DECA is excited to introduce a powerful new resource designed to transform how you teach the Integrated Marketing Campaign.
The DECA Integrated Marketing Campaign Resource Guide, created in collaboration with Adobe, provides a comprehensive framework for helping students develop and pitch compelling, insight-driven marketing campaigns aligned with real-world business challenges. This professional-grade roadmap was built with input from Adobe employees specializing in campaign strategy and design, agency management and marketing technology to ensure a real-world, professional approach.
What sets this guide apart is its foundation in actual industry practices. Adobe professionals contributed their expertise to ensure students learn the same terminology, frameworks and presentation standards used in marketing agencies and businesses today.
A Four-Phase Framework for Campaign Excellence
The guide walks advisors through teaching each critical phase of campaign development.
- Phase 0 covers getting started, from understanding industry perspectives to forming student agency teams.
- Phase 1 focuses on discovery through industry research, audience analysis and developing strategic campaign briefs.
- Phase 2 addresses campaign planning, teaching students to develop creative concepts, design visuals using Adobe Express and even leverage AI thoughtfully in the creative process.
- Phase 3 covers tactics, budgeting, timelines and measurement strategies that prove effectiveness.
- Phase 4 is where everything comes together: the pitch deck and presentation.
Mastering the Pitch Deck
DECA advisors can guide DECA members to structure compelling narratives, design visually engaging slides and present with confidence. The guide outlines how to think like agency professionals by leading with insights, building strategic arguments and supporting recommendations with data and creative vision.
For advisors, this means students will understand not just what to include in presentations, but why each element matters and how to deliver persuasively. The pitch deck section includes frameworks that help students organize complex information and create presentations that capture judges' attention from the first slide.
Ready-to-Use Resources
Beyond the four-phase framework, the guide includes an appendix with a comprehensive glossary of industry terms, the IMC rubric alignment guide and evaluation forms. A slide deck that correlates with the guide for DECA advisors to use in their classroom is also available.
The DECA Integrated Marketing Campaign Classroom Guide and accompanying slide deck are available now for all DECA advisors at the Advisor Resource Center.
