SMSU ad team finishes No. 8 in national competition

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Advertising is about getting a message across. The Southwest Missouri State University ad team has been heard loud and clear.|ret||ret||tab|

With its ad campaign for Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc. and its cross-over utility vehicle, the Toyota Matrix, the SMSU ad team placed eighth in the 2003 National Student Advertising Competition, which is presented by the American Advertising Federation. The competition was held June 3-8 in Los Angeles.|ret||ret||tab|

It is the fourth time SMSU has had a top 10 finish in the competition in the past decade. Melissa Burnett, ad team adviser, said students on the 19-person team have a variety of majors. Some are marketing majors; others include design and music majors. Generally, most of them are upperclassmen nearing graduation.|ret||ret||tab|

"They apply to be on ad team in the fall and toward the end of the semester, I pick the students out of those who applied and then it is a class that begins in the spring," Burnett said. |ret||ret||tab|

As the sponsor of the 2003 National Student Advertising Competition, Toyota Motor Sales challenged more than 6,800 students on 210 campuses to develop national marketing and communications strategies to continue building awareness of the Toyota Matrix.|ret||ret||tab|

Burnett said teams that compete automatically turn over the license and the copyright of the campaigns to the sponsoring company for their use if they choose to do so.|ret||ret||tab|

She said the company uses the research, and it also might use some of the aspects of student campaigns, but she noted that the sponsoring company doesn't actually use the student-developed campaigns in their entirety.|ret||ret||tab|

Students conducted primary research to study the target market. The Toyota Matrix, while it could appeal to drivers of all ages, is especially attractive to the youth market, because the vehicle combines functionality with the style of a hot rod and the versatility of a sport utility vehicle.|ret||ret||tab|

Student teams also studied the competition, and they developed campaigns that included magazine, billboard, television, direct mail, sales promotion and public relations plans. |ret||ret||tab|

As for deciding who will do what on the SMSU ad team, Burnett said, "It's really set up exactly like an agency. I pretty much go in knowing who has what skills, but we have them put down what jobs they would like to be involved with," she said. |ret||ret||tab|

Nearly all team members are involved with the research aspect of developing the campaign, but other aspects include copy writing, art direction for print and video, sales promotion and public relations|ret||ret||tab|

"You have, basically, departments, just like an advertising agency would be broken into," she said. |ret||ret||tab|

In addition to the hands-on experience, the competition also gives students an opportunity to get in front of agencies from across the United States. Burnett said several large agencies were at the competition, and many of them were looking for potential new hires.|ret||ret||tab|

"We had companies there (including) Goodsby and Silverstein the agency out of San Francisco that does the Got Milk' campaign, and we had several of our students approached by them, and we've got a couple going through the interview process right now with them," Burnett said. |ret||ret||tab|

Burnett said the advertising field is extremely competitive, so the exposure from the national competition can be very beneficial. |ret||ret||tab|

"Our industry is one in which a lot of people really want to be in the industry. And when you start taking a look at how many agencies there are in the country and positions that are available, it's very limited. Demand far exceeds the supply," she said. |ret||ret||tab|

"You've got to have something on your resume more than, I went to this school and went through this program.' Agencies like to see something that allows them the ability to make a comparison and this is the main competition that allows them to do that. They may not have heard of Southwest Missouri State University, but they've heard of (American Advertising Federation)."|ret||ret||tab|

For the competition, judges from Toyota Motor Sales and its agency Saatchi & Saatchi viewed the presentations and selected the winning schools. The University of Nevada-Reno won the competition, followed by Emerson College, Southwest Texas University and the University of Virginia.|ret||ret||tab|

Other schools in the finals were Ithica, Florida State, Kentucky, Illinois-Urbana/Champaign, Tennessee, Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Boise State, Brigham Young, Hawaii Pacific, California-Fullerton and St. John's.|ret||ret||tab|

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