National Student Advertising Competition
Journalism 475 – Special Topics

The National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC) is a premier college strategic communications competition. It provides more than 3,000 college students from across the country with real-world experience by requiring a strategic advertising/marketing/media campaign for a real corporate sponsor.  

The competition is governed by the Education Services division of the American Advertising Federation (AAF).

There is no better way to learn about the strategic communications campaign process than by
actually developing a campaign for a real client.

How the NSAC works
Why Should I Be Interested in NSAC
The structure of the NSAC competition
The NSAC at UW-Madison
Course information
Instructor Debra Pierce
NSAC Track Record

How the NSAC Works

2007 UW-Madison NSAC team

Each year, a corporate sponsor provides an assignment or case study outlining the history of its product and current advertising situation.  The case study is always candid and reflects a real world situation.   Students must research the product and its competition, identify potential problem areas and devise a completely integrated communications campaign for the client. Each student team then "pitches" its campaign to a panel of judges.

back to top

Why Should I be Interested in NSAC?
Students enrolled in NSAC find that it’s of the most challenging, yet most rewarding, experiences that they will have while in college.   You will work with an agency team of students with a diverse set of skills and backgrounds.  Past students have successfully used their NSAC experience to obtain more experience, more interviews, and land jobs.

The Structure of the NSAC Competition
NSAC is a comprised of teams from AAF chapter universities and colleges all around the country. The AAF is divided into 15 districts, each district containing 1 to 5 states. UW Madison is currently in AAF/NSAC District 8, along with North and South Dakota and Minnesota. Each district holds its own competition in the spring, and the winning team from each district – along with a wild card team - advance to the National Finals held in June at the annual AAF National Conference. Districts with a high number of participating universities will be allowed to select a Wild Card winner. Wild Card submissions are judged separately from the district and national teams, in order to avoid potential conflict of interest. Judging is conducted by professionals in the communications industry.

back to top

The NSAC at UW-Madison
NSAC is completed via 2 courses at UW Madison:

Fall -- Journalism 449: Research and Strategy for Strategic Campaigns (4 credits). Prereq: completion of J345. In the Fall, students enrolling in J449 will have the opportunity to conduct secondary and primary research for the 2008-2009 national NSAC client. In other words, the NSAC case study becomes the practicum for J449. In addition to the research, students will develop a key consumer insight, which will become the basis of the campaign and creative strategies. Students enrolled in Fall J449 will develop a complete campaign strategy and briefing document as part of their major project assignment, at the end of the semester. J449 students will “brief” incoming Spring 2009 NSAC students on the campaign and creative strategies.

It is not required that Fall J449 students continue on towards Spring J475/NSAC. If you find the section is full, you may contact the instructor Deb Pierce at dlpierce@wisc.edu for permission to enroll.

Spring – Journalism 475: NSAC (4 credits). Prereq: consent by instructor. Preference will be given to students who have completed at least one 400-level Strategic Communications course. Students enrolling in J475 will then pick up where J449 left off; specifically, they will fine tune the creative strategy, and then quickly develop a fully-integrated creative and media (including both non-traditional and tradition) plan. Case books are due in late March, and the final client pitch is done in late April.

It is not required that J475/NSAC students enroll in J449 in the Fall. However, students who have taken J449 will receive additional consideration.

A few students from other disciplines may also be enrolled in the NSAC course opportunities. These folks contribute valuable skills to the NSAC “agency”; these students may include majors in graphics design, film, communication arts, and/or marketing.

2008 UW-Madison NSAC team

back to top

Course information

Interested in applying for Journalism 475/NSAC?  We’d love to hear from you!

Students interested in enrolling in Spring J475/NSAC classes should apply by July 31, 2008.  Students will be notified by August 31, 2008 whether they will be enrolled.  Please send the following to Deb Pierce at dlpierce@wisc.edu:

• A cover letter, which should highlight your experience/background, and insights into why you should be admitted to the course, and your expectations as to how you could contribute to the team. 
• Your cover letter should also clearly indicate whether you are interested in taking J449 in the Fall, or are already enrolled.  Also, indicate whether you have taken, or plan to take, any of the following courses:  J445 section 1, J445 section 2, or J447.
• a one-page summary of your relevant course work
• resume
• samples (if applicable)

Instructor Debra Pierce

UW Madison NSAC track record

Want More Information?
If you want more info on NSAC at UW, go to http://www.journalism.wisc.edu/J475NSAC.  If you’d like to learn more about AAF’s NSAC program, go to www.aaf.org.

If you have questions, and would like to chat more about this exciting opportunity, email Deb Pierce at dlpierce@wisc.edu.

back to top