Beauty is Only the Beginning for Ad Class
Washington and Lee’s Ad Class, taught by business administration professor Amanda Bower, earned a third-place finish at the District 3 American Advertising Federation’s National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC). The event was held in Raleigh on April 4.
The 23-student team, led by senior Colleen Paxton, presented an ad campaign for Mary Kay, this year’s corporate sponsor. The cosmetics giant provided all NSAC participants with a case study, giving a history of the 50-year-old company and identifying its desire to make the brand and some of its products more relevant to young women. NSAC then charged the teams with devising an integrated communications campaign that would increase awareness, improve perceptions and heighten consideration among the target market.
The W&L team’s proposed slogan: “Beauty is Only the Beginning.”
“I am obviously extraordinarily proud of these students. They represent majors from across the University, many of whom had never even taken a class in the Williams School before this,” said Bower. “What they’ve produced is impressive. However, what’s more impressive is the time, thoughtfulness, teamwork and ownership they’ve put into this. They are just fantastic.”
More than 150 colleges and universities participate in NSAC each year. Washington and Lee competed against other colleges and universities in District 3, which includes Appalachian State University, Clemson University, James Madison University, the Art Institute of Washington, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of South Carolina and University of Virginia.
