COM3003: Integrated Advertising and Public Relations Concepts (UWF subject)

Course Description

COM3003 Integrated Advertising and Public Relations Concepts is the gateway course of the University of West Florida's advertising and public relations sequence — the survey that introduces both fields, the work they do, and the campaign process that connects them.

UWF places it in the College of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities, Department of Communication at 3 semester hours, requires COM 2713* (the asterisk indicating that concurrent enrolment is permitted), and describes a "survey of advertising and public relations methods," with "emphasis on preparation of advertisements, professional communication strategies and tactics, use of industry standard research methods, and communication campaigns." The catalog states plainly that "this course serves as the foundation for all other advertising and public relations courses."

The word doing the work in the title is "integrated." Advertising and public relations were historically separate trades with separate agencies, separate budgets and separate professional cultures. Integrated marketing communication is the position — now close to universal in practice — that an organisation's paid advertising, earned media coverage, owned channels and direct communication should be planned as one thing rather than four. Teaching the two fields together in a single foundation course is a curricular expression of that view, and it is why this course exists in the shape it does.

What actually distinguishes advertising from public relations, and why students need it stated early. The traditional distinction is paid versus earned: an advertiser buys space and controls the message exactly; a public relations practitioner persuades a third party — a journalist, an editor, now a creator — to carry it, sacrificing control in exchange for the credibility that comes from someone else saying it. Control and credibility trade against each other, and understanding that trade is the conceptual core of the course. ⚠ The distinction has blurred considerably — sponsored content, influencer partnerships and brand-owned media sit awkwardly between the categories — and the blurring is itself course content rather than an inconvenience.

The campaign process is the spine. Both fields run on the same underlying sequence, usually taught under an acronym such as RACE (research, action planning, communication, evaluation) or ROPE: find out what is actually happening, decide what you are trying to achieve and with whom, execute, and measure whether it worked. ⚠ Research at the front and evaluation at the back are the two stages students are most tempted to skip and the two that separate professional work from guessing — and UWF's description names industry-standard research methods explicitly.

Production is part of it. UWF's description names preparation of advertisements, so expect to make things as well as analyse them — copy, layout, a news release, a media advisory, a pitch. The professional formats are conventional and unforgiving, and learning them is a genuine part of the course: a news release that does not look like a news release does not get read.

Position in the degree. This is a gateway. UWF lists COM3003 as an alternative prerequisite for its advertising and public relations courses — ADV3300 requires "ADV 3000 OR COM 3003", and PUR4801 requires "(COM 3003 OR PUR 3000) AND PUR 3100". ⚠ Take it early. A gateway course taken late compresses the whole sequence, and the campaigns capstone sits at the end of it.

Learning Outcomes

Required Outcomes

• Distinguish advertising, public relations, marketing, promotion and integrated marketing communication, and explain how they relate.
• Explain the paid, earned, shared and owned media framework and place a given tactic within it.
• Explain the control-versus-credibility trade-off between paid and earned media.
• Describe the structure of the industry — agencies, in-house departments, client relationships, and the roles within each.
• Explain the campaign planning process — research, objectives, strategy, tactics, implementation, evaluation.
• Write measurable objectives and distinguish them from strategies and tactics.
• Conduct and interpret situation analysis — organisation, competitors, publics, environment.
• Apply industry-standard research methods — surveys, focus groups, content analysis, secondary and syndicated research — and explain what each can and cannot establish.
• Define and segment target audiences and publics using demographic, psychographic and behavioural variables.
• Explain positioning and branding and articulate a positioning statement.
• Prepare advertisements — headline, body copy, visual concept, call to action — for a defined audience and medium.
• Write standard public relations materials in professional format: news release, media advisory, backgrounder, pitch.
• Explain media relations — how journalists work, what makes something newsworthy, and why most pitches fail.
• Explain the fundamentals of media planning — reach, frequency, channel selection — at a survey level.
• Explain crisis communication principles at an introductory level.
• Explain evaluation and measurement — outputs, outtakes and outcomes — and why output counts alone are inadequate.
• Apply professional ethics and law — the PRSA and AAF codes, FTC disclosure requirements, truth in advertising, and the disclosure of material connections.
• Present and defend a communication proposal to a client or class audience.

