On April 17-19, Southern Methodist University had the honor of hosting the National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC) for the first time on campus in 41 years. NSAC is a collegiate advertising competition sponsored by the American Advertising Federation (AAF). Two hundred seventy-five students participated in this year’s competition, representing 21 universities from Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. These talented students developed a campaign for Proctor & Gamble’s Tide for this year’s competition and presented it to a panel of judges.
Temerlin Advertising Institute Professor Nicole Haddad directed and led this year’s team. The SMU team showcased its skills and creativity and secured a commendable fourth-place finish. Ben Perry, a student on SMU’s team, earned the impressive title of best presenter in the competition.
“Seeing myself and others be recognized for the hard work we put in not only this year but throughout our academic careers was truly invigorating. Winning best presenter was an honor that reflected not just my own efforts but especially those of my classmates and team in our pursuit of great work and determination to make each other better every day. Being a Temerlin student is a true blessing.” – Ben Perry
In conjunction with NSAC, Southern Methodist University hosted the AAF’s Mosaic Awards. Companies, agencies, and individuals from District 10 (Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas) were recognized. Twenty-one awards were given for their commitment and work to diversity and inclusion. Our Endowed Distinguished Chair and Director of the Temerlin Advertising Institute, Joe Phua, spoke at the ceremony.
Additionally, the American Advertising Federation hosted an awards ceremony for District 10, where students and faculty members were recognized. Dr. Mark Allen was awarded the “Outstanding Educator of the Year” award, which you can read more about [here]. Scholarships, a symbol of academic excellence, were also awarded to students. We are delighted to acknowledge three of our creative students who were among the recipients. These students include Spencer Hogan who was awarded the Jim Goodnight AAF scholarship, Ethan Jones who was awarded the June Cerrato AAF scholarship, and Kailyn Sawhny who was awarded the Harry Ottman AAF scholarship.
“I’m honored and excited to receive this award! Thank you to all the people who have guided me through this journey. I am so excited to further my advertising experience!” – Kailyn Sawhny
We were thrilled to host this year’s AAF National Student Advertising Competition and are incredibly proud of the SMU’s Tide team and faculty for all their recognitions and accomplishments.
SMU’s Temerlin Advertising Institute is home to three undergraduate advertising tracks specializing in their respective disciplines: Creative, Digital Media Strategy and Strategic Brand Management. Mimicking an advertising agency setting, NSAC unites the three tracks to collaborate on a multi-media marketing plan while providing national exposure for students to land internships and full-time opportunities. Hillery Lemon ’19 recounts her time on last year’s winning team as “A really valuable experience. Especially as a creative student, because I got to work with the other advertising specializations and see what it really takes to put a campaign together. It’s so satisfying seeing your work do well!”
The National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC) is the premier collegiate competition founded by the American Advertising Federation (AAF). Led by Professor Amber Benson, each team is asked to devise a completely integrated campaign and pitches their work to savvy advertising professionals which are judged at the district, semi-final, and national levels. Prior NSAC clients include Ocean Spray, Snapple, Nissan, Coca-Cola, State Farm (and more). This year it’s Adobe. Yes, that Adobe.
Collaboration, presentation, and strategic planning are invaluable skills for students preparing to enter the ad industry. The SMU Ad Team exists to nurture these skills and give students a chance to present their work to a real client and a panel of industry experts. And we’ve been pretty successful. Last year, SMU won 1st place at the NSAC District 10 Competition and was a national finalist with an insightful advertising campaign for Wienerschnitzel.
The SMU 2020 Ad Team: Professor Amber Benson, Kathryn Chavez, Sarah Jane Eckelkamp, Jackson Ferris, Avery Fuller-Monk, Sebastian Gutierrez, Caillie Horner, Sarah Katsikas, Meryn Kennedy, Lauren Kobayashi, Erin McCraw, Abhinav Nadella, Ankita Padarthy, Riley Preston, Susan Slaton, Lizzie Venditti, and Whitney Wilkerson.
How do I join?
