After two full days of competition among the “best of the best” college and university advertising programs across the United States, the team sponsored by the Brigham Young University Department of Communications placed ninth overall.
Competing teams were evaluated by a panel of six advertising industry experts selected by this year’s sponsor, Yahoo!. The target market was 13-17 year-old teens. Teams were judged on their presentation or plans book, and an actual on-stage presentation.
Categories under consideration were market research, positioning strategy, creative strategy, campaign execution, the media proposal and overall integrated marketing planning. These categories were part of a previously submitted plans book and were the criteria for presentation.
More than 230 colleges and universities nationwide with advertising or marketing programs participated. In order to compete, a team must have first won at the district level, which BYU did in April against teams from Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and West Texas.
During the presentation phase, each team had 20-minutes to convince the panel of judges of their strategic position and then defend their execution phases. During a follow-up 10-minute question-and-answer period, the teams had to respond to pointed questions from the panel of judges.
“Any time you compete at the national level you know things will be tight,” said faculty adviser Doug McKinlay. “We did not win, but as a team we left it all on the stage. The students were amazing and their performance was flawless. I’m proud to be associated with these young people. They are already more professional than many ‘pros’ I’ve seen in this business.”
Members of the student presentation team were Michelle Barneck, Nick Bernard, Candice Calder, Tyler Christensen and Steve Wright. Other members who worked on the plans book and visual aid materials included Carrie Giles, Chris Marshall, Burke Mason, Josh Perriton, Karen Tamai and Tara Vorkink.
The National Student Advertising Competition is sponsored annually by the American Advertising Federation, headquartered in Washington, D.C.
For more information, contact Doug McKinlay at (801) 422-8030.
Writer: Doug McKinlay
