What is it?

The best way to learn about the professional world is to experience it. There is no better way to learn about advertising than by actually developing a campaign for a real client. The National Student Advertising Competition gives you the opportunity to take part in the development of a full service advertising campaign and test your abilities against competing schools. This will be our fourth year competing in the National Student Advertising Competition. Last year, our talented team developed a full service campaign for AOL instant messenger and gained respect from our fellow competitors and the NSAC judges. This year, we have the opportunity to create a public service campaign for The Century Council, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting responsible decision making regarding the consumption of alcohol.

How It Works

Each year, a corporate sponsor provides an assignment or case study outlining the history of its product and current advertising situation. The case study is always candid and reflects a real world situation. Students must research the product and its competition, identify potential problem areas and devise a completely integrated communications campaign for the client. Each student team then "pitches" its campaign to a panel of judges.

The Structure of the NSAC

The AAF is divided into 15 districts, each containing one to five states. Each district holds a competition in April and the winning team advances to the national finals which are held during the annual AAF National Conference in June. Each district appoints its own coordinator, a local business professional, to handle all details of the local competition. Judging is conducted by professionals in the communications industry. Judges at the national level are selected from the client and their advertising agencies. Yearly, some districts will have as many as 18 teams competing and nationwide more than 150 colleges and universities take on the NSAC challenge.

The competition is governed by the Education Services division and the AAF Academic Committee, a group of advertising educators and practitioners from across the country, who oversee the policies and procedures of the competitions. These members ensure that there is a level playing field and that the competition demonstrates the highest academic and professional standards.