The Atrium at Meadows School of the Arts buzzed with cheers and celebration Thursday during the congratulatory luncheon for the 2002 National Student Advertising Competition champion team, Praxis of SMU. The team won the competition last spring in Miami, Florida, placing first out of 210 teams across the nation.
Patricia Alvey, distinguished chair and director of the Temerlin Advertising Institute, told the audience about the competition and shared her sentiments about the championship. Alvey expressed her pride not only for the Institute and the university, but also for the members of the team.
“It’s hard to tell you how pleased I am,” said Alvey. “I get a little teary.”
The dean of the Meadows School of the Arts, Carole Brandt, took the podium next. Brandt described the members of the 2002 team as “champions, empowered and validated.” President Turner conveyed similar feelings about the win. Turner said that by competing with, and beating, universities like UC Berkley, Penn State, UCLA and other schools much larger than SMU, the team brought pride and distinction back home along with their trophies.
The coach behind the winning team is Peter Noble, senior lecturer in advertising at the Institute. Noble commented that the entire 40 page plan book and 20 minute presentation takes about 10,000 manhours, equaling around 444 days of work. Noble, commenting on the bonds that are formed between students on the team, said “your reputation and trophies can be taken away, but the experience [of the team and competition] cannot.”
Amanda Taylor, member of the winning team, spoke about her experience of being on the team. She said it helped her grow up and learn how to handle pressure; but she said there was a lot of luck involved in winning too.
The client for last year’s competition was Banc of America Investment Services, Inc. (BAISI), a subsidiary of Bank of America, which sponsored the competition. Taylor mentioned that the average BAISI consumer is more than 40 years older than the average college student and the members had to do a lot of growing up in order to identify with the target market.
The campaign slogan for the winning presentation is “Invest in life.” The students developed the campaign to explain that the company cannot only help consumers invest for the future, but help them spend wisely for the things they want today.
Jim Goodnight, former chair of the Temerlin Institute said, “I believe this win reinforces the fact that the Temerlin Advertising Institute at SMU is making a significant contribution to advertising education.”
The luncheon ended with a brief film of the presentation from the competition showcasing the campaign.