Temerlin’s highest-performing students need to apply to compete on the NSAC stage. Applications open each fall, keep an eye on your email. Pony Up Team Adobe!
The 2018 SMU-TAI’s Ad Team, led by advisor Professor Amber Benson, competed with universities from Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana, in the AAF District 10 Convention, ADVENTION, in Corpus Christi, Texas on April 15, 2018. They placed third overall and took home a Special Judges Award for Best Market Segmentation in this year’s National Student Advertising Competition. Additionally, TAI students Avery Lewis and Alissa Llort were awarded AAF Tenth District Scholarships. All-in-all a great weekend!
Third Place and Special Judges Award for Best Market Segmentation
TAI student Harrison Fiveash said he could have not been more excited with the outcome in Corpus Christi. “Not only placing third, but receiving the Special Judges Award for Best Market Segmentation is a true testament to how hard and cohesively our team operated,” he said.
Strategy Development and Research
Ad Team members had been working hard since the beginning of the Spring 2018 semester when they began doing research and strategy development for Ocean Spray, this year’s national client. The challenge was to drive relevancy of the brand for older millennials across both food and beverages.
With the concept BREAK OUT OF THE BOG, the team created a memorable campaign designed to give older millennials, aged 25-34, new reasons to purchase Ocean Spray throughout the year, by leveraging the health benefits, and highlighting Ocean Spray’s responsibility to the environment and to their farmers.
The team was asked to target older millennials, but they broke it down a little further to reveal a sweet spot in the millennial market that would provide Ocean Spray the highest lifetime customer value. How? by introducing the HENRYs. A HENRY is a “High Earner that is Not Rich Yet.” They view the brands they buy as a reflection of themselves, and improve their personal brand equity by buying from brands that they have a positive relationship with. Since HENRYs are both early adopters and social influencers, investing in them would create a halo effect that would influence the rest of the 44 million older millennial target.
After harvesting research insights, the team came to the conclusion that when it comes to the HENRYs, the brand is bogged down. These millennials tend to buy Ocean Spray products during the fall-winter holiday season, are unaware of Ocean Spray’s extensive product line, are skeptical about health claims, and don’t know about all the amazing things Ocean Spray does as a company.
The team decided to build on the existing brand equity of Ocean Spray’s highly popular “Straight from the Bog” campaign by breaking the Bog Guys, Justin and Henry, out of the bog and placing them in scenarios which align with the interests and values of the target market. All they needed to do, was to BREAK OUT OF THE BOG.
Four team members, Amy Cooley, Harrison Fiveash, Alex Mackillop and Sara Jane Stephens presented the team’s work to a panel of industry judges at the competition, with the goal of leveraging Ocean Spray’s social responsibility and their healthier and celebration-worthy products; showing that Ocean Spray could become more than just a Thanksgiving staple, a sugar-filled juice cocktail, and another corporate name.
Presenting Team: Harrison, Sara Jane, Alex and Amy.
Going to Corpus Christi to compete in the National Student Advertising Competition was an incredible experience for Ad Team Leader Sara Jane Stephens. “It was so wonderful to see the team’s handwork pay off. Our presentation went really well, and Harrison, Amy, Alex and I had so much fun presenting our campaign to the judges and the audience,” she said. “I am really proud of the team and very grateful to Dr. Edwards and Professor Benson for their guidance and hard work.”
Ad Team Leader Amy Cooley believes the hard work and late nights that the team put into the entire campaign and presentation were validated by the awards received. “I could not be more excited to have received two awards at NSAC this year,” she said. “This experience more than anything has prepared me for the real world in advertising, and I’m so thankful to have been able to be a part of it all.”
Advertising majors are required to complete ADV 4399 Advertising Campaigns as part of their curriculum. This class combines major advertising theories with practice, allowing students to develop and present an advertising campaign to a real client based on current advertising challenges that the client is facing. Students that take Advertising Campaigns during the Spring semester have the opportunity to participate in the National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC). Recent NSAC clients include Tai Pei Frozen Foods (2017) Snapple (2016) Pizza Hut (2015) Mary Kay (2014) Glidden Paint (2013) and Nissan (2012).
