On April 12 and 13, the Bloomington Advertising Club participated in the first round of the American Advertising Federation’s National Student Advertising Competition. The team, made up of 30 students and faculty advisor Professor Craig Wood, created an advertising campaign from scratch for this year’s client, Ocean Spray. IU is a part of District 6, the largest district in the country which stretches across Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. Nearly 20 different schools send teams to District 6’s competition.

 

The competition is a year-round process and the club includes members from several majors who are interested in learning more about advertising and integrated marketing communications. Sponsors/clients are announced in July, an intensive research process commences in September with club members, and the official team is assembled in December. Spring semester is spent doing the actual creation of the project – a detailed 20 page plan book is turned in by mid-March, and the competition, in mid-April of each year, consists of a 20 minute scripted presentation with visual aids by up to four presenters. This year’s presenters were Sara Joyce, Meredith Hardy, Amanda Garcia, and Amber Winborn. 

 

First-place teams from each district will move onto the semi-final round in May – between 16 and 20 teams will compete for one of eight spots in the finals held in June in Chicago.