Missouri School of Journalism students win nine American Advertising Awards
Strategic Communication students received recognition in a broad array of categories and will move on to the American Advertising Federation’s district competition
Columbia, Mo. (Feb. 14, 2022) — Missouri School of Journalism students have won nine awards as part of the American Advertising Federation’s (AAF) 2021-22 student competition. The students, who submitted their work through the KC Ad Club, received their American Advertising Awards — formerly known as ADDY Awards — on Feb. 12 and will move on to the district-level competition, where they will have the opportunity to advance to the national competition.
“Each year this AAF awards competition gives our students the opportunity to submit the work they’ve created – whether that’s been through one of their courses, their capstone agency or even through an internship,” said Holly Higginbotham, associate professor and the faculty advisor for the school’s AAF chapter. “As faculty, every semester we get to see the creative and inspiring work our students develop as they work with various clients, but it’s great to see that the industry professionals who judge this competition also recognize their up-and-coming talent.”
The students won awards in a variety of categories, including book design, logo design, and art direction. Three of the nine awards won were for the school’s National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC) team, which placed sixth in the nation in the 2021 competition for its work for Tinder. Another five awards were for projects originally designed for MOJO Ad, a student-run advertising agency that specializes in campaigns targeting youth and young adult audiences.
Senior Katrina Troy shared in two of the awards: one for her MOJO Ad team’s “plan book,” a compilation of the team’s work over the fall semester for the WarnerMedia film Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, and another for art direction on a series of vibrant print advertisements for Los Angeles ice cream company CoolHaus, an award she shared with fellow senior and MOJO Ad copywriter Emma McVady.
“I love doing this work,” Troy said. “I’m really proud of it, and it’s a joy to be involved in this creative field. I felt that the work was high quality, but I still didn’t see these awards coming.”
Troy credited Frank Corridori, an associate professor who teaches courses in strategic design and visual communication at the School of Journalism, with helping her refine her work through transparent and honest feedback.
“Our success with these awards is a tribute to the quality of students we have in our program,” said Jon Stemmle, professor and chair of Strategic Communication. “The work these students produce year in and year out with guidance from our talented faculty, like Prof. Corridori, is amazing. These awards have become a real pride point for everyone in our program and I hope it continues for years to come.”
Troy also had high praise for MOJO Ad, which she said has prepared her for the job market as she finishes up her final semester as an undergraduate at Mizzou.
“There’s no better program to prepare you to start working at an agency than MOJO,” Troy said. “I feel really confident going into interviews, and I’m not concerned about getting a job leaving the strategic communication program. I’m more concerned about finding the right job that will let me harness all the skill sets and things that I’ve been given, which is a great problem to have.”
The full list of winning projects is as follows:
- Team Vega Logo: MOJO AD, Team Vega (Logo Design)
- Self-Care Book: MOJO AD, Team Meraki (Book Design)
- Gallery of Now: MOJO AD, Team Circa (Book Design)
- Metamorphosis: MOJO AD, Team Zenith (Book Design)
- SOY Home(screen): MOJO AD, Team Tandem (Copywriting)
- Tinder Advertising Campaign: 2021 NSAC team (Book Design)
- Tinder “By Chance Box”: 2021 NSAC team (Ambient/Guerilla category)
- Tinder Advertising Campaign: 2021 NSAC team (Consumer Campaign)
- CoolHaus Campaign: Katrina Troy and Emma McVady (Art Direction)
Updated: February 14, 2022