & Participation, the Advertising Encounter Analysis: Video Explainer and the “Gruen” Creative Pitch each contribute 10%.
The Major Advertising Plan contributes 30%, and the individual two-hour end-of-semester examination contributes 40%. The official record supplies the duration and weight but not a question-type breakdown or permitted-material rule in the available files. Revision should therefore focus on the evidenced analytical moves while current sitting instructions are checked in the LMS.
Worked example · free
Diagnose an integrated communication failure
- 1Separate evidence of attention from evidence of correct understanding.
- 1Locate the break at decoding and category positioning rather than at media reach.
- 1Repair the category and action cues before expanding distribution.
- 1Match measures to comprehension and completed returns, with environmental claims independently supported.
Key terms
- Integrated marketing communications
- The coordinated use of communication tools so that distinct channel roles reinforce one positioning and audience response.
- Brand building
- Communication designed to strengthen future demand through memory, association and preference over a longer horizon.
- Sales activation
- Communication designed to convert existing demand into a nearer action, often through a timely prompt or incentive.
- Audience insight
- An evidenced explanation of a human tension that makes observed behaviour meaningful and suggests a strategic implication.
- Perceptual map
- A representation of how an audience locates alternatives on decision-relevant dimensions, used to inspect clutter and possible positions.
- Positioning
- The credible and relevant place a brand aims to occupy in an audience's mind relative to alternatives.
- Hierarchy of effects
- A staged model that organises possible audience movement from earlier responses such as awareness toward later responses such as action.
- Communication objective
- A specified audience response that communication should change within a stated period and that appropriate evidence can measure.
- Creative brief
- A decision document that turns a marketing challenge and audience insight into a focused objective, proposition, proof and constraints.
- Source credibility
- The perceived expertise and trustworthiness that influence whether an audience accepts a source's claim.
- Single-minded proposition
- The one audience-relevant promise selected to direct creative development, with other features placed in supporting roles.
- Means-end ladder
- A chain connecting an attribute through functional and emotional consequences to a value that can guide the proposition.
- Big idea
- An expandable organising concept that brings the proposition to life across recognisable executions and channels.
- Executional framework
- The structural format through which a message is delivered, such as demonstration, testimonial, slice of life or dramatisation.
MKTG90009 FAQ
How is the subject assessed?
The published structure has five components: Seminar Preparation & Participation 10%, the Advertising Encounter Analysis: Video Explainer 10%, the “Gruen” Creative Pitch 10%, the Major Advertising Plan 30%, and an individual two-hour end-of-semester examination 40%. Those numeric rows total 100%.
How long is the final examination?
The official 2026 handbook and subject guide both publish a two-hour end-of-semester examination worth 40% of the final grade. The exact sitting date, venue, platform and operational instructions should be checked in the official timetable and current LMS notice.
What question types appear in the final examination?
The available subject guide and Canvas overview do not publish a section or question-type breakdown. This guide therefore organises revision around evidenced reasoning tasks such as diagnosis, application, evaluation and qualification, while directing students to the current LMS for any detailed exam notice.
How difficult is the subject?
The source describes postgraduate work that requires selecting, integrating and critically applying frameworks rather than simply knowing them. The challenge is connecting audience evidence, mechanism, creative choice and evaluation in one justified recommendation. The published exam weight is 40%, and the major group plan is 30%.
What is the format of the creative pitch?
The specific Gruen task rubric describes a group presentation built from a fast-turnaround client brief and expects the idea to be presented and defended. Its duration conflicts with the shorter Canvas overview summary, so students should follow the current task-specific LMS brief for operational timing.
Can generative AI be used in assessment work?
The subject guide permits AI to produce parts of submitted work when the tool-produced content is clearly identified and properly acknowledged, with further instructions for research, planning, editing and citation. Students should apply the rule published for their particular task and retain responsibility for accuracy and authorship.
Which offering does this guide follow?
The course materials identify Semester 2 2026. The subject guide dates the teaching schedule from late July through October and places the examination period in November. Dates in this guide come from that offering, while the LMS remains the control for changes and submission settings.
Questions students ask in each MKTG90009 chapter
- How is advertising different from integrated marketing communications?
- Advertising is one paid and controlled communication tool. Integrated marketing communications coordinates advertising with public relations, promotions, direct contact and other tools so that each performs a distinct role while reinforcing one strategic position and audience journey. Chapter 01 · Advertising and the IMC System
- How do segmentation, targeting and positioning differ?
- Segmentation identifies meaningful groups, targeting selects a strategic priority, and positioning defines the credible idea that priority audience should associate with the brand relative to alternatives. Each decision needs different evidence and should not be collapsed into one label. Chapter 02 · Audience Strategy and Positioning
- Why is exposure not the same as attention?
- Exposure means a message entered a person's sensory field, while attention means processing resources were allocated to it. Neither proves correct interpretation, later memory or behaviour, so each stage requires evidence suited to that response. Chapter 03 · How Audiences Respond to Advertising
- How is a business issue different from a communication objective?
- A business issue describes an organisational condition such as slowing growth. A communication objective identifies the audience response advertising can realistically influence, such as understanding, association or consideration, and states how evidence will measure that change. Chapter 04 · Objectives, Briefs and Effectiveness
- When should a rational appeal be used?
- A rational appeal is useful when the audience needs and can process reasons, comparisons or evidence. Its effectiveness still depends on relevance and credibility; presenting more information does not compensate for a message that ignores the actual decision barrier. Chapter 05 · Persuasion and Message Strategy
- How does a proposition differ from a big idea?
- The proposition is the selected audience-relevant promise that directs creative development. The big idea is the imaginative organising concept that brings that promise to life across executions. Rewriting the proposition as a catchy line does not automatically create an idea. Chapter 06 · Creative Strategy and the Big Idea
- How should an executional framework be selected?
- Choose the framework that best carries the proposition for the audience and objective. Demonstration can make proof visible, testimonial can add lived experience or authority, slice of life can support identification, and dramatisation can heighten conflict or emotion. Chapter 07 · Creative Execution and Copy
How to study for the exam
Revise through the strategic chain rather than through disconnected lists. First, practise identifying the communication problem, audience barrier and intended response in a short scenario. Next, select a framework only after explaining the mechanism that makes it relevant.
Carry the decision forward into an objective, proposition, big idea and executional framework, then work backward from the proposed evidence to ask whether each transition could actually be observed. Build comparison pairs for concepts that are easy to blur: brand building versus activation, observation versus insight, proposition versus big idea, attention versus comprehension, and testimonial versus proof.
Complete the original practice cases without notes, then underline the sentence that states the decision, mechanism, evidence and boundary. Because the published record supplies a two-hour exam but not a section pattern, confirm the current LMS format and use timed practice only after that check.
On the final pass, rewrite any generic ethical conclusion as a specific restraint on targeting, claim, disclosure, source or evidence.
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