NSAC Teams

Yahoo! Inc. Awards Texas State University San Marcos First Place in 2005 AAF National Student Advertising Competition

NASHVILLE, TN, June 7, 2005-Students from the Texas State University San Marcos won the American Advertising Federation (AAF) 2005 National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC) for an ad campaign created for Yahoo! Inc., a leading global Internet company.

"All the NSAC campaigns were terrific, but we thought the Texas State University San Marcos campaign was the best combination of integrated marketing and viral marketing," said Murray Gaylord, vice president brand marketing, Yahoo! Inc. "It was a big idea that would break through the clutter." Judges from Yahoo! and its agencies OgilvyOne, OMD Digital and Soho Square chose Texas State University San Marcos over 15 college and university finalists competing at the AAF National Conference 2005 in Nashville.

The Texas State University San Marcos won the competition with its targeted campaign from their agency "i5 Advertising." The campaign utilized a spokesperson, Dave, who through fun and humorous antics spoke directly to the teen market. The viral component of the campaign acted to generate buzz, incorporating humerous video clips of "Dave Jams Out". Concerts, online contests and targeted advertising were also part of the team's creative advertising solution.

"Texas State has a long-standing tradition of excellence in the NSAC," says faculty advisor Mary Ann Stutts, who has advised Texas State teams for 23 years. "Since 1990, we placed eight times among the top four."

"We're mighty proud of our student affiliates at TSU and the UT Austin," said Austin Advertising Federation President Scott Van Osdol. "Our members contributed $3,000 to help the entire TSU team travel to the competition. We all profit from their experience: when these students' resumes cross our member's desks, it's good to know they worked on a winning real-world campaign for a national client."

As the 2005 NSAC sponsor, Yahoo! Inc. challenged more than 6,500 students on 215 campuses to push the limits of their creativity. Building on Yahoo!'s current "Life Engine" brand positioning, the challenge was to develop a $10 million national communications plan, in order to engage the youth audience (specifically teens age 13-17) and encourage trial, adoption and sharing of Yahoo!'s youth-relevant products. The plans include advertising, partnerships, promotions and direct marketing as well as a recommendation on how to aggregate and modify Yahoo!'s exciting product offerings to best suit this audience.

For several months, the students - working in teams - conducted primary research to study the target market including its media habits, and also studied the competition. Considered the premier student advertising competition in the nation, the NSAC has become the proving grounds for 80,000 students who have participated, and an imperative for an increasing number of ad industry recruiters seeking new talent. Finalist teams are awarded monetary prizes-first place received $3,500. Photos of the winning team are available by contacting Mary Hilton at mhilton@aaf.org. For further information on the NSAC and other advertising education programs, contact Connie Frazier, executive vice president-education services, at (202) 898-0089 or cfrazier@aaf.org.

The Texas State University San Marcos Team
Faculty advisor:
Jody Gibson and Mary Ann Stutts

Presenters:
Ashley Brinkman
Matt Kuhles
John Livingston
Albert Nance
Jennifer Whitaker

For more information about the NSAC team at Texas State, contact Dr. Mary Ann Stutts at 512.245.3190 or Jody Gibson at 512.245.1948.