Community Outreach – Page 4

September 23, 2016September 23, 2016

TAI & AAF Dallas Co-Host Breakfast Event with Government Affairs Speaker Clark Rector

Wednesday, September 21, Temerlin Advertising Institute, joined with AAF Dallas and 4A’s, hosted an event called “Broccoli for Breakfast.” The event offered breakfast to all attendees and a guest speaker Clark Rector, EVP Government Affairs for AAF, and his lecture “A Targeted Industry in an Unpredictable Political Environment.”

img_4263_2 — Speaker Clark Rector at the podium.

As the EVP Government Affairs for AAF, Rector is in charge of the grassroots lobbying efforts of the AAF and its’ members. They have been successful in defeating ad tax proposals and other threats to the advertising industry in Congress.

Many industry professionals, including various TAI professors, made their way to the SMU campus to hear Rector speak about the effects of politics on the advertising industry and what the advertising community can do to get involved.

“I really enjoyed Clark’s speech about the role of advertising in our local and national economy,” TAI Professor Eunjin (Anna) Kim said. “As he said, people think [about] advertising negatively, such as advertising promotes materialism, ignores fundamental needs but creates unnecessary desires, and deceives consumers. It’s not easy for us to think about positive side of advertising, even for me. As an advertising faculty, I can say, ‘well advertising provides information, educates consumers, and even sometimes is entertaining.’ But that’s all that I can think of. I haven’t really thought about the economic role of advertising. It creates millions of jobs and boosts sales, representing 15% of the total economic output in the State. Advertising indeed pays a vital role in our society, just like the event name, ‘Broccoli for Breakfast’!”

TAI is passionate about staying informed on all current topics in the advertising industry, hosting guest speakers periodically throughout the year.

December 10, 2015

Three TAI Faculty Receive Sam Taylor Fellowships

Three TAI faculty members are among the 11 SMU professors who have been awarded Sam Taylor Fellowships from the Sam Taylor Fellowship Fund of the Division of Higher Education, United Methodist General Board of Higher Education and Ministry.

The Sam Taylor Fellowships, funded by income from a portion of Taylor’s estate, award up to $2,000 for full-time faculty members at United Methodist-related colleges and universities in Texas. Any full-time faculty member is eligible to apply for the Fellowships, which support research “advancing the intellectual, social or religious life of Texas and the nation.”

Read about the research that won below!

Dr. Sidharth Muralidharan, assistant professor of advertising: “Recent literature has indicated that members of major U.S. political parties, i.e., Democrats and Republicans, have different perceptions regarding environmental issues. Democrats are assumed to be more environmentally friendly than their Republican counterparts. However, little research has delved into understanding the cognitive and psychological processes that take place behind a party member’s stance on an environmental issue. The objective of the current study is to see how green advertisements can generate favorable attitudes and encourage American shoppers to bring reusable carryout bags (vs. plastic) by taking their political affiliation into account. Since caring for the natural environment depends on a person’s self-concept, another factor that will be integrated into the design is an individual’s values for the welfare of others, specifically, self-transcendence. The findings will help city, state, and federal policy makers to effectively communicate environmental policies and ordinances. The grant money will be used to secure a participant pool for the study.”

Dr. Anna Kim, assistant professor of advertising: “My research investigates within-narrative ad variations. As not all stories are equally interesting and effective, some narrative ads are more effective than other narrative ads. Thus, my research tests and proposes a theoretical framework that explains why some narrative ads are more effective than others. With Sam Taylor Fellowship, I will be able to collect data on this study and provide a path forward for future research in this area by identifying the specific process variables that lead to more narrative persuasion. Thus, this research will not only enhance our theoretical understanding of the persuasive power of narrative advertising, but also provide specific guidance for advertising practitioners on how to create good narrative ads. Further, the findings of this research can be applied to many different areas such as health communication, public relations, and education in terms of developing more effective narrative messages.”

Dr. Hye Jin Yoon, assistant professor of advertising: “Childhood and adolescent obesity have been rising at an alarming rate in the United States. Policy changes and various school and clinic programs have been set in place over the years to help curb obesity and continuous efforts are needed on that front. Many public service advertisement (PSA) campaigns have ran in the past, but not many have been successful in catching the public’s eye and motivating a change in behavior. This study will set out to test the effectiveness of using a combination of guilt and humor appeals in health public-service advertising. Theoretical contributions will include observing the applicability of interaction of guilt and humor appeals in social marketing campaigns. Practical implications will include using guilt and humor information in effective ways to motivate the public to stay active, eat healthy, and take care of their health. This study would add knowledge to our understanding of effective PSAs that would help us in our fight against obesity in the United States.”

Applications are evaluated on the significance of the project, clarity of the proposal, professional development of the applicant, value of the project to the community or nation, and the project’s sensitivity to value questions confronting higher education and society.