Optional Outcomes

• Develop a social media strategy and content calendar.
• Explain influencer and creator partnerships, including disclosure obligations.
• Explain internal and employee communication.
• Explain nonprofit and cause communication, including fundraising.
• Explain public affairs and government relations.
• Apply design fundamentals and produce basic layouts.
• Explain analytics and digital measurement.
• Build a portfolio piece suitable for an internship application.
• Explain agency operations — briefs, pitching, billing, account management.

Major Topics

Required Topics

• The fields defined — advertising, public relations, IMC, and their historical development.
• Industry structure — agencies, in-house teams, roles, career paths.
• Paid, earned, shared and owned media.
• The campaign process — RACE/ROPE or an equivalent framework.
• Research methods — primary and secondary, qualitative and quantitative.
• Publics and audience segmentation.
• Objectives, strategy and tactics.
• Positioning, branding and messaging.
• Advertising creation — copywriting, concept, visual execution.
• Public relations writing — releases, advisories, pitches, backgrounders.
• Media relations and newsworthiness.
• Media planning fundamentals.
• Digital and social channels.
• Crisis communication basics.
• Evaluation and measurement.
• Law and ethics — professional codes, FTC rules, disclosure.

Optional Topics

• Influencer and creator marketing.
• Internal communication.
• Nonprofit, cause and fundraising communication.
• Public affairs and lobbying communication.
• Design and visual communication fundamentals.
• Analytics and dashboards.
• Agency business practice — briefs, pitches, scope, billing.
• Sports, entertainment and destination communication — Florida-relevant specialisms.
• Multicultural and Spanish-language communication.

Resources & Tools

• Standard textbooks: Moriarty, Mitchell and Wells, Advertising & IMC: Principles and Practice — the most widely adopted integrated text and the closest fit to this course; Wilcox, Cameron and Reber, Public Relations: Strategies and Tactics; Smith, Strategic Planning for Public Relations — the standard on the campaign process specifically and genuinely useful beyond the course.
• On writing: Wilcox and Reber, Public Relations Writing and Media Techniques; the Associated Press Stylebook — ⚠ buy it and use it. AP style is the professional standard for public relations writing in the United States, it is graded, and unfamiliarity with it is the single most common reason a first news release scores badly.
• Professional bodies worth joining as a student, because both fields hire heavily through networks: PRSSA (the Public Relations Student Society of America — chapters at most Florida institutions, and the direct pipeline into PRSA), the American Advertising Federation and its student AAF chapters, which run the National Student Advertising Competition — a genuine portfolio credential.
• The professional codes are assigned reading, not decoration: the PRSA Code of Ethics and the AAF Principles of Advertising Ethics. The FTC's Endorsement Guides and its guidance on native advertising are free, short, and increasingly examined.
• Free tools for coursework: Canva for layout and design; the Meta Ad Library and Google Ads Transparency Center for seeing what real campaigns are running; Google Analytics and Google Trends; Cision or Muck Rack where the institution licenses them for media-list building.
• Free certifications worth holding by graduation: Google Ads and Google Analytics certifications, Meta Blueprint, HubSpot's inbound and content marketing certifications. ⚠ These take days rather than months and carry real weight with entry-level employers.
• Trade press: Ad Age, Adweek, PR Week, PRSA's Strategies & Tactics, Digiday. ⚠ Reading these weekly is effectively part of the coursework in a field that changes this fast.
• Florida context: agency clusters in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, Orlando and Jacksonville; Miami's concentration of Hispanic and Latin American advertising is a distinct specialism; and the state's tourism, cruise, healthcare and theme-park sectors are among the largest communication employers.

