What Is IAAD.?

IAAD. – Istituto d’Arte Applicata e Design was founded in Turin in 1978. Thanks to intense and uninterrupted activity, carried out in the campuses in Turin and Bologna, it is one of the most important higher education institutes in Italy and Europe. The Institute, which identifies itself as a dynamic community of individuals in constant interaction, is a talent incubator that promotes an interdisciplinary vision of design.

IAAD., is part of the AD Education international network - a leading private education provider in France in the field of design and the applied arts – and among the leading European educational providers having 13 schools and 38 campuses (4 in Italy, 4 in Spain, 3 in Germany and 27 in France) with 18,000 students, 1,200 teachers and an integrated teaching system in 5 languages offering over 150 courses divided between the three-year programs and the Master's programs.

The teaching staff is primarily drawn from industry professionals, who foster an organic relationship with the business world that sustains a unique job placement service. This winning combination is the reason that over 90% of new graduates are employed within a year of course completion. Thanks to this professional network of relationships with diverse design sectors, IAAD., collaborates with over 5,000 companies that are the basis of the job placement office for IAAD., graduates. Updated curriculum, high regard for the value of faculty and students, and connectivity with industry and practitioners are the backbone of the IAAD., approach for now and the future.

Why Choose The Master In Digital Marketing & Communication Management?

Digital communication comprises all aspects of communication, advertising, and marketing that are conveyed electronically. It is an area that is growing and increasingly relevant and that expands its bounds both technologically but also as a means of communication, commerce, and entertainment. It is characterized by specific and diversified skills including; marketing to content management, programming sites and mobile apps to UX/UI design, social media management to the semantic web, video making to search engine optimization (SEO), digital PR as well as e-commerce platform management and much more. Today, successful digital marketing campaigns are the product of multiple platforms and increasingly interconnected skill sets that create demand for new professionals able to manage diverse complex projects. Marketing and advertising agencies, corporations, and the public sector have little problem finding single-tasked professionals, however, the real demand is for professionals able to execute increasingly complex projects that require utilizing multiple platforms and processes. These are digital managers who are competent in the processes involved and are able to oversee the collective teamwork of specialized professionals. The preparation and training of a Digital Marketing Specialist (DMS) is the focus of the Master in Digital Marketing & Communication Management. The Master program is divided into four main areas of competency:

• Specialized Expertise

The Master offers to both students who already work in the field in roles such as (Content Manager, UX/UI Designer, Web Developer, or Video Maker, etc.) and want to increase their skills and capacity as well as acquire a new role in the sector as students new to the field who want to choose and develop their new professional profile.

• Mastery Of The Work Process

Overall competency in the process and flow of projects and skillsets necessary. In learning the basic skills and systems, students are able to construct, manage, and execute their projects in the most effective manner. For example, it is not necessary for a DMS to know how to program professionally, however, they must understand the fundamentals of how a programmer operates, as well as their needs and limitations as well as when to give or request assistance. Knowledge of processes is a rare and extremely valuable skill: the Master will train managers capable of orchestrating the skills of the professionals in their teams, enhancing them and aligning them with the goal and success of the project.

• Project Management

Students will learn the theory and practice of project management, focusing on Agile project management principles that are iterative rather than linear which allows for project structuring, monitoring, and planning involving numerous specialists working on different phases of the project.

• Creativity

How to use creativity in order to create and nurture innovation and work “outside the box” in approaching challenges and problem-solving. We train our students to create new ideas, solutions, and points of view in order to approach out-of-the-ordinary challenges and situations with creative and innovative solutions. The overall goal is to combine the traditional skills of “creatives”, such as a fervent imagination, lateral thinking, literary and iconographic culture, aesthetic taste, and artistic sensitivity with the ability to dialogue with the public through digital media and fully utilize the opportunities offered by developments in digitization.

What Are The Main Study Areas Of The Master in Digital Marketing & Communication Management?

The Master is conceived as an innovation hub, that fosters an environment of exchange where students alternately engage and utilize theory, practice, and experimentation as part of the learning process as they become new media design experts and professionals. In preparing young professionals, IAAD., recreates what happens in the real world as a fundamental part of the learning process. A distinctive feature of the IAAD., the approach is the integration of collaborative company projects in the learning process. Company projects create a great synergy that brings together the commercial needs of the partner with the educational and experiential needs of the Digital Media student that they will be able to utilize in their future career. This approach allows students to emerge themselves in real-world working conditions where deadlines, changes, customer and client feedback, expectations, and teamwork is not theoretical but the reality of their experiential educational journey.

