2011 National Student Advertising Competition
Proudly Presented by the Honolulu Star Advertiser
Congratulations to Chaminade University of Honolulu!
Winners of the 2011 National Student Advertising Competition
The Chaminade Team:
- ADVISOR: Clifford Bieberly, Ph.D., Advisor
- PRESENTERS: Chris Amarillas, Will Daniels, Daniel Helsham, Lindsey Mountain, Brittany Rought
- TEAM MEMBERS: Ravon Simone Crawford, Erica Gaines, Kelly Korras, Angel Orozco, Shannon Sadler, Jena Stomber, Jordan Wong
The American Advertising Federation's 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.
Click below to view photo gallery from the NSAC Competition
How the NSAC Works
Each year, a corporate sponsor provides an assignment or case study outlining the history of its product and current advertising situation. The case study is always candid and reflects a real world situation. Students must research the product and its competition, identify potential problem areas and devise a completely integrated communications campaign for the client. Each student team then "pitches" its campaign to a panel of judges.
Regional NSAC competitions are held each spring in 15 districts throughout the U.S. The winning team in each district and one wild card team then advances to compete on the national level at the AAF National Conference in June.
The Structure of the NSAC Competitions
The AAF is divided into 15 districts, each containing one to five states. Each district holds a competition in April and the winning team advances to the national finals which are held during the annual AAF National Conference in June. Judging is conducted by professionals in the communications industry. Judges at the national level are selected from the client and their advertising agencies. Yearly, some districts will have as many as 18 teams competing and nationwide more than 150 colleges and universities take on the NSAC challenge.
There is no better way to learn about the advertising campaign process than by actually developing a campaign for a real client.
The competition is governed by the Education Services division and the AAF Academic Committee, a group of advertising educators and practitioners from across the country, who oversee the policies and procedures of the competitions. These members ensure that there is a level playing field and that the competition demonstrates the highest academic and professional standards.
The 2011 National Competition
On April 30, 2011, HAWAII PACIFIC UNIVERSITY (HPU), and CHAMINADE UNIVERSITY OF HONOLULU will do battle at Servco Auto Honolulu in Mapunapuna in order to represent Hawaii in the American Advertising Federation NSAC National Finals scheduled for June 2 and 3, 2011 in San Diego, California. The competition will be held at the San Diego Bayfront Hotel & Resort.
The winning Hawaii team automatically goes on to the National Finals, while other states have multiple chapters, meaning those teams have to compete at regional and district levels to see who gets to go to nationals. From the winning team, five students and an advisor will be flown, expenses paid, to San Diego.
2011 Case Assignment: JC Penney
This year, students have been tasked to develop a $100 Million proposal for a national, fully-integrated marketing campaign to run from February 2012, to February 2013. The campaign is to be designed to increase market share among females 25-34 years old.
There are three overall objectives:
- Acquire female customers ages 25-34
- Retain female customers ages 25-34
- Increase shopping frequency, and grow share of wallet among current female customers ages 25-34
The campaign should include (but is not limited to) the following:
- Key Customer Insights: What perception do females ages 25-34 have of JC Penney?
- Strategy: A single idea around which communication is based.
- Messaging and Creative: Should be relevant to customers ages 25-34 years old, but consistent with JC Penney's overall brand position.
- Media Plan: Can include any form of media, except preprint (preprint will continue to be JC Penney's main media, funded separately, reaching an average of 46 million customers per week).
- In-Store Experience: What changes, if any, can be made to the in-store shopping experience to attract the target without alienating customers 35-65 years old? These changes would be funded separately.
- Digital Customer Experience: What enhancements, if any, can be made to the digital customer experience? These changes would be funded separately.
- Partnerships: What partnerships do you recommend to attract females 25-34 years old? Current merchandise partnerships include Sephora, Mango, and Aldo. Rascal Flatts is JC Penney's entertainment partnership, which ends March 2011.
- Measures of Success: What metrics are needed to measure the success of the messaging and creative campaign in achieving objectives.
For more information, visit the national website, aaf.org, or contact District 13 Coordinator Paul Lam at paull@servco.com