Career Pathways

• Public relations specialists (SOC 27-3031) — agency and in-house; the most common first destination.
• Advertising and promotions managers (SOC 11-2011) and marketing managers (SOC 11-2021) — after several years.
• Media planners and buyers (SOC 13-1161) — ⚠ media hires in volume and the entry path is predictable; see the ADV3300 guide.
• Social media and content managers (SOC 27-3031, 27-3042).
• Corporate and internal communications (SOC 27-3031).
• Fundraising and development (SOC 13-1131) — nonprofit and university advancement.
• Public affairs and government relations (SOC 11-2032) — ⚠ Florida's lobbying corps in Tallahassee is among the largest in the country and recruits communication graduates directly.
• Event and destination marketing (SOC 13-1121, 11-2021) — Visit Florida, county tourism bureaus, and the convention and event sector.
• Sports communication (SOC 27-3031) — Florida's franchise and collegiate density makes this a real local pathway.
• Healthcare communication (SOC 27-3031) — AdventHealth, Orlando Health, BayCare, Baptist Health and the academic medical centres.
• Media sales (SOC 41-3011) — often the fastest-paying entry route.
• Crisis and reputation consulting (SOC 27-3031) — after experience.

⚠ The honest note about entry. Both fields are competitive at entry and hire substantially through internships and referrals. The differentiators are a portfolio and demonstrable internship experience, not grades. This course is the first place to start building both: keep every piece you produce in it, in professional format, from the first assignment.

Special Information

⚠⚠⚠ One number, two subjects — read this before transferring in either direction

	UWF (this page)	Statewide / FIU
Title	Integrated Advertising & Public Relations Concepts	Human Communication
Subject	advertising and PR methods; campaign process; production	communication theory survey — interpersonal, small group, organisational, intercultural
Function	gateway to the advertising and PR sequence	gateway to the communication major
Prerequisite	COM 2713* (concurrency permitted)	none stated at FIU

These are two subjects, not two descriptions of one. UWF's course is a professional foundation in two applied fields; the statewide course is a theory survey. Neither prepares a student for the other's follow-on courses.

⚠ The confirming evidence is UWF's own prerequisite chains. COM3003 is listed as interchangeable with the introductory advertising course (ADV3000) and the introductory public relations course (PUR3000) as a gateway to the upper division. A communication theory survey would not be interchangeable with either. The number functions as an advertising/PR gateway here and as a theory gateway everywhere else.

Practical consequences:

• A transfer evaluator matching on the number alone cannot distinguish these. The credit articulates; the preparation does not.
• Leaving UWF with this course for a programme expecting Human Communication: you will be credited with a theory foundation you do not have, and the specialised theory courses assume it.
• Arriving at UWF with the theory version: the reverse — you hold a theory survey where the advertising and PR sequence expects this professional foundation. ⚠ Since this course gates ADV3300, PUR4801 and others, an unresolved substitution can block next term's registration rather than merely a graduation audit.
• Keep your syllabus and raise it with the department, not the registrar. Only faculty can judge whether you hold the preparation the next course assumes.

See also: COM3003-SCNS for the Human Communication course, and COM3003 for the disambiguation page.

Prerequisites and position in the curriculum

UWF requires COM2713*, with the asterisk indicating concurrent enrolment is permitted. COM2713 is the writing-for-communication course, and the pairing is deliberate: this course requires professional writing in conventional formats from early in the term.

⚠ Use the concurrency permission only if you must. Taking the writing course first is materially better preparation, because the news-release and copywriting assignments here assume you can already write cleanly in AP style. Doing both at once means learning the format and the strategy simultaneously.

The course sits in the sophomore or early junior year and gates the advertising and public relations sequence. Take it as early as your programme allows.

Course format and workload

3 credits, 45 contact hours — lecture and application, three hours per week.

Expect 6–9 hours per week outside class. Assessment typically combines examinations, a series of professional writing and production assignments, and often a team campaign proposal with a presentation.

⚠ The production assignments are graded like professional work, and students consistently misjudge the first one. Format, accuracy and AP style are not presentation details here — a news release with a style error or a misspelled name would not be sent, and it is graded on that basis. Proofread as though a client were paying.

