Ad Students Win District in AAF National Competition

A team of 17 students from the Temerlin Advertising Institute at SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts won first place in the district division of the American Advertising Federation 2019 National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC), held April 4 in Shreveport, Louisiana. Temerlin’s team competed against 16 other colleges and universities in the 10^th district, which includes Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas; it is the second largest, and considered by many the most competitive, region in the American Advertising Federation.

Because of the district’s size, two first-place teams are chosen; the other winner was University of North Texas. The teams will advance to the semifinals in May to compete with the winners of the other 14 districts across the country; from there, eight teams will be chosen to advance to the national finals, to be held June 6–7 in Hollywood, Florida.

For the competition, considered the “College World Series of Advertising,” each student team created a comprehensive $25 million integrated marketing campaign for Wienerschnitzel, the world’s largest hot dog chain. The goal: to improve public perceptions of the hot dog.

“The NSAC provides our students with an incredible opportunity to experience what it is like to conceive a campaign and pitch a client against competitive agencies to win business – an essential skill for successful advertisers,” said Amber Benson, executive-in-residence at Temerlin Advertising Institute and the SMU NSAC faculty advisor. “One of our judges at the district competition was the chief marketing officer of Wienerschnitzel, which meant a real-world client evaluated our plans book and presentation and recognized it as relevant and impactful.”

“Our student team spent countless hours of research developing their campaign ideas, drawing on a variety of skills from their courses,” said Steve Edwards, director of the Temerlin Advertising Institute. “We are proud of their success, and proud that they were able to showcase knowledge learned across the many classes they’ve taken at Temerlin.”