The Master is divided into six main areas of study:

Computer Science

Communicate With Machines

Focuses on human-machine interaction: Computer Science Basics, Digital network - SEO, Ontology.

Media Management

Communicate With People

Provides the tools and skills related to the creation of digital content: Content Editing, Social Media & Content Management, and Digital Crisis Management.

Interaction Design

Manage Human-Machine-Organization Relationships

The fundamentals of human-machine interaction are part of a user-centered strategy: New Media and Digital Marketing Models, Digital Interfaces.

Web & Mobile Development

Developing Digital Platforms

Acquisition of new skills related to the design and development of digital platforms and mobile applications: Web Platform design and development, Mobile application.

Narrative Models

Multimedia Management/Multisensory Narrative Models

Digital innovation originates from creativity and the use of multisensory narrative models: Audiovisual Broadcasting Design, Immersive Environments.

Project Management

Manage Work Processes

Effective management of processes and workflows is an indispensable prerequisite for the success of every digital project. The final collective thesis project is an opportunity to experiment and utilize both the theoretical and practical concepts and experience the course: Project Management and Agile Methodology and Thesis development.

How Is The Master Structured?

The Master in Digital Marketing & Communication Management is a full-time course in English, lasting ten months. The main objective is to provide participants with the necessary skills to operate and manage projects in a conscious and efficient way in a professional environment characterized by considerable complexity, a strong correlation of the components involved, and a very high rate of change. The Master focuses on the concrete practice of each individual tool or methodology in the different fields of application available: media, marketing (R&D, design, advertising), educational and entertainment.

Academic Policies

The Master is delivered via lectures and workshops from Monday to Saturday, with the possibility of fieldwork or lectures on Sunday. Attendance is mandatory. Active participation in coursework is both expected and fundamental to the successful completion of the program. All assignments and projects are to be delivered on the established due date. Completion of the Master is contingent upon the final thesis project which will be presented by the student to a commission for evaluation. Throughout the academic year, IAAD., will organize visits to companies, exhibitions and museums, special workshops, as well as encounters with relevant professionals. All of these events are mandatory and transport and admission fees are not included in the course tuition.

Thesis

The final thesis is a real-world project developed in collaboration with an industry partner company. The design process is executed from initial briefings to ongoing meetings and discussions and a final presentation and evaluation of the project with the Partner Company and academic panel. A past example of the thesis project was developed with ARTUR srl - Grand Hotel Duchi d’Aosta.

Project Work and Internship

Students may choose between completing an individual project (project work) or a 300-hour internship/apprenticeship. The project will be developed from one of the main themes of study with an instructor/ professional who will assign the brief and follow the students’ progress in the research and design phase as well as the final presentation.

Career Service

IAAD., provides students unique access to companies and industry professionals due to the integration of industry and education as the foundation of a IAAD., Master. The IAAD., career service is an exchange between the needs of industry partners and IAAD., graduates as the career service work to benefit both.

What Are The Disciplines Of Study?

ISDC/05 Communication of Complex Events

Digital Crisis Management

Communication crises, in an interconnected and transparent ecosystem such as the digital one, are a potentially harmful phenomenon for the most important intangible asset of any organization; reputation. This course introduces the psychological and social dynamics underlying the evolution of a crisis, looking at techniques of prevention, strategic and tactical displacement, methods and tools to manage and contain it as well as resilience and recovery techniques, up to date tools for measuring and evaluating the damage, costs and the effectiveness of countermeasures.

ISDC/02 Communication Tools and Techniques

Social Media & Content Management

The advent of digital has forced commerce to adapt themselves and communicate information through social networks, websites, corporate blogs as a point of presence (PoP), direct communication gateway between the company and target audience. These tools, which are mainly viewed as a means of information have an equally important role in building relationships and reputations between organizations and stakeholders. Conceiving and implementing the right content to be broadcast via these platforms, creating and managing “conversations”, engaging their “communities”, creating effective storytelling, anticipating, predicting, and managing critical issues, determining and achieving performance and returns on investment (ROI) require very specific skills which are the focus of this course.