November 18, 2015November 18, 2015

Dr. Nicolas Sternsdorff-Cisterna Presents “Is this safe to eat? Food Safety after Fukushima”

Fukushima_2081985b — Photo Credit: www.telegraph.co.uk

Dr. Nicolas Sternsdorff-Cisterna, Assistant Professor, Anthropology, presented his work “Is this safe to eat? Food safety and risk after Fukushima” on Friday at the TAI Research Brown Bag. The participants were taken through the tragedy that struck Japan after a devastating earthquake, nuclear explosion and tsunami put people, food, soil and water at risk of radiation. Professor Sternsdorff-Cisterna discussed consumers’ reactions to food purchases and eating habits along with government messaging working to alleviate consumer and citizen concerns.

fukushima-four-years-after-tsunami — Bags of Soil / Photo Credit: Toru Hanai/Reuters

The intent of the brown bag luncheon is to bring together faculty members to present work they are doing in an effort to engage collaboration as well as offer ideas in moving the research area forward.

Attendees included Visiting Professor Yuting Li, Head of the Advertising Department, Guangdong University of Finance & Economics, China as well as colleagues from across campus. Often the work is related to research, but can also involved creative works and industry endeavors. Our next brown bag will be in December. Keep your eye out for highlights from December’s presenter!

June 22, 2015June 22, 2015

TAI Alumna Gives Back: Erin Hedrick of The Richards Group

On June 18th, I had the incredibly opportunity to participate in the 10th Annual Home Team Build here at The Richards Group. As a recent graduate of the Temerlin Advertising Institute at SMU, I was excited about joining the working world, but was nervous about that whole “work/life balance” everyone kept talking about. Community service has been an ongoing theme and hobby in my life, and I wasn’t sure where that would fit into a busy, new schedule. But when I joined The Home Depot account at TRG, I was thrilled to learn that I was joining a team of people who were equally passionate about giving back.

Years ago, The Home Depot committed to an annual day of service to help those in need. In response, the team of people working on The Home Depot account here at The Richards Group decided to make the same commitment. For ten years, the Home Team has raised money and fixed up the homes of local Dallas families in need of a helping hand. And this year, we took on two houses, instead of one.

I pulled up to work at 6:00 in the morning, and was greeted by my surprisingly enthusiastic-for-it-being-so-early coworkers. We got on the bus and headed to work. We ripped up carpets. We chipped off old paint. We installed brand new appliances. We got dirty, sunburnt, and wow are we sore. But none of that mattered when the homeowners walked through the door at the end of the day, because we realized the difference that our work had made.

My education at TAI showed me that this is an industry where there are unlimited opportunities to give back, you just have to have the courage to take them. And boy, am I glad I did.

About the Author

Erin Hedrick is a 2015 MA in Advertising graduate from the Temerlin Advertising Institute at SMU, with a BA in Film & Media Arts. She currently works as a Brand Manager for The Home Depot account at The Richards Group.

February 3, 2015February 10, 2015

TAI Professor Discusses the Meaning of Home

Baronet, Willie On February 2^nd, TAI Professor, Willie Baronet made an appearance on the Street View Podcast to talk about his homeless project and to discuss the meaning of home. To learn more about this project and to listen to Professor Baronet’s powerful definition please visit http://streetviewpodcast.com/2015/02/02/season-2-episode-4-what-does-home-mean-to-you/.

May 5, 2014November 13, 2014

TAI presents to Summit International Preparatory

On May 1, 2014 faculty members of the Temerlin Advertising Institute presented an overview of the advertising profession and the Institute to students from Summit International Preparatory. Approximately 150 6^th graders visited SMU for the day. The students were very polite and engaging with a ton of great comments, questions, and ideas.

A former SMU-TAI graduate, Haynes Strader spearheaded the visit. We are so excited that our alumni feel proud of their roots and want to bring shining stars to visit SMU to ignite interest in our university and the TAI program.

April 8, 2014November 13, 2014

Creative Students Invited to Participate in National “Bus” Tour at the Dallas Art Fair

SMU_5 — Custom Art Work on the bus by SMU Students

Leah Foster, a friend of TAI Visiting Executive-in-Residence Willie Baronet, started a National Bus Tour this past weekend at the Dallas Art Fair and several students in Baronet’s Introduction to Creativity class showed up to participate. Using paint, glitter, paper and all the many materials that Willie brought, the students got to work in redecorating the bus.

Leah Foster is an artist and currently a graduate student at School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York, NY. She views art as a tool to bring positive change in the world. She launched this bus tour with a doctor from Botswana in an effort to raise money to start a children’s hospital. This tour is a way for the Leah and her collaborative partner Una Mulale to meet people and begin a conversation about their approach to healthcare, collaborative process, and the children’s conference they are planning in Botswana in November of 2014. They also see the bus as a space to open authentic conversation about race, gender, and equality. To read more about her project, click here.

April 3, 2014November 13, 2014

TAI student, Jazmin Vazquez, receives Meadows Exploration Award

Jazmin Vazquez wins a Meadows Exploration Award for her research study titled Distorted Beauty. Jazmin is an advertising major in the Temerlin Advertising Institute. She will travel to London this summer to engage in a 5 week study abroad program in Communication Studies. During her stay she will also work on research related to examining the manner in which women view themselves and socially construct their self-concept based on airbrushing and retouching of models in advertising. Her mentor is Dr. Carrie La Ferle of TAI who has undertaken significant research over the past few years in the area of retouching of models.

Please join TAI in congratulating Jazmin on this exciting accomplishment.

Free and open to the public, RSVP requested.