UM wins first place in National Student Advertising Competition

(This story originally appeared in UM's newsletter eVeritas)

For the second time in three years, the University of Miami has won first place at the highly competitive National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC), defeating 17 other district-winning universities from around the country with a vibrant and interactive marketing and advertising campaign for Glidden Paint at Walmart. The UM Team, The Miami Collective, also took home the award for best use of research for the second consecutive year.

Students were challenged to create a $10 million, five-month campaign targeting do-it-yourself women who shop at Walmart for everything—except paint.

The Miami Collective launced their campaign with a big-splash—the largest game of Hot & Cold ever played, right in Walmart stores around the country.  Designed to bring DIY shoppers into the currently ignorable paint section, the game is followed by a complete transformation of the Glidden Paint section of Walmart.

As part of their innovative campaign, the UM team created new promotional signage and the largest game of Hot & Cold ever played, placed inside in Walmart stores to direct shoppers to the paint section.

The campaign also incorporated social media and digital media elements, as well as limited print and cable television.

Hosted annually by the American Advertising Federation, the National Student Advertising Competition challenges students to think critically and develop high-level integrated marketing campaigns for some of the country’s most recognizable brands. Students then present their campaigns to corporate executives. Companies such as Coca-Cola, State Farm, and Nissan have been clients in the past. 

“For our team to win the national competition twice in the past three years and to win the award for best use of research two years in a row is simply outstanding. To my knowledge, no other team ever has accomplished this,” said advertising professor Alyse Lancaster, the team’s co-adviser and chair of the Department of Strategic Communication. 

This year’s Miami Collective team included 29 students. “Our strategy changed three or four times as we uncovered various insights and consumer truths. This was instrumental to our win,” said recent graduate Katelyn Murray, the team’s strategy director. “We didn’t stop at the obvious solution, and no other school had a big idea anywhere close to ours. We all learned that if you want to succeed, sometimes you have to take risks.”

“This competition was a wonderful experience not only because we won, but mainly because we submerged ourselves in what a real agency does for clients,” said senior Estefania Aguilar, the team’s associate strategy director.

The first-place win comes with a $3,500 prize, and the research award, sponsored by Ad-ology, comes with a $1,000 prize—all of which will go toward the creation of an ad campaign for next year’s competition.