UC San Diego’s Adwave tested its skills and faced the competitive world of collegiate marketing while participating in the National Student Advertising Competition in Austin, Texas, on May 29. Adwave is a student-run group that focuses on creating marketing and advertising campaigns. The 34-member group was created in 2012 as a chapter of the American Advertising Federation and is open to all UCSD students interested in branding, promotion, and campaign management.
“As president this year, seeing all of the teams work together, people from all different backgrounds, was really amazing to see,” third-year Ryan Eslami, president of Adwave, said in an interview with The UCSD Guardian. “As a preprofessional [organization] and one of the few organizations that is wholly dedicated to marketing … I think that provides anyone, whether they’re a general member or on the executive team or a presenter, the opportunity to really get that hands-on experience with working with other people.”
Adwave placed first in the district competition at Mount Saint Mary’s University on April 15, marking its first district title since its founding. They advanced to the semifinals, which took place virtually from April 30 to May 1. The team earned a spot among the top 15 universities in the nation, allowing it to advance and compete in the NSAC.
The NSAC evaluated teams on their ability to develop and present a marketing campaign for a real-world client. Adwave began preparing in early August after case study materials were released. This academic year, teams were challenged to create a campaign for the NFL. Adwave decided to focus on strategies to strengthen the league’s connection with younger audiences through its youth initiatives. Its proposal emphasized increasing social media presence and forming partnerships that would appeal to a younger demographic and help create a welcoming environment in the NFL’s youth programs.
Fourth-year Cameron Cao, a member of Adwave’s production team, managed the team’s video materials and deliverables for competitions while also serving as a presenter. Cao described the competition as an opportunity to see the group’s preparation and hard work come together in an interview with The Guardian.
“So my experience in the competition is—along with Alex—is a bit different from the other team members as we have to prepare to present at the competition itself,” Cao said. “We basically practice for two straight weeks memorizing a 20-minute presentation. So I was memorizing both my lines, but also other people’s lines and the timing of the presentation.”
In each stage of the competition, Cao and other presenters pitched their ideas to judges from the NFL. This included Q&A sessions with creative and marketing NFL directors during the semifinals and a final presentation during NSAC to Tim Ellis, the chief marketing officer of the NFL.
Third-year Alex Bazanov, the team’s media analyst, was in charge of handling video material and conducting research for the team’s campaign, which focused on boosting exposure for the NFL and identifying factors that could hinder the company’s original marketing strategy. Bazanov presented the team’s marketing campaign for the first time alongside Cao.
“I was one of the presenters this year, and to be frank, I think I almost said no to becoming one, just knowing how much stress and hours would go into it,” Bazanov said. “But I’m so glad I didn’t, because that was probably my favorite part of the campaign.”
Fourth-year Vyda Lam was the team’s outreach director, focusing on networking with other organizations and creating promotional content. In an interview with The Guardian, Lam emphasized the importance of the competition for Adwave as it both helps the team obtain experience and ensures the members’ collective work is recognized at a greater scale.
“There’s pressure to kind of portray it in a way that does their team justice,” Lam said. “And so from my personal perspective, I found that you really feel like everything has a stake in it and all of the work throughout the year comes to fruition. It’s a very anxiety-inducing day, but I think it’s overall very rewarding.”
The top three colleges that ranked in the NSAC were the University of Oregon, Liberty University, and Texas State University, in that order. Although Adwave did not place among the top three teams nationally, advancing to the final stage of the competition reflected the team’s tenacity and dedication to its craft.
