UNL students take 1st place in National Student Advertising Competition

            Advertising students from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Journalism and Mass Communications took first place in the 2012 National Student Advertising Competition in Austin, Texas, June 2-5.

            Only 19 of the 153 student teams that competed in the program sponsored by the American Advertising Federation advanced to nationals.

            This year's competition challenged students to develop a fully integrated marketing campaign to help Nissan build awareness and lasting favorability among African-American, Hispanic and Chinese-American millennial consumers in the United States.

            UNL has finished first in districts and contended for the national title for the past four years. UNL competes in District 9, which represents clubs and American Advertising Federations in Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and Kansas.

            Amy Struthers, associate professor of advertising and public relations, assembled the college's first NSAC team in 2004-2005. This year's team advisers, Phil Willet and Rich Bailey, as well as Struthers, accompanied the students to nationals. Willet is an assistant professor of advertising and public relations and Bailey is an adjunct professor. Willet and Bailey helped UNL to fourth- and seventh-place finishes in previous national competitions.

            UNL students who participate in this program spend an entire semester doing research, designing strategy and preparing plans books and presentations.

            "There is no better way to learn about an advertising campaign process than by actually developing a campaign for a real client," according to the AAF.

            Several UNL advertising classes contributed to the effort, conducting research, designing strategy and preparing plans books and presentations. Following is a list of the team members by hometown and the roles they played in the campaign:

NEBRASKA

            Bellevue: Sara Smits, media director.

            Bennington: Dana Oltman, art director.

            Humboldt: Michelle Pineda, account coordinator/project manager/public relations.

            Johnson: Hans Christensen, account services.

            Kearney: Bingjie Zhao, media planner.

            Lincoln: Zee Chiweshe, account planner/public relations; Nolan Gauthier, copywriter; Dylan McCaugherty, interactive designer/writer; Abby Meyer, film; Tim Obermueller, copywriter; and Russell Troxel, copywriter.

            North Platte: Jana Schneider, account planner/public relations.

            Omaha: Dennis Bukowski, art director; Calvin Drey, account planner/project manager; Kevin McCaskill, account supervisor; Rance Ristau, project manager; Landon Stahmer, creative director; and Ashley Turner, account planner.

            Scottsbluff: Paul Henderson, account planner.

            Sidney: Megan Homolka, copywriter/media planner.

            Wayne: Maddie Jager, art director.

ELSEWHERE

            Pensacola, Fla.: Tayler Thomas, account planner/media planner/public relations.

            Sioux Falls, S.D.: Chelsey Wahlstrom, account planner/public relations.

            â�¨The American Advertising Federation, the nation's oldest national advertising trade association, and the only association representing all facets of the advertising industry, is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and acts as the "Unifying Voice for Advertising." The AAF also has 15 district operations, each located in and representing a different region of the nation. The AAF's membership is comprised of nearly 100 blue chip corporate members comprising the nation’s leading advertisers, advertising agencies, and media companies; a national network of 200 local federations, representing 40,000 advertising professionals, located in ad communities across the country; and 220 AAF college chapters, with more than 6,000 student members. The AAF operates a host of programs and initiatives including the Advertising Hall of Fame, the Addy Awards, the National Student Advertising Competition and the Mosaic Center on Multiculturalism. For more information, visit www.aaf.org.

            For more information on the National Student Advertising Competition, please visit www.aaf.org/nsac or contact Education Services at education@aaf.org or 202-898-0089.

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Writer: Marilyn Hahn