ISDC/07 Introduction to Computer Science

Computer Science Basics

The subject is approached as a science rather than focusing on diverse technologies. Basic concepts such a mathematical logic and information storage and manipulation are highlighted as well as looking at an overview of programming, utilizing Scratch, which is a programming language used in interactive stories, games, and animation. Use of “learn by playing” is employed. Students will compare and contrast Scratch with classic programming languages (e.g. JavaScript) to understand the differences between the two. This aim here is to not let technical aspects and constraints stop the student from utilizing a common language with programmers as well as develop a taste and talent for programming.

ISSE/01 Marketing

New Media & Digital Marketing Models

A comprehensive understanding of the main principles and strategies of classical and digital marketing is paramount in working in and with communication today and in the future. The course provides participants with both a comprehensive review of classic marketing basics as well as a current view of digital marketing techniques. Main topics include an overview of contemporary marketing and sociology, building a brand, segmentation, main marketing operational models: 4P and 4C, digital marketing techniques, viral marketing, buzz marketing, real-time marketing (RTM), mobile marketing, and main digital metrics: Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, niche proliferation, bio capitalism, widespread governance.

ISDC/04 Multimedia Languages and Applications

Digital Interfaces

Interaction man-machine is the rapport between the human user and their “mechanical” counterpart, which usually is a computer or digital platform, but also could be a fridge, television, or a microwave oven. The User Experience is a new and evolving discipline but already well-defined by standardized instruments and methodologies and examples such as Cooper and Norman that are both useful and interesting. This module will highlight:

• The value of visual language and narration;
• The acquisition of sensitivity for the observation and understanding of human-computer interaction (HCI);
• The acquisition of basic tools, languages, and skills that allow interaction with all the players involved in the creation of digital tools: researcher, designer, graphic and visual designer, marketer, developer.

ISME/01 Design Methodology

Project Management – Agile

Agility is a complex subject, which often is regarded as the antithesis of traditional project management methodologies, but instead should be perceived as an alternative that responds to specific business and organizational needs. Principle objectives and topics: understand the context in which Agility is most effective and successfully utilized; fundamentals of the agile mindset and its main operational procedures, in order that students can independently and confidently apply these models. Agility is introduced starting with Agile principles and values, its strategic and conceptual analysis, and finally to operational and implementation methods inspired by Agile concepts. At the same time, the possible applications of the use of Agility in the context in which students operate and their future employment are investigated; also taking an interest in the main characteristics of the “Agile leader” and teamwork. The approach to the agile context is designed in such a way as to involve students through exercises and workshops that characterize the entire course.

ISDC/04 Multimedia Languages and Applications

Web Platforms Design & Development

When working in the web environment, there is a distinction between design and programming, but it is not as clear-cut as the one that exists, for example, between the graphic design of a paper publication and their typographic printing. This is why a web designer does not need to be a programmer but, cannot avoid a basic foundation and comprehension of how programming languages work. Students will learn how to develop and design a web platform, from the wireframe to HTML. The goal is to provide them with the fundamentals of the design process, learn how to lead a development team, and understand the fundamentals and limitations of HTML/CSS programming. Topics include an introduction to web and internet platforms, UX/UI basics and case histories, user-centered design fundamentals, UX/UI design and prototyping software, HTML/CSS base, and examples.

ISDC/04 Multimedia Applications

Mobile Applications

Mobile applications are the key to the success of digital services. The mobile environment is extremely dynamic and stakeholders must be familiar with the specifics such as hw / sw assets, the current state of new development opportunities, development methodologies, and the tools needed for delivery and maintenance of the application. Topics covered include devices and applications, wireframing and prototyping on paper, OS: Android, iOS, Hybrid and Web app, design system, UI Design, interaction and animation, the evolution of the App.

ISDC/04 Digital Production

Audiovisual Broadcasting Design

Students will learn how to write, produce and distribute a story for the screen. From an in-depth analysis of the history of cinema and film aesthetics, students will examine why the human brain processes image much faster than text and why we prefer information packaged as stories. Students will develop fundamental skills in visual storytelling, creating narrative structures, frames of meaning for the characters, and technical aspects related to the genre. In this environment, students are challenged (and supervised) by professors to understand what are the elements - from pre-production to post-production - that must be taken into consideration to develop an idea in audiovisual format.

