University of Nebraska places fourth in NSAC Competition

June 14, 2010 - Advertising students from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Journalism and Mass Communications placed fourth in the 2010 National Student Advertising Competition in Orlando, Fla., June 10-11.

The NSAC is a prestigious program sponsored by the American Advertising Federation (AAF). Nationwide more than 150 colleges and universities took on the 2010 NSAC challenge in district competitions at 15 locations in April. UNL, which took first place in District 9, was one of 19 finalists to compete for the national title.

"What an honor to our students and program to finish fourth nationally," said Phil Willet, adviser and instructor for this year's team.

Amy Struthers, sequence head of the advertising program, said, "Our fourth place win is evidence of our program's stature as one of the top advertising and public relations programs in the country. In only six years of participating in NSAC, we've become part of an elite group of students and faculty that will lead the industry into the future. Our passionate students, our dedicated faculty and our amazing alums can all take pride in this win."

This is the second year in a row that UNL finished first in districts and has competed for the national title. UNL competes in District 9, which represents clubs and American Advertising Federations in Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and Kansas. UNL began competing in the program in 2004.

Rich Bailey, an adjunct professor and NSAC adviser with the College of Journalism and Mass Communications, said, "This honor reflects on the ability of our students to combine brilliant content and outstanding presentation skills to convince the judges of the worth of their project."

The NSAC provides advertising students with real-world experience and sponsoring companies with an integrated marketing campaign. Each team had to develop a strategy and creative executions as well as a media plan. This year's corporate sponsor, State Farm Insurance, challenged more than 3,000 advertising students to develop a research-based $40 million communications campaign to increase State Farm's market share of 18-24-year-olds by changing the perception of State Farm among young adults, leading to consideration of the brand and purchase.

The 2010 NSAC team included 25 UNL advertising majors. Following is a list of the team members by hometown and the role they played:

NEBRASKA:

Beatrice: Aaron Jarosh, co-creative director.
Hastings: Derek Dillon, account planner.
LaVista: Sara Leimbach, interactive; Tyler Thomas, account supervisor.
Lincoln: Maggie Geist, copywriter; Jennifer Larson, public relations; Shea Samani, media; Daniel Scheyer, art director/copywriter; Kyle Stebbins; co-creative director; Kate Stevenson, account planner; Brett Tesmer, copywriter.
Omaha: Andrew Ciaccio, copywriter; Doug Flegle, copywriter; Drew Guiney, copywriter; Nicholas Huff, copywriter; Mike Sammons, associate creative director; Will Sharpe, copywriter; Erin Sorensen, interactive; Katie Sorensen, media.
Plainview: Kayla Mosel, account planner.
Waterloo: Jessica Williams, account planner.

OUT OF STATE:

MINNESOTA: Michael Taylor, copywriter, Elmo, Minn.; Chelsea Thompson, account coordinator, Woodbury, Minn.
NEW MEXICO: Jamie Ksieski, copywriter, Taos, N.M.
NORTH DAKOTA: Matthew Bergh, media, Fargo, N.D.

Contacts:
Amy Struthers, assistant professor of advertising and sequence head, 402-472-3528; astruthers2@unl.edu
Phil Willet, assistant professor of advertising, 402-472-3824; pwillet2@unl.edu
Marilyn Hahn, communications specialist, 402-472-0876; mhahn1@unl.edu