The Department of Advertising, Public Relations and Design received widespread recognition this year for both its exceptional students and the program itself.

The PRNews Education A-List named the department as one of the best institutions in higher education for public relations and marketing. The PRNews Group is a leading information resource and professional development hub for the industry. Each year, it awards national recognition to high-achieving, accredited public relations and marketing programs that continue to evolve alongside the changing field of communication and offer the best career advancement opportunities for their students.

At CMCI, those students took their high-quality training to the next level. This month, 25 APRD students received six of the 13 student awards during The One Club Awards Denver 2022—making them among the highest award-winners in the state, according to APRD faculty.

One Club Denver is a nonprofit promoting collaborative, creative culture throughout Colorado. For over 60 years, it has recognized the best work in advertising, interactive design and branded entertainment by industry professionals and agencies.

In the student award category, APRD students earned one gold, two silver and one bronze medal alongside two merit awards.

“We’re always proud to see our students recognized for their work and have been pleased to see it happening at local, regional and even international levels,” said Glenn Griffin, an associate professor of advertising.

In this year’s competition, the gold award-winning Call of Duty Safe Spaces team took on the issue of misogynistic, racist and homophobic language used by players. The students’ campaign advertised a new product focused on creating a safe space for all players.

The Call of Duty Real-World Supply Drops team, which won a silver award, advertised a real-life version of the game that would pit students from 100 universities against each other. Another silver award-winning team, Spotify University, advertised a new service that would allow users to earn degrees through the popular audio streaming company. 

The Dash + Dine team won a bronze medal for its campaign to bring MasterChef meals to viewers’ homes. 

The merit award-winning Finely Tuned team proposed an innovative marketing refresh for the high-end electronics company, Bang & Olufsen. Student David Wagonheim also received a merit award for his project, Make Pour Choices, an advertisement for the Pour Brothers Community Tavern.