By Kiara Catanzaro
Staff Writer
SBU’s chapter of the American Advertising Federation (AAF) will present an advertising pitch for Kwerkworks at 4 p.m. Monday in the Dresser Auditorium of the John J. Murphy Professional Building.
The on-campus presentation serves as a dress rehearsal for the agency’s pitch at the National Student Advertising Competition in New York City on April 27, according to Maddie Gionet, a senior journalism and mass communication major.
St. Bonaventure will be one of the 14 schools in the competition. Their top three competitors are Syracuse, George Washington and Pennsylvania State University, according to Kathryn Kvas, a senior journalism and mass communication major.
The five seniors presenting for Kwerkworks are Kvas, Joe Bucher, Danny Bush, Gionet and Alex Teixeira.
Gionet discussed why AAF is a serious contender for the National Students Advertising Competition this year.
“We came in third at the competition last year, and I definitely think people at the competition know we are a top contender because of our efforts in previous years,” Gionet said. “We take the competition very seriously and always come prepared and professional, which I think impresses the judges.”
Kvas also explained how each group will be judged at the National Student Advertising Competition.
“It’s a national competition where every school receives the same case study,” Kvas said. “Then they come up with a plans book and a 20-minute pitch for their campaign. The competition’s split up into districts and regions. We compete in our region in NYC, and the winner from each region goes on to compete in the finals.”
Kvas continued to explain how Bonaventure’s members of AAF gain real-word experience in advertising agencies.
“At Bonaventure, we run our AAF chapter like a real agency,” Kvas said. “We see a ton of other schools in this competition that run their chapter like a class, but not us. Once you join AAF at Bonaventure, it’s like you’re gaining real-world experience.”
Kvas explained how they divide and accomplish their jobs among each member of the group.
“We split up into our separate teams: account planning, creative, PR and events, media, etc,” Kvas said. “Then we do our jobs, come up with a creative work plan, and get it done.”
Gionet stressed how the group will face challenges with preparing and practicing in order to organize their presentation for the National Student Advertising Competition.
“It’s nerve-wracking enough to get up in front of an audience and give a speech, but having to be able to present a semester’s worth of work in 20 minutes or less and make sure the judges understand what we are proposing is very hard,” Gionet said. “We want to make sure we don’t miss anything and that everyone’s hard work is noticed and touched upon, so it’s very stressful to make sure we get the pitch and presentation as perfect as we possibly can.”
Gionet continued to discuss the effort the group members contributed to carry out their campaign for the competition.
“I would hope the university as a whole would be proud of all the hard work all the students in this class have put in,” Gionet said. “We’ve got some very talented students who are going to do great things in the future, and their talents really shone through this semester. I can’t predict where we’ll place in the competition, but getting this experience has been worth all the work. I just hope everyone who comes to the on-campus presentation will be able to see all the time, effort and passion we’ve all put into this campaign.”