ISDC/02 Media Writing Techniques

Content Editing

This course covers the basic concepts of creation (content strategy), writing (content writing), management (content management), selection (content curation), adaptation and localization of content online, on the web, and social media: disciplines that refer to the macro theme of Content Editing which is the subject of the course. Best practices of writing for online media are illustrated, with particular attention to Social Media most utilized by industry (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) with a focus on the latest ones (Instagram and Facebook Stories), use of social writing (Medium, Watt pad), content creation for direct marketing (DEM, Newsletter, SMS) as well as for social media sponsorship (Facebook and Instagram Ads, sponsored tweets and hashtags). Frequent use of case studies, practical exercises, and assignment of group projects. Content will be evaluated through the analysis platforms (Social Media Insight, Google Analytics), Sentiment Analysis and Community Management.

ISDC/07 Multimedia Computer Techniques

Ontology

Focuses on modeling and problem-solving in computer science, with reference to the representation of knowledge and the design and engineering of ontologies. The in-depth study will be made of formal systems and representative languages, algorithm and coding languages, formal logic, computational ontologies, and semantic web, design, and engineering of ontology.

ISDC/04 Multimedia Design

Immersive Environments

The continued growth of “immersive communication” is now commonplace and offers unlimited growth and development for the virtualization of reality / virtual reality. Training contexts, diagnostic tools, aeronautical and automotive simulation as well as tools for oil field identification. The entire production process for immersive applications will be covered including conception, project management, 3D modeling, and public display technology.

ISDC/07 Multimedia Computer Techniques

Digital Networks – SEO

Computer science is usually approached from the most familiar and visible characteristics – programming that allows for the functioning of digital applications and human-machine interaction that are enabled by programming language. Rather than approaching computer science from application development, this course starts with the premise that if computer services can be used by people (clients) even at a great distance from the machine on which they reside (server), this is made possible by computer networks (digital networks). In the first part of the course the illustration of the basic characteristics of digital networks such as client-server architecture, different types of protocols, the Domain Name System (DNS), enumeration of ports as well as the monitoring of tool functionality in programs like Wireshark. The second part of the course focuses on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques. Today all (or almost) companies and organizations utilize multiple digital platforms (website, mobile app, etc.). This is necessary but not sufficient for cohesive digital marketing. The real challenge, where the most subtle and ingenious minds on the planet meet, is to ensure the right positioning and therefore excellent visibility in search engines (SEO). Elements such as Keyword density, Speed Optimization, SEO One Page, semantic markup, analytics, and Google ADV campaigns as well as other important techniques are presented as the guarantor of a correct level of optimization.

ISME/01 Design Elements

Thesis Development

This course brings together all the elements required to prepare a digital communication project where students will utilize a real-world scenario in collaboration with a partner company. The project is executed by following standard design process techniques. The initial partner company briefing and follow-up meetings develop a solid project proposal that will then address the functional, technical, communicative, and semantic elements that must be satisfied in the delivery of an integrated communication project developed using new media.

Who is the Ideal Student of the Master's in Digital Marketing & Communication Management?

The Master's Student in Digital Marketing & Communication Management is:

• curious and endowed with a solid general knowledge especially in the fields of art history, contemporary art, cinematography, psychology, sociology, literature, etc.
• hold a bachelor's degree or equivalent
• proficient in at least two Adobe Creative Cloud applications or equivalent
• able to guarantee flexibility, maximum commitment and full-time attendance at lessons.

What are the professional opportunities for graduates?

Graduates will be able to use their new skills to enter the diverse and expanding working field of digital management. Opportunities for new jobs in practically every sector as well as the great possibility of growth as the future is digital. Whether in the private or public sector a wide variety of organizations in diverse fields are in increasing need of digital professionals. Likewise, graduates are uniquely positioned to strike out on their own as consultants or digital entrepreneurs. Just some of the career paths that are open include:

• Digital Content Manager
• Social Media Manager
• Community Manager
• Web Developer
• Web Analyst
• UX/UI Designer
• SEO Specialist
• Semantic Engineer
• Data Scientist
• Audiovisual Manager
• VR Developer
• E-Commerce Manager