TAI Brand Management Student, Alissa Llort, said that being a member of SMU’s Ad Team was her most rewarding college experience. “I just loved the experience and would do it all over again,” she said. “Being part of the SMU Ad Team this semester allowed me to immerse into the actual process of building a campaign and experience the real advertising life!”
Ad Team Members in Corpus Christi, TX: Rita de Obarrio, Anne-Marie Geisler, Alex Mackillop, Harrison Fiveash, Sara Jane Stephens, Amy Cooley, Alissa Llort and Frank Zhang.TAI Students and Faculty at the Awards Presentation in Corpus Christi, TX.
Please join the Temerlin Advertising Institute in congratulating this year’s SMU-TAI’s NSAC team on their outstanding work and accomplishments!
Members of the 2018 SMU-TAI’s NSAC team are: Hayley Banas, Myla Borden, Mary Charles Byers, Amy Cooley, Rita de Obarrio, Harrison Fiveash, Anne-Marie Geisler, Conrad Li, Alissa Llort, Alex Mackillop, London Mercer, Shelby Pointer, Juan Reyes, Sara Jane Stephens, Sara Ann Whiteley and Frank Zhang.
Now that the campaign for Ocean Spray has been created, SMU-TAI’s Ad Team has begun to get their final presentation ready for the AAF District 10 competition in Corpus Christi, TX. The members that were selected to present the team’s work to a panel of judges shared their expectations for the National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC).
Amy Cooley– Advertising major on the Strategic Brand Management and Spanish major.
“This is my second year on Ad Team, so it feels good to know what to expect going into the competition. I think that our campaign strategy is really strong, and we have an incredible team of presenters (if I do say so myself) so I’m excited to see how all of our hard work is going to pay off!”
Alex MacKillop – Advertising major on the Strategic Brand Management track with minors in Business and International Studies.
“We have all worked extremely hard for this moment, so I think it will be very satisfying to see all our work come together in the final presentation. Everyone on the team contributed so much to this campaign and we are all very excited to see it through. “
Harrison Fiveash – Advertising major on the Strategic Brand Management track with minors in Communications and Arts Entrepreneurship.
“I cannot wait for all of our hard work to come to fruition. Amy and SJ have been great leaders throughout this process, leading the charge in both coordination and execution. Professor Benson has also been extremely helpful in balancing a hands-off approach with corrective guiding. While there may just be four of us presenting, it took a small army for everything to come together. I hope to win and eventually move on to Chicago, but if not at least we gained a lot of experience and felt the real pressures of a hypothetical campaign.”
Sara Jane Stephens – Advertising major on the Strategic Brand Management track with a minor in Spanish.
“I’m extremely excited for the upcoming NSAC competition in Corpus Christi. Amy, Harrison, Alex and I have a lot of energy, charisma, and chemistry on stage, which makes our presentation memorable. Not to mention, our campaign strategy is really thorough and definitely makes us a strong contender in the competition. We’ve put in a lot of long nights and hard work into this, and I know that will be clear during the presentation!”
SMU-TAI’s Presenting Team: Harrison, Sara Jane, Amy and Alex.
The team will present their integrated campaign at the AAF District 10 Convention, ADVENTION, on April 15, in Corpus Christi, Texas. The winning team(s) from each district will advance to the 2018 semi-finals, which will take place over two days, on May 2–3, 2018. Between 16 and 20 teams will compete for one of eight spots in the finals. Eight finalists will then compete for the national title at the annual ADMERICA conference, which will take place in Chicago, Illinois in early June.
TAI is confident in Ad Team’s effort, abilities and talent. We wish them the best of luck at the NSAC district competition this weekend!
For more information about NSAC please visit the competition website.
This year SMU will be competing again in the National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC). Students were selected by Ad Team manager Professor Amber Benson to be a part of SMU’s award-winning Ad Team. The Ad Team will be working together to create a full campaign applying the scrum methodology. This year’s client is Ocean Spray and the challenge is to drive relevancy of the brand for millennials across both food and beverages.
