by Anna Fobair
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Journalism and Mass Communications introduces its 19-member team for the 2017 National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC). The team will compete in the American Advertising Federation (AAF) District 9 Regional competition in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 14.
Each year, the AAF partners with a national corporate client experiencing a current marketing challenge. NSAC gives college students across the country a chance to create a comprehensive integrated marketing campaign complete with research, creative concepts, public relations, media planning, social media and graphic design.
All teams will pitch their campaigns to industry professionals during a 20-minute presentation. UNL’s team is one of more than 150 collegiate teams competing. Winning teams at each of the 15 district competitions will compete for one of eight spots in the 2017 AAF ADmerica National Conference held in New Orleans, in early June.
This year’s corporate client is the authentic frozen Asian-style cuisine “Tai Pei”.
In the past eight years, UNL has earned six first-place and two second-place ratings in the regional competition, which includes teams from Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri. Five of the six first-place regional winners finished in the top ten in the national finals, and the 2012 team finished No. 1 in the nation.
Faculty advisors Michael Goff, advertising and public relations professor of practice, and Rich Bailey, adjunct professor, lead the UNL team.
Goff said, “This year’s team has a challenging problem to solve, but the team possesses a wealth of talent and boundless energy. Students met without academic credit in the fall semester to gain a solid research foundation, and that extra effort is paying off handsomely. It’s a privilege to work with this band of overachievers.”
The 2017 NSAC team members:
Linsey Armstrong
Sam Cejda
Austin Christensen
Carson Collins
John Ficenec
Anna Fobair
Emily Gauger
Carleen Glenn
Sumit Jagdale
Elliott Janssen
Kaylynn Knuth
Kourtney Muller
Hannah Paxton
Rachel Quint
Leila Tatby
Casey Venema
Nathan Wenchang He
Bailey Williams
Bonnie Wittstruck
Craig Zimmerman