Ad Team Takes 2nd Place at AAF Nationals

JWU Providence’s Ad Team placed second in the 2015 National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC), held June 10-13 in Las Vegas, Nevada — the team’s best finish in program history

This is the team’s fifth year in a row of qualifying for the national competition, which is hosted by the American Advertising Federation (AAF). They took first place at the district-level New England competition, where they beat out 8 top-rated teams (including Boston University) to qualify for Nationals.

The Pizza Hut Challenge
Each NSAC team created an integrated campaign for Pizza Hut, which included all facets of advertising: television, radio, social media and print.

The JWU Ad Team campaign focused on getting consumers “excited” when ordering pizza online from Pizza Hut.

“The students did a great job presenting their recommendations to the judges,” said JWU School of Business associate professor Oscar Chilabato. “They were very convincing and backed their strategy with solid research and insight. Much of the credit must go to Professor Chris Ure who worked many hours with the presentation team over the past 3 months.”

NSAC = The Super Bowl of Advertising
Oscar Chilabato and Christine Ure coach the Ad Team like they’re preparing students for the Super Bowl. Says Chilabato: “What they learn over the months leading up to the pitch is, basically, everything.”

Notes Evan Dunn ’09, now a digital copywriter for New York agency 360i, “Ad Team reveals creative talent students might not even know they have.”

Morgan Thompson, currently interning at marketing/media strategy company Onsharp, summed up the Ad Team’s experience: “This campaign was my life for the last 5 months. I cannot express how proud I am to be a part of such an incredibly talented and amazing team!”

#NSAC15 Results

• 3rd Place: St John’s University
• 2nd Place: Johnson & Wales University
• 1st Place: University of Oregon

Follow JWU Ad Team and the American Advertising Federation on Twitter.

Above: The Ad Team in Las Vegas, l-r: Andrea Wexler, Grace Peterson, Jayson Braynen, Lindsay Adam, Karen Luna, Leanna Stein, Jessica Huerta, Todd Lind, Lorenny DeLaCruz, Andrew Ricci, Morgan Thompson, Edzer Roukema, Mollie Kane, Natalie Shay, Emmie Strommen, Claudia Tischer, Jessica Fleming, Denise Alvarez, Trumane Trotman, Samantha Roberts, Maureen Spillane, Emily Papa, Jordan Varholy, Natalie Nacenzi, Randi Richards, Christine Ure, Tara Keogan, Karen Falk, Oscar Chilabato and Jasmine Turner