Ad Team members shown in the order listed below.
Hayley Banas is an Advertising major on the Strategic Brand Management track with a minor in Psychology.
Myla Borden is an Advertising major on the Strategic Brand Management track with a minor in Graphic Design.
Mary Charles Byers is an Advertising major on the Digital Media Strategy track with a minor in Graphic Design.
Amy Cooley is an Advertising (Strategic Brand Management) and Spanish double major.
Rita de Obarrio is an Advertising (Digital Media Strategy) and Psychology double major with a minor in Business.
Harrison Fiveash is a pre-major in Advertising interested on the Strategic Brand Management track with minors in Communications and Arts Entrepreneurship .
Anne-Marie Geisler is an Advertising major on the Digital Media Strategy track with a minor in Fashion Media.
Conrad Li is an Advertising major on the Digital Media Strategy track.
Alissa Llort is an Advertising major on the Strategic Brand Management track with a minor in Psychology.
Alex MacKillop is an Advertising major on the Strategic Brand Management track with minors in Business and International Studies.
London Mercer is an Advertising major on the Digital Media Strategy track with a minor in Graphic Design.
Shelby Pointer is an Advertising major on the Digital Media Strategy track with a minor in Graphic Design.
Juan Reyes is a Corporate Communications and Public Affairs major with a minor in Advertising.
Sara Jane Stephens is an Advertising major on the Strategic Brand Management track with a minor in Spanish.
Sara Ann Whiteley is a Journalism major with a minor in Advertising.
Frank Zhang is an Advertising (Digital Media Strategy) and Mathematics double major.
Four team members will be selected to present the team’s work in a 20-minute long presentation to a panel of judges made up of industry experts at each level of competition – first at the District level in Corpus Christi, TX in April, then (if they advance) at the National level in Chicago, IL in June.
With their first workshop completed, SMU’s NSAC Ad Team has begun their work toward creating a campaign for Tai Pei Frozen Asian Foods. SMU’s Ad Team is broken up into four smaller teams: Creative, Strategy/Planning, Media & Research, and Account. Each team is headed by a team leader, who was chosen by Ad Team manager Professor Amber Benson. With Ad Team beginning, the four team leaders shared their expectations for what this semester will hold for them.
Laura Walsh, Executive Creative Director – Creative Team
“I am extremely optimistic for Ad Team this year. There’s so much talent in each area of the team. It won’t always be easy, but I am confident that we can use one another’s strengths and talents as well as Professor Benson’s experience to really succeed in April. As far as creative, I’m excited to see what we can do and how far we can push the envelope with Tai Pei as a client.”
Nicholas McCall, Strategy & Planning Director – Strategy & Planning Team
“I’m really looking forward to working with the members of the Ad Team. We’ve got an incredibly talented group of people with majors ranging from Digital Advertising to Marketing. Everyone has their own unique abilities that they are bringing to the table. It will be awesome to see how we are able to leverage those skills to develop the best possible advertising campaign for Tai Pei!”
Gifford Mellick, Research & Media Director – Research & Media Team
“I’m really excited to be a part of Ad Team this year, there are so many smart and talented people participating! We all want to do really well and I know all of the discipline leaders are super excited to work with our teams. Our client this year is very interesting and in a category that doesn’t get talked about that much. I can’t wait to see what our team comes up with in terms of research, strategy and creative. We have a pretty big group so I know a ton of great ideas are going to come out of this project. I really want to make it to nationals, getting out of our district will be tough but I believe our team and resources that we have at TAI and SMU will be a big advantage.”
Lex Pedraza, Group Account Director – Account Team
“I’m extremely excited to be a part of the Ad Team experience. With the new organizational structure put in place by Professor Benson this year you can definitely feel a renewed sense of excitement from the entire team. I truly believe this year we have the smartest, most creative and most dedicated students on our team and I’m looking forward to winning it all this year!”
