U of M School of Journalism and Mass Communication students take first place in national advertising competition
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an interview MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL ( 6/11/2007 ) -- Students from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota placed first in the nation in the annual National Student Advertising Competition, (NSAC), sponsored by the American Advertising Federation.
“This is a major achievement by our students and a true national distinction for the University of Minnesota,” said Al Tims, director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. “We couldn’t be more pleased.”"
The SJMC team beat out 170 regional winners in what is known in the industry as the “World Series” of advertising. It is the fifth time in the past six years the university’s Murphy Hall team advanced to national competition after placing among the top winners regionally, including first place finishes the last two years. No other school in the nation has this kind of amazing record, according to Tims.
The SJMC team has placed among the top winners in national competition before, finishing in third place last year. The recent win, however, is sweeter as the team brings home top honors and makes history as being the first SJMC team to do so.
Howard Liszt, a senior fellow in the SJMC and retired CEO of the Campbell Mithun advertising agency in Minneapolis, is the team’s adviser.
“I am so proud of these students and amazed by the work they did on this campaign,” Liszt said. “They presented a brilliant campaign.”
For the national competition, 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.
This year, students created an integrated marketing campaign for Coca-Cola classic, the most popular and biggest-selling soft drink in history.
“In talking about our students’ campaign and commenting on their commercials, a senior executive from Coca Cola told students, ‘we could run your commercials tomorrow,’” Liszt said. “That quote is my personal favorite and was the highest praise he could have paid to the students’ work.”
Regional NSAC competitions are held each spring in 15 districts throughout the United States and are judged by professionals in the communications industry. The winning team in each district and one wild card team then advances to compete on the national level at the American Advertising Federation National Conference in June.
Finishing behind the University of Minnesota were the University of Michigan (second place), University of Southern California (third place) and Syracuse University (fourth place).
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