AWARDS: Two TAI Faculty Win “Shining Stars Award” From Dallas Chapter of American Advertising Federation

Temerlin Advertising Institute (TAI) faculty members Carrie La Ferle and Amber Benson were among 25 Dallas women in advertising honored with the 2018 AAF Dallas Shining Stars Award, presented by the Dallas chapter of the American Advertising Federation. The awards were presented June 21 during a dinner ceremony at the Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas.

Inaugurated in 2017, the Shining Stars Award recognizes Dallas advertising women who are producing thought-provoking and innovative work, breaking through barriers to create something new, or forging partnerships that drive growth. AAF noted on its website that the Shining Stars winners are “community leaders, C-suite executives, co-founders, executive VPs, strategic masterminds, media mavens and more. They are breaking glass ceilings and making the Dallas advertising community look good.”

A noted scholar, Professor La Ferle conducts research on how culture impacts advertising and consumer behavior. She also has taught undergraduate and graduate classes in international advertising and ethics for over 20 years and has won several prestigious teaching recognitions at SMU, including both the Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor and Meadows Distinguished Teaching Professor awards. Benson is an executive-in-residence at TAI and the founder of Seamripper, an insights and innovation agency focused on high-growth companies. As a marketing consultant, she has over 20 years of experience in strategy development, digital marketing, e-commerce and corporate communications.

The impetus for creating the Shining Stars Award was frustration at the lack of recognition for talented women in the field. AAF wrote, “Last year, inspired after attending the Southwest Advertising Hall of Fame event, we googled ‘top women in Dallas advertising’ and the result was ‘The 10 Most Beautiful Women in Dallas.’  We thought … Dallas, we can do better than that! After a successful first year, we are proud to say when you google ‘the top women in Dallas advertising’ you will find our inaugural list of Shining Stars from 2017.”

“I commend Dallas AAF for being a leader in developing this award to highlight the many talented women in our field,” said Steve Edwards, chair of TAI. “I am delighted for our Temerlin Advertising Institute to have not one, but two women in advertising selected for this year’s Shining Stars Award. We do great work in Dallas and this award not only celebrates these talented 25 Dallas women, but also our entire Dallas advertising industry.”

Pictured left to right at the 2018 AAF Shining StarS Awards ceremony are TAI guest Tanya Conovaloff; TAI Program Specialist Sandi Edgar, who accepted the award for Amber Benson; TAI guest Kelly Tokarczyk; and TAI professor and award recipient Carrie La Ferle.

FACULTY SPOTLIGHT: Praise From a Class Client

Class Clients

In the program capstone course, Advertising Campaigns, our senior students showcase their accumulated knowledge through an intensive practical exercise. Working in small agency groups, they vie for the new business of a client. The client is real, in the room and judging their performance. The problems and the budgets are real. Students investigate, plan, develop strategies, create integrated marketing campaigns and solve clients’ advertising problems. We’ve worked with brands such as American Airlines, Dickey’s Barbecue Pit, Glidden, Nokia, Rockfish, Kinko’s, Hyundai, Postal Vault, Toyota Matrix, Bank of America, Waste Management, Wingstop and FLA USA.

Click to learn more or apply to be a Temerlin Class Client

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Praise from one of last semester’s class clients below…

May 16, 2018

Peter,

From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU for the marvelous work you and your students did on the marketing campaign for Cox Insurance.  I am thrilled with the results.  All of the campaigns went beyond my expectations and “hit it out of the ballpark.”  At the beginning of the project, you said that no client had ever been disappointed with the results and I am certainly no exception.  Indeed, it is hard to imagine a client being more happy than I am with the results.

All of the campaigns had useful information—some more than others—but the beauty of your method for teaching the students is that the competition generates an overall product which surely goes far beyond what would be possible otherwise.  In other words, the whole project is a brilliant conception, and that redounds to you.

It was very hard to pick a winner since all of the campaigns were extremely well conceived and dug deep into the market.  Red Chair’s winning campaign centered squarely on the reason why I started Cox Insurance in the first place, which is to save people time and give them the respect in the marketplace that such hard-working people deserve but have never had.

Again, thank you so much for helping me find the “nuggets” among Cox’s demographics.  I know that we have to pick a project winner and that’s why I’m writing, but let’s be clear—I’m the real winner here—and I know it.

 

Maria Coello

Cox Insurance Group, LLC

photo credit: source

 

PROGRAM FEATURE: Temerlin’s Graphic Design Minor FYI

By: TAI Professor Cheryl Mendenhall

I ran into a former student, who had just received her masters degree, at the bookstore after graduation this past May. She was telling me how much she was using the skills learned in one of my graphic design classes at her job – which she hadn’t expected but found that the skills came in handy in her somewhat unrelated field.

Awhile back another former student told me how excited she was to be able to use her graphic design skills at her copy writing internship. Being able to pitch in on projects in a different capacity than was expected made her an even more valuable asset to the team.

Why am I telling you this? Well, while you may know that TAI offers an interdisciplinary minor in graphic design, you may not realize how many fields of study can benefit from these skills. You might be interested in pursuing graphic design as a career but even if you aren’t, learning to become a better visual communicator can enhance a variety of career paths.

It’s so much more than learning the software used in the industry. It is about cultivating your ideas; using design principles of composition and layout; learning about typography, imagery and color choices along with a little psychology to best present your ideas. We discuss and practice all of these skills to build a powerful toolbox to help create messages that inspire, inform, tell stories or engage your audience.

 

You might want to consider how these skills can enhance your interests and career path. You can learn more about the graphic design minor here.

Images Courtesy of:

Currency Redesign, Cho Kim, Intro to Graphic Design

Event Poster, Tanner Thompson, Intro to Graphic Design

Type Specimen Poster, Alexa Acosta, Typography

Logo, Dani Kubitz, Logo and Trademark

Magazine, Traci Penn, Publication Design