From a leadership perspective, everyone has a positive outlook going into this semester. Ad Team will present their integrated marketing communications plan at the AAF District 10 Convention, ADVENTION, on Wednesday, April 5 in Fort Worth, Texas. The winning team(s) from each district will advance to the semi-finals competition in early May. Eight finalists will then compete for the national title at the annual ADMERICA conference, which will take place in New Orleans, Louisiana in early June. TAI is confident in Ad Team’s abilities and cannot wait to see what they come up with.
This year SMU will be competing again in the National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC). Students were selected by Ad Team manager Professor Amber Benson to be a part of SMU’s award-winning Ad Team, Praxis. The Ad Team is broken up into four teams, including Creative, Strategy/Planning, Media & Research, and Account. These teams will work together to create a full campaign for this year’s client, Tai Pei Frozen Asian Food.
Ad Team members shown in the order listed below. Not pictured: Matthew Smyth, Melissa Hodges, and Mariela Tanchez.
Creative Team:
Laura Walsh is the Executive Creative Director. She is an Advertising (Creative) and Marketing double major with a minor in Graphic Design.
Matthew Smyth is an Art Director/Copywriter. He is an Advertising major on the Creative track with a minor in Graphic Design.
Tiffany Giraudon is an Art Director/Copywriter. She is an Advertising (Creative) and Studio Art double major with minors in Graphic Design and Art History.
Abby Coon is an Art Director/Copywriter. She is an Art and Advertising (Creative) double major with a minor in Photography.
Melissa Hodges is an Art Director/Copywriter. She is a Marketing major with a minor in Advertising.
Christina Skertchly is an Art Director/Copywriter. She is an Advertising major on the Creative track with minors in Business Administration and Graphic Design.
Emma Clayton is an Art Director/Copywriter. She is an Advertising major on the Digital Media track.
Rachel Kainer is the Copy Chief. She is an Advertising major on the Digital Media track with Psychology and Sports Management minors.
Eric Sedeno is the Graphic Designer. He is an Advertising major on the Creative track with a minor in Graphic Design.
Kendall Krieger is the Video Producer. She is an Advertising (Digital) and Film double major.
Strategy/Planning Team:
Nicholas McCall is the Planning Director. He is an Advertising major on the Digital Media track with minors in Chinese and Statistics.
Cheyenne Tilford is the Strategy Manager. She is an Advertising major on the Strategic Brand Management track with minors in Fashion Media and Arts Entrepreneurship.
Joanna Fennessey is an Integrated Strategist. She is an Advertising major on the Strategic Brand Management track with a minor in Psychology.
Cooper Wildeson is an Integrated Strategist. He is a Marketing and Advertising (Digital) double major.
Paige Brown is an Interactive Strategist. She is an Advertising major on the Digital Media track with a French minor.
Rebecca Romero is an Interactive Strategist. She is an Advertising major on the Digital Media track with minors in Psychology and English.
Sara Jane Stephens is an Experiential Strategist. She is an Advertising major on the Strategic Brand Management track with a minor in Spanish.
Amy Cooley is an Experiential Strategist. She is an Advertising (Strategic Brand Management) and Spanish double major.
Media & Research Team:
Gifford Mellick is the Research & Media Director. He is an Advertising major on the Strategic Brand Management track with a minor in Statistics.
Peyton Turbeville is the Insights Manager for Primary Research. She is an Advertising (Strategic Brand Management) and Psychology double major.
Gyeryeong Kim is the Insights Manager for Secondary Research. She is an Advertising major on the Digital Media Strategy track.
Chad Brennecke is the Business Analyst. He is a Marketing major with an Advertising minor.
Yuan Yuan Wu is a Media Planner. She is an Advertising major on the Strategic Brand Management track.
Emma Flores is a Media Planner. She is an Advertising pre-major.
Account Team:
Lex Pedraza is the Group Account Director. He is a Markets & Culture major with an Advertising minor.
Jessica Giraudon is the Project Manager. She is an Advertising major on the Strategic Brand Management track.
Donald Conkey is the Assistant Project Manager. He is a Political Science major with an Advertising minor.
Mariela Tanchez is the Production Manager. She is a Communications major with an Advertising minor.
