The 2009 NSAC winning team from Syracuse University.
SaatchiNY is always excited when clients get involved with cool events, and this is a perfect example. JCPenney announced last week that they’ll be the official sponsor of the 2011 American Advertising Federation (AAF) National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC). Almost 150,000 students have launched their careers in advertising throughout the competition’s 38 years. The competition is designed to provide college students the hands-on, practical experience necessary to be competitive within the industry.
The Break Down
In the annual competition, college chapters representing regions from across the country go head to head in developing an end-to-end marketing plan. Each chapter develops a 32-page marketing campaign and a 20 minute presentation that pertains to a case study co-authored by the sponsor of the event (this year – JCPenney) and AAF Academic Committee. To get to the finals, teams must first win a district level competition to earn the right to represent their region.
This year, student teams will pitch their campaign to a judging panel selected by the JCPenney during the National Conference held in San Diego, June 2-4, 2011. The quality of work that these teams turn out each year is remarkable. So much so, that sponsors often implement ideas that were churned out by the students.
The Student Perspective
After competing in the NSAC competition for four consecutive years, I can honestly say that it was the single-most beneficial activity I have ever taken part in during my entire educational career. NSAC is more than merely an advertising competition. It offers us a way to practically and organically learn methods of collaboration, management, problem solving, and critical thinking. It streamlines our creative process. It develops us into leaders. Learning in the classroom is, obviously, a necessity, but it is the conjunction of an extracurricular medium that allows us to gain an experiential knowledge of what we are learning and to begin to understand exactly how powerful implementing these tools can be.
– Andreas Robichaux, Chapman University NSAC team member, 2010 National Champion.
Above image of 2009 winners from the AAF website. Front Page Image of 2010 winners from Chapman University from tom.arthur.
No Comments