Abstract:

This paper reports the experience and results regarding a Problem-Based Learning study that was implemented within a Design & Advertising Stricto Sensu course, in which students were required to work with a real client, as well as the adversities that the execution process faced due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation. Based on a systematic literature review, along with quantitative and qualitative surveys with teachers and students, this study highlights the fact that Higher and Further Education in Design & Advertising should address the way in which design can influence the areas of accounting, planning, media and creation in the advertising departments. Taking this into consideration, an institutional project was developed and applied in order to strengthen an actual real brand and carry out a communicational repositioning using traditional and digital tools within Lisbon’s current business scenario of small to medium-sized companies. To this end, students were compelled to develop a strategic communication plan that was substantially elaborated according to a marketing plan and a media plan based on the current market structures of the client segment. This project includes, also, an aesthetic study of the target audience's languages in order to understand the new strategy’s direction, which was then reflected in the practical and technical development of the assets that integrated a complete advertising campaign. The project aimed to ensure that the proposal for a new positioning for the brand brought the concepts of interactivity, analysis, measurement and also conciseness when targeting.

The implementation process was divided into 6 main phases:
(1) quantitative diagnosis of needs with students and teachers;
(2) qualitative diagnosis of needs with students and teachers;
(3) data analysis;
(4) design of the project;
(5) implementation;
(6) quantitative and qualitative diagnosis of improvements with students, teachers and client.

The results of this Problem-Based Learning study demonstrate high satisfaction levels, as well as space for improvement in light of the experience lived within the pedagogical process of the master's program. Moreover, it presents pertinent data about the way in which the project was able to solve problematic particularities that arose in previous diagnoses.

Keywords:

Design Education, Advertising Education, Problem-Based Learning, Experiential Learning.