Advertising, Marketing & Public Relations

• Apply the Four Ps of marketing to familiar brands and an original company

• Name a product and create its logo, identity and core message

• Develop a marketing plan based on audience research and campaign goals

• Write slogans and jingles, then select appropriate media channels

• Record a 30-second radio ad or storyboard a television commercial

• Create PR or crisis materials and present an integrated final campaign

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Explain how audience, positioning, media and the Four Ps shape a campaign

• Create connected brand, advertising and public-relations materials for an original company

• Present and justify an integrated marketing communications plan

Students will leave with a course completion certificate, a brand identity, marketing plan, creative assets and final campaign presentation, plus clearer insight into possible study and careers in strategic communications.

Advertising and public relations turn audience insight into a focused message. Students must decide what a customer values, which claim the evidence supports and how the idea should change across visual, audio and written formats. Those choices build strategic thinking as well as creative discipline.

A complete campaign also requires collaboration and revision. The logo, marketing plan, media choices and PR response must feel connected. Presenting that system helps students explain why they made each decision, respond to questions and see how research, writing, design and business strategy work together.

This course is for high school students who have completed 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade and are interested in advertising, branding, marketing, media, design or public relations. It is a strong fit for students who notice why some campaigns stay memorable and want to understand the strategy behind the creative work.

Students should be ready to contribute ideas, conduct audience research, create visual and written materials, collaborate on a sustained project and present their decisions. Students should be comfortable using a laptop for campaign development.

Based on students surveyed in Summer Discovery’s 2026 UCLA high school program.

UCLA gives high-school students the opportunity to explore an academic interest while experiencing university life in Los Angeles, a city where entertainment, technology, business, science, and culture constantly intersect. The campus has its own community and rhythm while connecting students to a wider environment built around creativity and new ideas.

Students learn alongside peers, navigate a large campus, and gain independence through everyday choices and responsibilities. Time outside class expands the experience through friendships, campus life, and opportunities to notice which subjects and settings hold their attention. For families, UCLA offers a valuable combination of substantive academics, personal growth, and clearer direction about what a student may want to study, experience more deeply, or pursue next.

Strategic communications shapes product launches, entertainment, nonprofit campaigns, public information and the brands people encounter every day. Brand managers define positioning. Media planners decide where messages should appear. Creative teams develop the work. Public relations professionals manage news, reputation and crisis response.

Students try several of those functions while building one company campaign. They move between research, brand identity, creative production and public communication, which offers a useful view of possible study in marketing, communications, business, design, media or public relations.