May 7, 2003::No.227

Cal State Fullerton Students Win Regional Ad Competition

Using marketing strategies and creative talent, five Cal State Fullerton students bested advertising teams from UCLA, Cal State Northridge, Pepperdine University, San Diego State and the Art Institute of San Diego to win first place at the American Advertising Federation (AAF) regional conference held April 25 in Orange.

The winners will advance next month to the AAF competition in Century City, where they will face teams from across the country. More than 3,000 attendees are expected.

The students, members of the national advertising campaign course taught by communications lecturer David Cooper, developed a 28-page integrated marketing campaign and 20-minute oral presentation. The focus of their class project — an eight-month-long effort — is the Toyota Matrix utility vehicle; the client is Toyota Motor Sales.

“This competition provides college students with nationwide ‘real world’ experience by having students create a strategic advertising, marketing and media campaign for a corporate client,” said Cooper, an advertising industry veteran with a background in journalism and marketing.

Selected by fellow classmates to represent the class in competition were: Terra Breese of Fullerton, Angelo Cushman of Santa Monica, Douglas Enfinger of Santa Ana, Kimberly Trouville of Newport Beach and Christopher Yeo of Walnut.

“I began recruiting students for this course in the fall semester,” said Cooper.

“ I sought out students from marketing and visual arts, as well as communications.”

This year’s victory is the culmination of a steady rise in competitiveness for Cal State Fullerton, which moved up from fourth- and third-place finishes in 2001 and 2002. Cooper has been guiding the team during his three years on campus.

The American Advertising Federation coordinates the annual student competition, which requires participants to conduct extensive research and develop a comprehensive campaign designed to meet the sponsor’s objectives. More than 6,500 students on 210 campuses developed a national marketing and communications strategy for building increased awareness of the Toyota Matrix.

The AAF is a national network of 210 local ad clubs with 50,000 advertising professionals and 210 college chapters.