Villanova School of Business Marketing Students Tie for Third Place in the National Student Advertising Competition District Two Contest

VILLANOVA, PA, 7 June 2007 – The Villanova School of Business is pleased to share that its team in the 2007 National Student Advertising Competition—led by VSB marketing students, Evan Armstrong, Jamie Herman, Sara Horstmann, Wil Kristin, and Lily Linquata—tied for third in the NSAC District Two Competition. The NSAC is organized by the American Advertising Federation (AAF), which represents 50,000 professionals in the advertising industry.

The AAF is divided into 15 districts. Villanova competes in District Two, which consists of colleges and universities in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. Twenty-five schools competed in this year’s District Two competition. VSB finished second in its bracket and tied for third overall in District Two.

“I knew right after our presentation that we had a good chance of finishing among the top two teams in our bracket when the first judge who commented said simply, ‘You nailed it,’” stated VSB Marketing Professor, William Madway, who oversees Villanova’s NSAC team.

Each year, a corporate sponsor provides AAF college chapters with a real-world marketing case. Students are tasked with researching the product, market, and competition, and developing a comprehensive communications campaign for the sponsor. Each student team then pitches its campaign to a panel of judges, consisting of representatives of the sponsor and prominent advertising agencies. Coca-Cola sponsored the 2007 NSAC, and charged students with devising a campaign to increase consumption of Coca-Cola Classic among the youth market.

The VSB students’ success is especially significant because the NSAC competition typically consists of the nation’s top communication programs. “Unlike most schools competing in the NSAC, our team consisted primarily of business school students with an interest in advertising, rather than advertising students,” said Professor Madway. “As a result, our students approached Coca-Cola’s challenge from a strategic marketing perspective first, and then developed an advertising campaign based on our vision. This gave us a competitive advantage.”

The VSB team consisted of the aforementioned five students, who pitched the campaign, and 19 additional marketing and communication students, each of whom made a significant contribution to the team’s success. All were enrolled in the Integrated Marketing Campaigns course taught by Professor Madway. Close to 50 Villanova students applied for the course, out of which 24 were selected for admission.
 

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Andrea Carter, Coordinator, Marketing & Public Relations
Villanova School of Business
Villanova University
800 Lancaster Avenue
Bartley Hall
610.519.6715
andrea.carter@villanova.edu