Margot Wynant is a Business Development Manager. She is an Advertising major on the Digital Media track with a minor in Graphic Design.
Alex Gurasich is a Business Development Manager. He is an Advertising major on the Digital Media Strategy track.
Four of these Ad Team members, not yet decided, will be selected to present the team’s work in a 20-minute long presentation to a panel of judges made up of industry experts at each level of competition – first at the District level in Fort Worth, TX in April, then (if they advance) at the National level in New Orleans, LA in June.
The National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC) team from SMU competed in the American Advertising Federation (AAF) District 10 regional competition in Austin, Texas on April 17. They placed fourth overall and took home the Best Promotional Strategy trophy in what turned out to be a pressure filled, highly competitive event. The SMU NASC team, taught by Brice Campbell, Executive-in-Residence, and Willie Baronet, Visiting Executive-in-Residence, has been hard at work since the beginning of the Spring 2014 semester when they began doing preliminary research and strategy development for Mary Kay, this year’s national client. Using the tagline #RETHINKPINK, the team created a cohesive and memorable campaign designed to change the perception of Mary Kay among young women 18-25 years old. Students focused their efforts in Account Management, Account Planning, Traditional and Social Media, Research, Promotions, Public, and Creative (including casting and photographing the women featured in the ads), producing a comprehensive campaign executed solely by them.
2014 RethinkPink Ad designed by NSAC Creative Team
Willie Baronet reflected on the experience, stating, “as a first time faculty in this competition I was overwhelmed by the amount of work required of the students. And impressed by the opportunities they had to present in front of industry leaders, as well as members of the Mary Kay marketing team.” All members of the 2014 SMU NSAC team are pursuing a BA in Advertising from the Temerlin Advertising Institute (TAI). Advertising majors are required to complete ADV 4399 Advertising Campaigns as part of their curriculum. This class combines major advertising theories with practice, allowing students to develop and present an advertising campaign to a real client based on current advertising challenges that the client is facing. Students that take Advertising Campaigns during the Spring semester have the opportunity to participate in the National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC). Recent NSAC clients include Glidden Paint (2013) and JCPenney (2012).
Please join the Temerlin Advertising Institute (TAI) in congratulating this year’s SMU NSAC team on their outstanding work and accomplishments!
2014 SMU NSAC Team Members and Faculty
Members of the 2014 SMU NSAC team are: (Students) Amelia Ambrose, Katie Bernet, Anne-Marie Clegg, Rachel Delesk, Andrew Fennessy, Kelly Gilliland, Elizabeth Glander, Lauren Goddard, John Ross Gramentine, Ashley Gross, Emily Jedlicka, Hillary Johnson, Jaimmy Koroma, Bernabe Maldonado, Alexandra Nowlin, Margot O’Daniel, Morgan O’Hare, Mary Olson, Ari Passy, Morgan Saxer, Dustin Weil, (and Faculty) Brice Campbell, Executive-in-Residence, and Willie Baronet, Visiting Executive-in-Residence.
The 2013 NSAC Ad Team, led by advisor Brice Campbell, left for Tulsa today to present their campaign at the competition. According to the NSAC website (or National Student Advertising Competition), the contest provides a “real world situation to challenged the students’ critical thinking abilities and creativity.” Students are required to research both the assigned product and its competition to identify problems and opportunities. The team will then pitch their campaign to a panel of industry judges at the competition.
The winning team in the AAF’s 10th district will advance to compete at the national level.
The team consists of Lizzie Andrews, Kayla Dietz, Kevin Do, Taylor Foran, Carmen Golden, Leigh Groeschell, Taylor Harper, Jess Johnson, Kayla Ketelsen, Sarah Mamlouk, Nadia Mansour, Hannah Mitchell, Noelle Mulholland, Jay Neikirk, Gabi Pineda, Lauren Proctor, Sarah Rodriguez, Karla Ruzo, Breea Sharma, Molly Tilton, Morgan Toal, and Adella Winder.
For more information about NSAC please visit the competition website.
