ADvantage CU
Students win more One Show awards than peers from any other college ad program

It began with an ad. Challenged to create a campaign to elevate the status of the ad industry, Leah Dieterich, Scott Ginsberg and Jan Vernon responded with their pencil-winning "it began with an ad" campaign. Click here for a larger image.

Advertising students in the School took home more top awards than any other program – graduate or undergraduate – at The One Club’s annual The One Show international student competition in New York City in May. This is the fifth year in a row that CU students have either placed as finalists or won awards, known as pencils, for first, second or third place.

There were 563 entries from graduate and undergraduate advertising students at more than 60 universities and portfolio schools worldwide. A CU student team of Leah Dieterich (‘02), Scott Ginsberg (‘03) and Jan Vernon (‘03) won a bronze pencil for third place, The One Club announced at a ceremony at New York’s Winter Garden at the World Financial Center on May 14.

CU had nine winning entries among the 48 merit finalists and pencil winners – more winners from CU than ever before. The advertising created by the pencil winners and the merit finalists will be published in The One Show annual alongside work by top advertising professionals.

The One Club also awarded the CU advertising program a $2,000 scholarship from its fund designed to promote the next generation of advertising creatives.

“The scholarship is awarded to up to 10 schools annually whose students have consistently performed well in the college competitions – students whose work shows outstanding concept, copy and art direction,” said Mary Warlick, executive director at The One Club. “Students coming up reap the rewards of the students who came before them. The scholarship reflects on the teachers and the professors who are making the difference.”

Winning student work is annually put on display by The One Club. “The work from Colorado always looks good. It’s smart and spot-on,” Warlick said.

David Slayden, an associate professor of advertising in the School whose students were again among this year’s finalists, said young creatives at CU are steadily raising the bar for those that follow.

“We’ve come to expect this sort of effort and result from our students. Creativity is a thread that runs through our entire program from our dean, Paul Voakes, and remarkably talented adjunct professors to our excellent faculty in the strategic track, people like Mindy Kiger-Cheval, Kendra Gale and Maura Troester. All of us work hard to drive home the importance of creativity to success in the advertising industry,” Slayden said.

It began with an ad. Just do it Click here for a larger image.

“CU’s advertising program offers a valuable combination of full-time faculty and adjunct professors,” said Brett Robbs, associate professor and head of the advertising program. “The full-time faculty help guide students day to day while the adjunct faculty who are top professionals in their field help make sure the student work remains not just current but cutting-edge.”

“It’s unusual for an undergraduate advertising program to compete successfully year after year with graduate and professional schools,” said Jonathan Schoenberg, partner and creative director at Boulder’s TDA Advertising and Design and an adjunct faculty member whose students were again among the pencil winners.

“The chance to work with students who are consistently so competitive is an exciting opportunity and one of the attractions of the CU advertising program,” he said.

The One Show student competition is held each year in conjunction with the weeklong The One Show Festival, which honors advertising from around the world by top professionals. Each year, The One Show announces a product or service for which students are to develop advertising. This year the assignment was to create a three-ad campaign that elevates the advertising industry in the minds of consumers in order to encourage stronger, more diverse talent to consider an advertising career. The advertising submitted by students was evaluated by the same panel of judges who review the professionals’ work.

It began with an ad. Got Milk? Click here for a larger image.

The competition is open to undergraduates, graduate students and students who have graduated and continue to take courses at accredited schools before beginning their advertising careers.

“The success of our students in The One Show,” Robbs said, “is not just bringing recognition to CU. It’s also opening doors for our students and has helped recent graduates take positions as copywriters and art directors at such major national agencies as Arnold Worldwide, Fallon Minneapolis and BBDO New York.”

In addition to the pencil-winning team, merit finalists from CU were: Danny Burau, Timm Bryson (’04), Andy Dao (’02), Matt Fisher (’04), Kat Ford (’04), Mark Griffin, Natalie Holland (’03), Liz McGuire (’04), Matt Miller (’03), Jana Schmid (’04) and Julia Veinberg.