Emerson team competes in National Student Advertising Competition

A team of Emerson Marketing Communication students placed second at the District One 2009–2010 American Advertising Federation's National Student Advertising Competition (AAF–NSAC) finals held April 30–May 1 at Boston University. Marketing Communication Program Director and Executive-in-Residence Doug Quintal led the team.

Teams are charged with developing a campaign for a real-world client. Each year, AAF–NSAC chooses a corporate sponsor to be the client for the competition. The corporate sponsor outlines the history of its product and its current advertising approach. The students then research the product and its competition, and identify potential problem areas. At the competition, each team presents an integrated communication campaign for the client and “pitches” it to a panel of judges.

This year's corporate sponsor was State Farm Insurance, a company that prides itself on insuring more cars and homes than any other insurer in the United States. State Farm is also the leading insurer of watercraft and is a leading insurer in Canada. State Farm is ranked No. 31 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies.

“This group worked as hard, if not harder, than any group in recent memory,” said Quintal. “This campaign is the best integrated plan we've ever produced, and I believe that this campaign would have placed at the national competition.”

District One includes: Boston College, Boston University, Emerson College, Johnson & Wales University–Providence, Quinnipiac University, Roger Williams University, and University of Hartford. Johnson & Wales, the district winner, will go on to the national competition in June.

“This Emerson team produced the best presentation I have ever seen at the district or national level in my ten-year association with the AAF,” said Quintal. “State Farm's most recent print campaign shares a number similar attributes to what we recommended in our plan.”