⚠ What students find hardest

• Objectives versus strategies versus tactics. Students conflate them constantly. An objective is a measurable end state; a strategy is the approach; a tactic is the thing you make. Getting this right is most of what a good campaign proposal demonstrates.
• Research before creative. The instinct is to start with the idea. The process starts with finding out what is actually true about the audience and the situation, and proposals that skip it read as guesses — because they are.
• Writing in someone else's voice. Professional communication writing is not personal expression; it is writing to a brief, in a required format, for a defined audience.
• Team projects. Nearly universal in this field's coursework because the work is collaborative in practice. ⚠ Assign roles and deadlines in week one; the common failure is a team that divides the work only after the research phase should have finished.

Articulation and transfer

COM3003 is a 3000-level upper-division course, not generally offered at Florida College System institutions.

The number articulates through SCNS — and here the articulation succeeding is exactly the problem, as set out above. This is the same failure shape this repository documents for SPN3400 and CDA3101.

⚠ Prefix note. COM is general communication; ADV advertising; PUR public relations; MMC mass communication; SPC speech and rhetoric. Related UWF numbers: COM2713 (writing for communication, the prerequisite), ADV3000 and PUR3000 (the alternative gateways), ADV3300/ADV3300C (media planning), PUR3100 (PR writing), PUR4801 (campaigns capstone at UWF).

⚠ Note on PUR4801 specifically: UWF uses that number for the campaigns capstone, which most of Florida numbers PUR4800/PUR4800C. If you are transferring, that is a second numbering divergence in the same sequence — check both.

AI Integration

⚠ Advertising and public relations are among the functions most visibly changed by generative AI, and a student entering them now needs an accurate picture rather than a comfortable one.

What is genuinely changing. Copy variation, first-draft social content, image generation for concepting, media list building, transcription and initial research synthesis are all now routinely machine-assisted in professional practice. The volume of production work at entry level is falling. That is real and it is worth knowing.

What is not changing, and this is the more useful half. The machine produces plausible average output. The work that remains human is the work this course is actually about: deciding what the problem is, judging what an audience will actually believe, knowing which journalist will care and why, making the call in a crisis when the facts are incomplete, and taking responsibility for the result. A model has no view about whether a message is true, appropriate, or likely to backfire — and in public relations particularly, backfire is the dominant risk.

The relationship half of public relations is not automatable. Media relations runs on knowing individual journalists, what they cover, and what they will not touch. That is accumulated relationship knowledge, and it is why the field still hires through networks.

Using AI in coursework. Models help with brainstorming concepts, generating headline and copy variants to then judge between, summarising background research, and drafting routine material where the instructor permits it. Judging between generated options is itself a legitimate exercise: it makes visible how conventional the average output is.

⚠ Where they fail, specifically and expensively:

• Fabricated facts about organisations and people. Invented executive names, wrong titles, imagined product details, non-existent statistics. In a news release this is not an error, it is a false public statement — and in professional practice it is the kind of mistake that ends a job.
• AP style. Models are unreliable on it and confident anyway. Check the Stylebook.
• Generic strategy. Asked for a campaign, a model produces something that would suit any client in the category. Specificity is the graded quality.
• Ethics and disclosure. Models will happily draft an endorsement without the disclosure the FTC requires.

Professional and legal note, and it is becoming examinable. Advertising is regulated: the FTC requires truthful claims, substantiation, and disclosure of material connections, and its Endorsement Guides apply to influencer content. Responsibility does not transfer to a tool that generated the copy. Disclosure requirements around AI-generated content specifically are being written now by platforms, professional bodies and legislatures — Florida included — and a practitioner is expected to follow the professional codes rather than the technical limits of the software.

Academic integrity. Read the syllabus; policies vary, and in this field some instructors deliberately incorporate these tools because the industry does. Submitting generated work as your own violates every Florida institution's policy. ⚠ The practical argument is stronger than the disciplinary one: your portfolio is what gets you hired, and a portfolio of machine-average work is indistinguishable from every other applicant's.