Jonathan Schoenberg and Eric Liebhauser

Adjuncts donate
to school and to
student's creative pursuits
By Mandi Torrez

Generous donations of time and talent by an award-winning ad agency's creative professionals are giving the School's Advertising sequence and its students a competitive edge.

Jonathan Schoenberg is creative director and Eric Liebhauser is a copywriter at TDA Advertising & Design, a small but vibrant creative shop in Longmont. They've teamed up as adjunct instructors for the advertising copy and layout course. Their commitment to the School, however, reaches far beyond the walls of the classroom.

"Our program is really being strengthened by this sort of help," Associate Professor Brett Robbs said. "Jonathan and Eric are lending great support and not just in the classroom. They also work closely with their interns to help them develop their skills and portfolios, and they've used their connections to help a lot of students get started on creative advertising careers."

"We want aspiring students to work at different aspects of advertising," Schoenberg said. "We generally have four interns at one time. The ones we have had from CU have been phenomenal."

Amanda Jones, a junior Advertising major, was one of the interns at TDA spring semester.

"This internship is just so important to have," she said. "Jonathan and Eric are always willing to critique your work and help you learn."

Last fall Schoenberg and Liebhauser came up with another way to help the School that was, as one would expect from a nationally renowned creative agency, clever and distinctive.

The goal: To recruit talented prospects on campus for the Advertising sequence by building its image among the student population and attracting students who may not have otherwise been exposed to the advertising program.

"Though we are turning people down who apply to the program, we are still looking to increase the number of recruits, which allows us to increase the quality of our students and the program," Robbs said.

Schoenberg said creative ad agencies such as TDA also benefit when bright students find their way to the University's ad sequence.

All that time in the classroom gave Schoenberg and Liebhauser some ideas about getting the Advertising sequence's message through to prospective applicants.

The result was a "guerrilla" ad campaign, which TDA offered at no charge to the School. "We were trying to use unconventional ads that students wouldn't expect in order to communicate with the them," Schoenberg said.

"Students are exposed to so much advertising that they have become savvy in screening it," Robbs said.

"With a guerrilla campaign, there is no print or posters. We wanted ads that were going to amuse students and get underneath their radar."

Removable stickers were plastered on restroom walls and stalls, on desks and dining tables, and wherever else graffiti might normally be found.

"More people would see your ideas if you had a career in advertising," the stickers read. "Apply to the Ad Program, School of Journalism and Mass Communication in Macky 201 by February 19th."

Also used were computer disks--labeled as final exam answer keys but actually containing a message about the program--that were left lying about.

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