A group of Penn State students placed third in a recent advertising competition sponsored by the American Advertising Federation.
The district-level portion of the National Student Advertising Competition took place in New York City with Penn State competing against 15 schools from Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Washington, D.C.
For the event, students developed a wholly-integrated communications campaign for Pizza Hut. They were given a real-world situation with a goal to increase online/digital orders for Pizza Hut and to enhance the overall digital/mobile ordering experience.
At the event, students pitched their campaigns to a panel of judges consisting of advertising professionals and to a Pizza Hut marketing executive.
The winner from each of the 15 districts advanced to the national competition at the AAF National Conference in June. St. John’s took first in the District Two competition.
The Penn State team, named the Nittany Group and organized like a real-world advertising agency, was comprised of a more than 30 members, including 18 class members. Co-chairs for the group were Janelle Klueber and Emily Ullmann. At the event, the presenters were Rebecca Bryden, Rachel Casciano, Pat Hagan, Ethan Kisan and Janelle Klueber.
Students started working on the project in the fall 2014 semester by researching the client. In the spring 2015 semester, they met regularly to develop all aspects of the campaign.
“This group was very cohesive, built on each other’s strengths, and the presenters were truly outstanding and certainly represented Penn State in our typical enthusiastic manner,” said Ken Yednock, a senior lecturer in the Department of Advertising/Public Relations who serves as AAF adviser.
The AAF is a professional organization that represents the advertising industry and works with universities and educational groups with sponsored events such as the advertising competition and multicultural programs like the Most Promising Minority Student Awards.