Oswego State University/Department of Communication Studies – Fall 2003   Rev 9/1/03

BRC 321 ELECTRONIC MEDIA SALES & MARKETING

Prerequisites: BRC 319, 320 (or taken simultaneously with BRC 320), senior standing.
106 Lanigan Hall – MWF 12:40-1:35   
Instructor: Jerry Condra, #4 Lanigan Hall, 312-3521, condra@oswego.edu
Teaching Assistant: Kelly Crissy, klcrissy@yahoo.com 
Office Hours: Mon 4:30-5:00, Wed and Fri 10:00-10:30 or e-mail for appointment.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The purpose of this course is to introduce the student to the principles and practices of selling radio, television, and Internet advertising. Students are introduced to basic media selling strategies; the functions of a media salesperson; consultative selling techniques; and using program ratings to sell electronic media. Since our ability to persuade others is an important element of a successful life, even students who may work in news, public relations, or advertising will find themselves using what they learned in this course to succeed. Sales principles are the key to leadership and management. BRC 321 Prerequisites: To register, you must have completed BRC 319 and BRC 320 and be a second semester junior or higher. (3 credit hours)

WHAT THE STUDENT SHOULD LEARN

The student will learn the difference between selling intangibles and commodities; the personal characteristics found in effective salespeople; how to sell media advertising step-by-step from prospecting to closing; how to conduct effective consultation interviews with the client; how to make persuasive client presentations; and the differences in selling radio, television, and the Internet.     

METHODS OF LEARNING

We all learn best by putting knowledge into practice. The best way to learn how to sell is to rehearse the selling process in a practice sale. After reading about basic sales principles, students will put them into action in role-playing with peers. Then, they will use everything they have learned to make a final sale in the student sale project. In-class group learning
activities will include situation analysis, problem solving, case studies, brainstorming, peer assessments, and class discussion of higher order sales questions. Sales executives of radio and TV stations, Time Warner cable, Syracuse.com, and Nielsen Media Research will be in class to give students personal accounts of what selling is like on a daily basis.

GRADING

Quality/Quantity of your class participation    (150)    _______    15%
Learning activities: 15@ 10 pts.            (150)    _______    15%
Student Sale Project                     (150)    _______    15%
Reading tests 10@10                    (100)    _______    10%
Exam #1                            (100)    _______    10%
Exam #2                            (100)    _______    10%
Exam #3                            (100)    _______    10%
Final Exam                            (150)    _______    15%
Extra Credits                        _______
Total Points                                     (1,000)    

RELATING POINTS TO LETTER GRADES

Learning activities
[9-10=A] [7-8=B] [5-6=C] [3-4=D] [1-2=F]
All 100 point activities
[90-100=A] [80-89=B] [70-79=C] [60-69=D] [0-59=F]
Final grade
[ 950-1,000=A] [900-949=A-] [850-899=B=] [800-849=B-] [750-799=C+] [700-749=C-]650-699=D+] [600-649=D-] [0-599=F]

CLASS POLICIES

Active listening, asking questions of the instructor and guest speakers, and positive verbal participation in class discussions are an absolute requirement for a good grade in this course. As a communication major, you are expected to excel in questioning, discussion, and interaction.  Whatever your grade is otherwise, the quality and quantity of your class questions and discussion will raise your course grade by one letter or lower it by one letter. High quality active participation includes completing assigned reading prior to class; active listening; answering questions; and involvement in class discussion. This does not sanction verbose class discussion or being unduly argumentative.

You are required to read the text assigned before arriving in class. You must know the assigned reading to do the learning activities, class discussions, and reading quiz that represent 60% of your final grade. You are responsible for the assigned readings whether discussed in class or not. Please ask about any topic that you do not fully understand.

The Power Point slides and lectures shown in class deal with some, but not all the information for which you will be held responsible. The purpose of these slides is to further explain some of the concepts you have already read in the text – not as a substitute for reading the text. You will not have time to copy all your study notes for this class from the
PowerPoint slides. That is why PowerPoint slides are available on my web site, www.oswego.edu/~condra .

Learning activities, team projects, and pilot presentations. Papers for all
these assignments must be submitted before leaving the class at which
the activity is due. No makeup work is available for assignments-- they
must be done on the day assigned or credit is lost.

Attendance will be taken as soon as class begins. To be counted as attending class, you must be in the classroom when class begins and remain until it is dismissed. Late arrivals will not be counted as present. If you are not in class, your participation grade and your grade for all in-class activities that day is zero.

Absences:

Should you be absent, it is your job to determine your assignments for the next class and turn them in on time. Tentative reading assignments appear below. All other assignments will be given in class. Should you miss an exam, your makeup test grade will be automatically lowered by one letter.   

Written Assignments:

Any written assignment done outside class must be
computer printed or typed. No assignment will be accepted more than
two weeks after the due date. All assignments should be placed in the
A-Z alphabetical file under the first letter in your last name. All graded
papers will be returned to you in the other A-Z file. Please retain all
returned papers until the end of the course.

Page headings:

Your name, the course number and the activity number
must appear in the upper left-hand corner of every learning activity paper
you turn in. If more than one sheet of paper is used, the sheets must be
stapled or paper clipped together. Assignments submitted without this
information will be returned.

Cheating and Plagiarism:

Students are responsible for knowing and observing the College Policy on Cheating and Plagiarism section of the
Undergraduate Catalog and the consequences of these and other forms of unethical behavior. Any student violating this policy will be immediately dropped from the course with a grade of “F”. Any student with a cell phone turned on during a class will receive an “F” in the course.

Contacting professor and TA:

We are delighted to receive your questions, comments, and suggestions. Office hours are listed at the top of the first page. The very best way to reach both of us is e-mail. If your Oswego.edu address is not checked every day, please have your Oswego e-mail be forwarded to the e-mail address that you do regularly check.

REQUIRED  READING

Lytle, Chris. The Accidental Salesperson. American Management Association, 2000. ISBN 0-8144-7083-1.

Shane, Ed. Selling Electronic Media. Butterworth-Heinemann, 1999.
ISBN 0-240-80327-2

Disability:

Students with documented disabilities who are seeking academic accommodations should contact the coordinator of services to students with disabilities at 210 Swetman Hall.