FSU advertising students win first place in renowned competition
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Arrowhead Advertising, Florida State University’s student advertising team, placed first at the 4th District National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC) on April 18. This annual event is the first level of the premier college advertising competition in which universities all over the country participate.
The 4th District NSAC competition, hosted by the 4th District American Advertising Federation (AAF), took place Saturday at the Holiday Inn Select in Orlando. Five Florida universities presented their advertising campaigns to a panel of industry professionals for a chance to advance to the national finals.
Students nationwide were asked to develop a social marketing campaign for this year’s NSAC sponsor, The Century Council. The Century Council is a national not-for-profit organization funded by distillers and comprised of distinguished leaders in education, medicine, government and business to fight drunk driving and stop underage drinking.
The Century Council challenged advertising teams across the country to decrease the national rate of high-risk drinking among college students ages 18 to 22. To meet this challenge Arrowhead Advertising set out to conduct extensive primary and secondary research, which led to the development of a fully integrated campaign to redefine the national drinking culture.
“It was interesting to research our own demographic,” student and Research Director Liz Lamar said. “We know we had to base our strategy in strong research in order to develop a successful campaign.”
To compete in NSAC, Arrowhead prepared a 32-page plans book and a 20-minute presentation. Both the book and the presentation consisted of research, creative executions, promotions and media placement. Students on Arrowhead worked on the project for the last two semesters and developed their campaign from concept to implementation.
During this weekend’s competition each University’s advertising team gave a 20-minute presentation to the judges and audience, and had a private 10-minute question and answer session with the judges. Besides earning first place overall, Arrowhead Advertising also received awards for Best Presentation and Best Research.
This year’s award-winning team was hand-picked by faculty advisor Barry Solomon of the College of Communication. Fifteen students from various majors – including advertising, public relations, media production and media communication studies – were selected for their ability to work as a team and their skills in various areas of communication.
“Working with these students has been a joy. They’ve handled the pressure of the long hours, deadlines and sacrifices that I’ve asked of them without any complaints,” Professor Solomon said. “They are very deserving of this championship and will be very competitive at the national competition.”
This marks Florida State’s 7th trip to the national competition in the last 11 years. In addition, Arrowhead Advertising has won the 4th District Competition for the last three years in a row. The team looks forward to representing FSU and the College of Communication at this year’s national competition in Washington D.C., June 4 and 5. Eighteen advertising teams from across the country will represent their universities at this year’s national AAF Conference.
About Arrowhead Advertising
Arrowhead Advertising is Florida State’s award-winning student advertising team. This is the third year in a row that Arrowhead advances to the national finals, and the seventh time in the past 11 years. The members of this year’s winning team are: Pamela Diaz, Liz Lamar, Rachel Hewitt, Monica Perez, Vanessa McPhill, Jonny Arcila, Nicole Brooker, Jesse Damiani, Michela Fleury, Alysse Goodwiller, Courtney Griffin, Alex Jones, Laura McNamara, Elena Mlotkowski, and Shawn Price.
About the National Student Advertising Competition
NSAC is the premier college advertising competition. It provides more than 3,000 college students with real-world experience by requiring a strategic advertising/marketing/media campaign for a corporate sponsor. Schools from each district are selected to present their campaigns to a panel of industry executives at the AAF National Conference.
