University Team Places Fifth in District Student Advertising Competition

The University of Scranton’s 2014 Advertising Competition Team placed fifth against students from colleges in Pennsylvania, New York and Washington, D.C., in the District 2 National Student Advertising Competition. The district competition took place in April in New York City.

The national competition, administered by the American Advertising Federation and sponsored by Mary Kay, will include more than 150 teams from colleges across the country. The competition requires teams to perform research and create an integrated advertising campaign for this year’s client, Mary Kay.

The winning teams from 15 district competitions will advance to the final round of the national contest, which will be held in Boca Raton, Fla., later this month.

The University’s 2014 Advertising Competition Team members are: Olivia Barone, Kaitlyn Hennigan and Jessica Ozoniak, all from West Caldwell, N.J.; Timothy Dillon, Franklin Park, N.J.; Kimberly Pereira, Hopatcong, N.J.; and Anne Zapalac, Norristown, Pa. Communication Professor Stacy Smulowitz, Ph.D., serves as the team’s faculty advisor.

Judges for the District 2 competition included: Nicanor Aldana, creative director, Saatchi & Saatchi; Lisa Colantuono, co-president, AAR Partners and co-founder, Access Confidential; Patricia Finn, manager of corporate web marketing, Mary Kay; and Michael Goldberg, partner, chief marketing officer, Deutsch, Inc.

Scranton’s fifth place finish in the district competition followed teams from George Washington University, the District 2 competition winner, and Syracuse University, Ithaca College and St. John’s University, who placed second, third and fourth, respectively.

Six University of Scranton seniors participated in the American Advertising Federation’s National Student Advertising Competition. The team placed fifth in District 2 of the national competition. Front row, from left, are Scranton’s 2014 Advertising Competition Team members Anne Zapalac and Kaitlyn Hennigan, and Communication Professor Stacy Smulowitz, Ph.D., team advisor. Back row, team members Kimberly Pereira, Jessica Ozoniak, Timothy Dillon and Olivia Barone.