VCU students collect slew of advertising awards

By Tom Gresham

The undergraduate and graduate advertising programs at Virginia Commonwealth University have been accumulating accolades in impressive abundance this academic year, earning recognition from some of advertising’s most prestigious student competitions.

Judy VanSlyke Turk, Ph.D., director of the VCU School of Mass Communications, said awards are an important measure in the advertising business of what’s considered the best.

“So we're thrilled that so many of our advertising students — at both the undergraduate level and at the graduate Adcenter — have been recognized as among the best in the country this semester, in many cases in competition not just with other students but with advertising agency creatives and strategists,” Turk said. “This speaks volumes to the quality of our advertising programs and faculty — and of course to the quality of our students and graduates.”

Recent successes of note include a team of students from the VCU Adcenter, the school’s graduate advertising program, advancing to the May 23 finals of the Cadillac National Case Study Competition, and VCU undergraduate students sweeping all categories in the “Advertising” division of the Design Contest for College Students, sponsored by the Edmund C. Arnold Society for News Design — Michigan State affiliate.

Also, both undergraduate and Adcenter students were recognized this month at the One Show, perhaps the premiere international advertising awards competition.

Two Adcenter teams were named finalists in the One Show Client Pitch Competition, and three other teams were finalists in the One Show, including Richard Fischer and Michelle Nam (television), Marcus Brown (design) and Ryan Holland and James Robbins (innovative marketing). One of the One Show finalists from the Adcenter will receive a One Show Pencil, the distinctive award given to the competition’s winners.  

Meanwhile, undergraduate students Brenda Berson and Jocelyn McCool were named One Show finalists for their interactive campaign for the National Resources Defense Council. Their MySpace pages for the campaign can be found here, here and here.

In addition, VCU undergraduate students were invited to contribute work to the One Show Exhibition, which will give the students’ work a prominent viewing for advertising industry insiders. Bridget Camden, assistant professor in advertising, said she believes this is the first time VCU undergraduate students have been selected for the honor.

“It’s a great opportunity for the students and the program to get some attention,” Camden said.

Both undergraduate and graduate students were selected for publication in CMYK Magazine, an art-design magazine that gives students the opportunity to showcase their work. The Adcenter had two winners — Brandon Willingham and Carrie Ammerman for LIDS, and Ammerman and Rebecca Hasskamp for U-Haul — and the undergraduate program had one — Brad Byrne and Amanda Jackson for Habitat for Humanity.

Ammerman and Hasskamp’s work for U-Haul received recognition elsewhere, too, including a Gold Bullet award from the Young Guns International Advertising Awards, finalist honors from the International Andy Awards and an award from the Art Director’s Club.

Among the VCU Adcenter’s other honors this year was the selection of two teams for the finals of the Innovation Challenge, an international innovation challenge of largely MBA students that featured a crowded field of 440 teams representing 88 universities in 15 countries. The VCU Adcenter was one of just two schools to place two teams in the top 10.

The Adcenter students participating in the competition were taught by Don Just, an associate professor of Creative Brand Management. Just also taught the team members competing this month in the finals of the Cadillac National Case Study Competition. Joe Quattrone, Carmen Velazquez, Katherine Capocelli, Zoe Bell and State Donaldson will face off against a team from the University of New Mexico before a panel of senior Cadillac executives and the account team from Modernista!, Cadillac’s ad agency.

The undergraduate program’s performance at the competition at Michigan State was dominant. In the advertising division, Brad Byrne and Emily Delayen won first place, Byrne and Amanda Jackson won second place, Evan Vosburgh and Brandon Viney and Todd Nieber and Negan Clinch shared third place and Ashley Schrott and Viney received honorable mention.

Also, in local competition, VCU undergraduate and graduate advertising students shined at the Richmond Show. The VCU Adcenter featured one Gold Cannonball Best in Show, three Gold Cannonballs, one Silver Cannonball, three Bronze Cannonballs and six merits. The undergraduate program produced three Bronze Cannonballs.