Amazon Ads Experience

The Hub for Brand Innovation and Advertising Technology, in partnership with the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising, offers students hands-on learning experiences through their innovative curriculum. The Brand Hub has collaborated with the Amazon Ads Education Alliance to develop more of these opportunities for students campus wide. Amazon Ads recently created the following three courses, in addition to hosting an annual career networking event this year. Students can earn a maximum of 6 hours for the Amazon Ads Experience. This includes credits earned in ADV 392/290, ADV 400/590 and ADV 490.

Department Head Mike Yao shares more information about ADV 400: Amazon Advertising Experience and ADV 490: Advanced Ecommerce Advertising. Video production by Ryan Leshock and Nate Walinder. Apply for these classes today!

Course Descriptions

ADV 392: Amazon Advertising Certification and Global Overview Campaign Course (Undergraduate Students)

ADV 490 Special Topics: Amazon Advertising Certification and Global Overview Campaign Course (Graduate Students)

This industry immersion course is a collaboration between Amazon Advertising and Global Overview designed to provide students with an experiential learning opportunity relevant to building careers in advertising, marketing, media and related fields. Part One introduces students to an array of terminology, techniques, strategies, processes and practices related to a variety of advertising campaign solutions, with an emphasis on e-commerce. Students who successfully complete part one will receive professional certification from Amazon Advertising. Part Two will allow students to develop, pitch and implement a comprehensive campaign for real-world clients in collaboration with UI Faculty, Amazon Advertising and Global Overview executives.

Please note: This class focuses on paid display and sponsored advertising buying on the Amazon native platform and should ideally be taken before ADV 400/590 and ADV 490. This course is open to undergraduate and graduate students of all majors. Please visit the link below to enroll in this course.

The following course is offered during the fall semester only:

ADV 400: Amazon Advertising Experience (Undergraduate Students)

ADV 590: Amazon Advertising Experience (Graduate Students)

In this action learning course, students will work with an Amazon retailer to grow their business. Working in teams, students will gain hands-on experience in designing, planning, and executing advertising campaigns for an ecommerce enterprise.

ADV 400/590 is a project-based practicum course in which students will learn about how to grow an ecommerce brand through a multi touchpoint omnichannel (e.g., search, website, social media, and ecommerce platform) strategy.

The client for ADV 400/590 is a Champaign based ecommerce company with demonstrated success at building brand awareness across social media channels, on the Amazon platform and through engagement with the company’s website. The company has over 6 years of experience selling its products to 50 countries around the world through its website and Amazon Advertising.

In the past, the company has solely relied on its internal marketing team to develop its brand and marketing strategy. This company is now branching out and is excited to create a new children’s apparel brand that will launch by the holidays in December 2022. The client would like to collaborate with advertising students in this course to create this brand, to build brand awareness and to develop a comprehensive advertising strategy that will increase business and drive sales. 

Please note: By design and for pedagogical reasons, ADV 400/590 ideally should not be taken in the same semester as ADV 392.

Please note: Again, this course is only offered during the fall semester.

ADV 490 Special Topics: Advertising Strategies for Online Businesses (Undergraduate and Graduate Students, All Majors)

This Advanced eCommerce class covers an intersection of eCommerce advertising, technology, and business. Students learn how to confidently navigate the current eCommerce landscape in the US and Globally – Large platforms and self-hosted solutions, help their clients grow through business and revenue models and evaluate the success of your company’s finances and advertising measures using business analytics.

The projects focus on helping students understand all the components of customer buying journeys including SEO, Paid Ads, Email Marketing, and UX/UI. Guest speakers for the class include industry experts at Walmart, Unilever, Amazon Ads, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Walgreens, and Reckitt, giving the students a chance to interact and build relationships in the industry and teach them how to sell their goods and services successfully online.

Please note: Students who took ADV 490 ECM Advanced eCommerce (68228) in FA22 should not register for this course. While the title is different, the course content is the same. Registering for the new course would be seen as duplicate credit. Duplicate credit does not count toward graduation and students registering for the duplicate course will be asked to drop. Please visit the link below to enroll in this course.

Amazon Ads Career Day Coming Spring 2023

To get started on your journey with Amazon Ads, sign up now for one or more of their exciting course offerings. Please visit here.