St. John's Students are Awarded at National Advertising Competition

Students studying Advertising Communications in The Lesley H. and William L. Collins College of Professional Studies, along with students in the Marketing program in The Peter J. Tobin College of Business, won the “Audience Whisperer” award in this year’s National Student Advertising Competition sponsored by the American Advertising Federation. 

This competition provides students with the real-world experience of creating strategic marketing campaigns for participating corporations. This year’s sponsor was Indeed. Students were tasked with developing an integrated campaign that would increase unaided consideration for 18- to 24-year-olds.

“For the students, this is not a course,” said Neil Feinstein, Associate Professor, Division of Mass Communication, Collins College of Professional Studies, who served as a team adviser along with Audrey Siegel-Mevorah, Adjunct Professor, and Daniel Rubin, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Marketing, Tobin College of Business. “It is a real-world agency, and students are the employees who run the meetings, create the advertising, and present it to industry experts.

The students won the award for having the best insight and understanding of their target audience. They developed and executed a comprehensive research plan that included interviews; focus groups; online netnography (i.e., a special type of qualitative social research); and an Attitude, Awareness, and Usage study.

“They hit this one out of the park,” said Prof. Feinstein. “Not only did they win a special award for their insights into the target audience, but they also created a brilliant integrated ad campaign that distinguished Indeed from every other job site. I couldn’t be prouder of them.”

Nancy Deckinger, daughter of Drs. E. Lawrence and Adele V. Deckinger, was also in attendance at the event. The Deckinger family established the Deckinger Center for Advertising Research, which functions as a specialized learning environment for all CCPS advertising programs. In addition, the Deckinger Family established the  Dr. E. Lawrence Deckinger Student Advertising Competition Fund. This fund shall provide support for activities and/or research for the Annual Student Advertising Competition Team.