The College of Media & Communication’s advertising team placed first last weekend in Nashville.
Texas Tech University's Bullet Advertising Team, housed within the College of Media & Communication, brought home a national championship this past weekend from the National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC) hosted by the American Advertising Federation.
The team placed first out of eight teams at the competition held in Nashville on Friday (June 3) and Saturday (June 4). Teams had previously advanced through regional and semi-final rounds to earn one of the eight spots.
“This was the first year since 1984 that Texas Tech won the national title,” said Shannon Bichard, faculty adviser for the team and chair of the Department of Advertising & Brand Strategy. “I'm so incredibly proud of this group of students. Their professionalism and work ethic were an example of the excellence found at Texas Tech.”
Each year, a corporate sponsor provides students across the country with a case study of their product. This year's sponsor was Meta Quest (formerly Oculus), the virtual reality headset owned by Meta that provides customers with an immersive gaming experience.
“Pitching to Meta Quest was a remarkable opportunity for our students,” Bichard said. “We were assigned the client at the beginning of the school year and then the name of the product and parent company completely changed when Facebook became Meta in late 2021.”
According to Bichard, the team's first reaction was panic.
“They had already started work around the previous branding and then it completely changed on them,” Bichard said. “But honestly, that's ideal real-world experience.”
Bichard explained to her team they'd find themselves in similar scenarios in the future.
“That's just the way the industry is,” Bichard said. “Things are always changing and the ability to pivot with those changes is invaluable.”
The team is composed of 16 students, all of whom play a critical role throughout the year. In the fall, the students are broken up into creative, promotion, research and media teams. Then in the spring, students shift out of those roles and into an all-hands-on-deck mode to produce the actual media needed for the pitch.
“There were some nights our team was up until 4 a.m. filming their pitch to get the perfect take,” Bichard said.
When they take the stage though, only a few students appear.
“The pitch team is comprised of four students,” Bichard said. “Try-outs are held in February to determine who those students will be. I look for individuals who are excellent public speakers and can be theatrical.”
The students don't just stand at a podium and run through talking points. The team blocks every step they take, utilizes props and delivers a show with intentional charisma.
“These students pitched to the heads of advertising at Meta,” Bichard said. “They had to be phenomenal.”
And they were.
2022 NSAC Team:
- Brelyn Bashrum, advertising
- Adam Bennett, creative media industries
- Ana Bonilla, advertising
- Hannah Boyd, public relations and strategic communication, advertising
- Chris Daul, advertising
- Hudson Gregg, advertising
- Katelyn Ling, public relations and strategic communication, advertising
- Brianna Macri, advertising
- Keely McMillan, advertising and media strategies
- Victoria Newell, advertising
- Grayson Roach, advertising
- Mallory Rosetta, advertising and media strategies
- Ashley Snyder, creative media industries
- Aaron Thompson, advertising
- Grace White, advertising
- Jama Williamson, advertising and creative media industries
