FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sixth Successive District Win for HPU’s National Student Advertising Competition Team
HONOLULU, HI – Apr. 17, 2017 – Hawaii Pacific University advertising students are first place district
winners of the National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC) held on Saturday, Apr. 15. The team
defeated Chaminade University of Honolulu and will proceed to the semi-finals phase of the
competition. This is the sixth consecutive district win for HPU’s NSAC team.
The National Student Advertising Competition, held by the American Advertising Federation, is an annual
nationwide competition for undergraduate students from more than 150 colleges and universities. Each
year a corporate sponsor provides a case study of a real world marketing challenge. The 2017 NSAC client
Tai Pei Frozen Asian food challenged students to develop a $10 and $15 million advertising campaign to
make the Tai Pei brand and products relevant to younger 18-25 year old millennials.
HPU’s team is comprised of 18 cross-disciplined mass communication students who contributed to
the winning 27-page campaign strategy plans book including media plan and creative executions.
Four students were selected to present a 20-minute campaign pitch to a panel of district judges.
The district competition is judged by industry professionals selected by AAF Hawaii District 13
Coordinator, Paul Lam and his team. Judges included Jerry Blue, Element 8, Minette Chan and Page
Gaylord, Anthology Marketing Group and Jennifer Tanabe, Wall-to-Wall Studios.
The next step in the competition is the virtual semi-final round, which is a 15-minute video
conference call and Q&A with a panel of national judges. All first-place district winners will compete
for one of eight national finalist spots. The top eight teams will advance to the national competition
held in conjunction with ADMERICA, AAF’s national conference, which this year will be held in New
Orleans.
HPU’s NSAC presenter Amanda Kowalski shares, “So proud of my teammates for working hard all
semester and never giving up. Hard work pays off, especially when you win 1st place for District 13!!”
About AAF District 13
The American Advertising Federation District 13 (AAF District 13) is a 501c6 Non-Profit Advertising
Trade Organization that’s affiliated with the American Advertising Federation – Hawaii and Ad 2
Honolulu. AAF District 13 also presents the annual Pele Awards, which honors the Best in Adverting
and Design for the year.
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Source: AnnMarie Manzulli, [email protected]
Hawaii Pacific University’s 2017 National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC) team win first place in the District 13
competition on Saturday, April 15, 2017 at Chaminade University of Honolulu. Presenting team featured from left to right:
Amanda Kowalski, Kama Downey-Jovanovich, faculty advisor AnnMarie Manzulli, Jessie Hottois Flath and Josh Sheetz.
Hawaii Pacific University’s 2017 National Student Advertising Competition Team include:
Front row: Jack Martinez, Jessie Hottois Flath, Skylynn Nanoo, Leah Vaughn Crawford
Row two: Katrina Hicks, Corinne Chann, Leila Jaffuel, Mariah Castro, Lauren Martinez
Row three: Amanda Kowalski, Anna Vandgaard, Nicole Hoynaski, Rhema Kishida, Adrian Labuda
Back row: Andrew Rivard, Clayton Nelson, Kama Downey-Jovanovich and Josh Sheetz