USC Ad Team takes second in regional competition

Students from the University of South Carolina placed second in the National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC) regionals this past weekend in Charlotte.

Teams from seven major universities presented their advertising campaigns to a panel of professional judges.

The advertising strategy created by the University of South Carolina scored higher than those proposed by the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, Appalachian State University, Wake Forest University, and Liberty University.

The University of Virginia took first place by 2 points, the narrowest of margins in this type of competition.

Dr. Daniel A. Stout, advisor of the USC team, said, “The judges felt our students made a superior presentation and displayed an impressive grasp of integrated marketing communication.”

Students created a campaign for “Postal Vault,” a security mailbox product designed to protect against mail theft. Such crimes have led to concerns about identity theft in many parts of the country.

“Our students positioned Postal Vault not just as a security product, but as a home improvement product as well,” Stout said. “The judges felt this was an intelligent strategy based on sound research.”

Members of the South Carolina team are Kelly Cheung, Anne Davidson, Kristen Dunleavy, Kathleen Gillooly, Tyler Jeffrey, Bryan Kennedy, Natabia McNeal, Kathryn Moler, Sarah Price, Karin Schmidt, Sarah Thomas, and Catherine Williams.           

The student campaigns contain consumer research, objectives, creative strategy, media plan, promotions, and other forms of integrated marketing communication. In addition, each team must give a 20-minute presentation to a panel of advertising professionals.