By Amelia Kibbe
Features Assignment Editor
Wear your makeup like war paint because it’s game-time in the advertising world.
Bonaventure’s on-campus advertising agency (part of the American Advertising Federation,) Kwerkworks, will compete in the American Advertising Association National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC) on Saturday, April 10 in New York City. This year, the team will compete against 14 other schools, including powerhouses like Penn State, George Washington and Syracuse.
As well as being judged on a plans book that has already been submitted, five members of the team will give a 20-minute presentation on this year’s product, Mary Kay Cosmetics.
Michael Jones-Kelly, a lecturer in the Russell J. Jandoli School of Journalism and Mass Communication, is one of the advisers for this year’s team. He explained how Kwerkworks formed and how the team is preparing for the competition.
“You’re dealing with the student advertising agency, Kwerkworks,” Jones-Kelly said. “There are 27 people in the agency this year. Just before break, we selected our five-member presentation team. This year the product we are advertising is Mary Kay Cosmetics.”
The members of this year’s presentation team are senior journalism and mass communication majors Madison Thieman and Alexandra Salerno, senior business marketing major Megan Junker and senior marketing majors Michael Iulianello and Peter Brotea.
Jones-Kelly said the competition is tough, and Bonaventure will be up against top-notch universities.
”We will compete in district two of the NSAC,” Jones-Kelly said. “This district is Pennsylvania and New York mainly. We will be competing against some large schools. For example, Penn State has more students than Olean has people. These are schools that offer degrees in advertising.”
Marketing professor Kristen Ryan is also an adviser to the student agency. Along with Jones-Kelly, she has been helping students prepare for the upcoming competition.
“Our primary role is to provide feedback to the students and help keep them on track,” Ryan said. “In order for competition to truly fulfill its mission, students need to drive the process, the ideas, and do the work.”
Ryan explained the competition is not only a challenge for the students but a great experience for students who will soon enter the job market.
“It is the most realistic thing they will come across before they actually enter the work world,” Ryan said. “They are given a real client, a real case and access through the competition to research and media databases that professionals use to shape their decisions. Not to mention, the experience of presenting their campaign and defending their work to a panel of judges in New York City while competing against top schools.”
Thieman isn’t just one of the five presenters but is also president of the club and account executive of the agency. She has been a crucial part of the team’s preparation and believes the team has a solid presentation.
“Starting from the beginning, I helped pick the members of the agency,” she said. “We discovered that Mary Kay was going to be our client for the AAF competition that we present in every year. I help oversee all the work of the different groups like public relations and planning. Everyone has worked really hard toward the common goal.”
Thieman said she believes the hard work the team has done thus far will pay off in the competition next week.
“I am very confident with the campaign,” Thieman said. “Even if the judges don’t like our presentation, I won’t look back and say ‘I wish I was going to change anything.’ And I’m confident that the other people in the agency would say the same thing.”
The trip to New York will not only include the competition. Jones-Kelly explained students will also visit advertising agencies and have dinner with alumni in New York.
“Unlike most teams, we take the whole agency and not just the presenters,” Jones-Kelly said. “We use this trip to expose the students to the real world of advertising. We will visit two advertising agencies and McGraw-Hill Public Relations. We have a reception Thursday, and on Friday we have ‘Dean’s Dinner’ which is our final morale booster before the pitch.”
Thieman explained the importance of visiting the agencies.
“On Thursday, we are going to visit ad agencies and public relations agencies,” Thieman said. “Alumni host us and talk to us about the advertising world. Some places will actually take our résumés if there are job openings which is really great.”
The team has been rehearsing their pitch and will give a public presentation to the Bonaventure community Monday, April 7 at 4 p.m. in the Murphy Auditorium. All Bonaventure students are invited to attend.
Ryan described just how much confidence she has in this year’s team. She said the hours of hard work will be well worth it no matter how the team places.
“My expectation for this year is to deliver an incredibly well thought out, well planned, well-rehearsed, exciting pitch in New York City to a panel of expert judges,” Ryan said. “I expect to leave New York extremely proud of the team I came with and the university they represent.”
kibbeaa13@bonaventure.edu
