WMU News

Advertising students take top awards in national competition

May 18, 1999

KALAMAZOO -- Three teams of advertising students from Western Michigan University captured several of the top prizes recently in a national advertising design competition.

The student teams claimed first and third place and an honorable mention in the Yellow Pages Publishers Association Student Creative Competition, bringing home a total of $7,500 in prize money that will be split between the students and the Department of Marketing at WMU.

The competition, which drew 265 entries from 41 schools nationwide, required teams to design three print ads in various sizes, give a written analysis of the team's creative strategy and produce a 30-second audio recording of a talking Yellow Pages ad for a fictional Chicago florist.

The team of Michele Beckman of Muskegon, Mich.; Shannon Saylor of Kalamazoo; and Kristy Swartout of Clarkston, Mich.; took first and will share a $2,500 prize. The WMU Department of Marketing will also receive $2,500.

Third place went to the WMU team comprised of Daniel Messmann of Kalamazoo; Heather Reynolds of Rives Junction, Mich.; and Patty Swiecki of Farmington Hills, Mich. They will share a $1,000 prize, with the department also receiving that amount.

Heidi Haskins and Erin Klooster, both of Jenison, Mich., received an honorable mention in the competition, winning a $250 award for their team and the department.

According to Carel Carr, educational programs manager for YPPA, the competition is designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of Yellow Pages advertising in a marketing campaign.

The student teams entered the competition as part of a senior level marketing class in media planning instructed by Dr. Betty J. Parker, WMU assistant professor of marketing. This was the
first time WMU students entered the three-year-old contest and it is the third time this year that marketing and advertising students have won top prizes in state or national competitions.

"We have outstanding, highly motivated students in our program and I think we have a tradition of excellence occurring right now," says Parker. "Students are very aware that when they enter our program that we have produced a number of contest, scholarship and internship winners. They are very motivated to continue the tradition."

Media contact: Marie Lee, 616 387-8400, marie.lee@wmich.edu


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