May 7, 1997 Contact John R. Crosiar (541) 346-3135 EUGENE--A University of Oregon student advertising team placed second at the district level in the National Student Advertising Competition. The competition, sponsored by the American Advertising Federation: College World Series of Advertising, was April 25 in Anchorage, Alaska. Nine schools from five western states participated. Under the direction of Professor Debra Merskin, the nine members on the School of Journalism and Communication's team spent six months preparing a marketing and advertising campaign for their assigned client, Pizza Hut. They proposed "Good things are happening" as the campaign theme and featured "Karen," a composite busy mom feeding her family, as the campaign spokesperson. "To work with such a polished and professional group of students was a real pleasure for me," Merskin says. "I'm proud of their efforts." According to the team's adviser, the experience was similar to a "real-world" situation. "They had to work together to create a complete marketing plan," says Merskin. "This required them to not only apply their advertising course work but also to exercise and fine-tune their teamwork skills. Learning to work as a team is excellent preparation for what the students will encounter after graduation." Students were asked to address the concerns of their client while working within a set budget. They were required to submit a maximum 40-page "plans book" to the district coordinators in advance, which accounted for one-half of their total score. In Anchorage at the district meet, each team made a 20-minute "pitch" to the judges for the remaining 50 percent of their score. Judges drawn from the advertising profession evaluated student presentations for brand positioning and integrated marketing communications as well as for creative execution and overall presentation. Washington State University won the District XI Competition and will participate in the national event in June. "Ad team was a wonderful experience, and coming in second at a district competition of that size is an experience I'll never forget," says senior Anna Eickmann of 15720 N.W. Barkton St., Beaverton, who served as an account executive. "In the end, we were all so proud of ourselves, and the experience we had in Alaska was worth every minute we put into it." Other students participating on this year's UO ad team were Siamak Fooladi, a senior electronic media major of P.O. Box 3801, and Kai Wing "Berenice" Lai, a Community Education Program student of 1344 Lawrence St., Apt. 2, both of Eugene; Anna Beth Grimes, a junior advertising major of 1122 S.E. 21st Court, Gresham; Sarah McGill, a senior advertising major of 1037 Pacific Terrace, Klamath Falls; Justin Grady of 0400 S.W. Custer Way, and Jim Plantico of 6885 S.W. Canyon Dr., both senior advertising majors of Portland; Tiffany Trueman, a senior advertising major of 7525 Hillsboro Ave., San Ramon, Calif.; and Espen Lovold, a senior advertising major of Kristiansund, Norway. -30- #H-2259/Hometowns