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UCLA Wins AAF District 15 National Student Advertising Competition

San Bernardino – University of California Los Angeles took top honors in the Southern California and Southern Nevada district level competition sponsored by the American Advertising Federation (AAF). UCLA topped eight college and university teams during the competition held at CA State University San Bernardino on Tuesday April 8th. UCLA will represent AAF District 15 by competing against teams from 14 other districts across the country at the AAF National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC) semi-finals to potentially compete as one of eight teams in Boca Raton, FL during the AAF National Admerica! Conference May 29-31, 2012.

The NSAC is a unique, real-world experience that prepares students for successful careers in the advertising industry and provides sponsoring companies with tangible, effective, integrated marketing campaigns. The Education Services division of the American Advertising Federation conducts the NSAC annually in cooperation with major client sponsors.

This year, Mary Kay Inc. challenged over 3000 advertising students nationwide to develop a research based, $10 million communications campaign to increase Mary Kay’s footprint with women 18-25 years old in the U.S. with new product launches such as marykay at playTM (at playTM) color products, Botanical Effects® skin care, Clear ProofTM acne products and core line products. As a secondary objective, the teams were to address how Mary Kay Inc. can continue to attract new Independent Beauty Consultants (IBCs) through product portfolio, brand building activities, and corporate social responsibility efforts. As a challenge to the competing university and college teams, Mary Kay provided a case study outlining 3 key campaign objectives: Increase awareness among female consumers ages 18-25, Increase positive perception among female consumers ages 18-25, and Increase consideration for product purchase and for the Mary Kay business opportunity among female consumers ages 18-25.

Schools competing for the AAF District 15 title included Art Institute San Diego; California State Polytechnic University, Pomona; Chapman University, Orange; Mt. Saint Mary’s College, Los Angeles; University of California, Los Angeles; University of California, San Diego; University of Nevada, Las Vegas; and University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

Special judges’ recognition went to the presentation team of UNLV for ‘Boldest Idea’ for developing a new product line that specifically meets millennial needs; Nicole Morrison of USC for ‘Save the Day during Q&A’; and Audry Sechrest of UCSD as ‘Outstanding Individual Presenter’. All were awarded cash prizes made possible in part by donations from AAF District 15 NSAC event sponsor, Coyote Advertising. UNLV and UCSD received 2nd and 3rd place respectively. The competition was hosted by CA State University San Bernardino and held in the CSUSB Santos Manuel Student Union Events Center.

Industry judges for the district level of competition included Julie Childs, Production Manager with Ogilvy Public Relations – Sacramento; Dwight Douthit, Chief Creative Director with Douthit Design Group – Houston, and Melissa Brown Europe Marketing Director with Mary Kay – Dallas.

The NSAC national finals will be held May 29-31 during the AAF National Conference Admerica! in Boca Raton, FL and will showcase finalists culled from over 200 participating teams which will have presented original campaigns to panels of industry judges across the county.

For more information on AAF and the NSAC program, please visit: www.aaf.org