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Category: Advertising
Advertising alum Georgia Schreiner wins Media Planner of the Year award
Georgia Schreiner (BS ’10, advertising) won the Media Planner of the Year at Ad Age’s Small Agency Awards.
Just one person was chosen for the media planner award, which recognizes candidates who have demonstrated a flair for bringing innovation to media planning, leveraged the vast media offerings in unexpected ways to successfully communicate a brand’s message, and delivered an engaging brand experience in new ways. Entrants were required to show how they made a direct impact on a specific campaign, brand, or product launch.
Schreiner also accepted the Gold Media Agency of the Year award on behalf of Exverus Media, the California ad agency where Schreiner works as associate media director.
The Ad Age Small Agency Awards honor small, independent agencies that are performing well in three important areas: creating amazing and effective work for clients, building a financially healthy business, and cultivating a diverse and rewarding environment for employees.
Alum Rick Sallinger inducted into National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Silver Circle
Rick Sallinger (BS ’71, MS ’72, advertising) was inducted into the Heartland Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Silver Circle.
The Silver Circle honors media professionals who have contributed 25 years or more to the television industry, and who also have made a meaningful and significant contribution to broadcasting and/or new media.
Sallinger, who worked at WPGU from 1967-71 as an announcer, music and program director. He was inducted into the Illini Media Hall of Fame in 2022.
After working as a radio reporter in Cleveland and Chicago, Sallinger moved on to television news working at stations in Indianapolis, Denver, and Chicago.
In 1990, Sallinger became a foreign war correspondent for CNN based in London covering events like the Gulf War, the war in Yugoslavia, and the reunification of Germany.
He settled in Colorado, joining KCNC-TV, a CBS affiliate in Denver, in 1993 where he continues to work today. (Update: He retired in December 2023.)
Sallinger has covered nearly every major Colorado story in recent years including the Columbine High School shootings, the Oklahoma City bombing trials, and the murder of JonBenet Ramsey. In 2005, Sallinger won the George Foster Peabody Award for a series he did on Army recruiting.
This video from CBS Denver highlights Sallinger’s career and recent honor:
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Kissel leads global advertising company named Network of the Year at Cannes Lions Festival
Dave Kissel (BS ’85, journalism), global business lead at DDB, announced the worldwide advertising company was recognized as Network of the Year at the 2023 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is held annually in Cannes, France. The global event celebrates creativity, effectiveness, and innovation and is considered the largest gathering of the advertising and creative communications industry.
In addition to the Network of the Year award, DDB Worldwide won one Grand Prix in Film, one titanium, 12 gold, 25 silver, and 50 bronze trophies.
Kissel has been the global business lead for McDonald’s, DDB’s biggest multi-national client, since 2017. Since Kissel began, DDB has won more marketing effectiveness awards for McDonald’s than any other creative agency.
Kissel is a member of DDB Worldwide’s Executive Leadership Team and Omnicom’s Global Client Leaders team. He is also a member of the College of Media Alumni Leadership Council.
Advertising alum Jackson-Smith speaks at Cannes Lions Festival
Dani Jackson-Smith (BS ’06, advertising), founder of the Cre8tors, a creative management agency rooted in culture and social impact, participated in a panel discussion, “REAL TALK: Pushing Creativity Outside Your Lane,” at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity held on June 23 in Nice, France. The annual festival is home to the world’s most prestigious advertising awards.
Jackson-Smith, a member of the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising’s James Webb Young Advisory Board and a 2021 recipient of ADCOLOR’s “Rockstar” Award, established the Cre8tors in 2019 with a mission to create experiences that unite, transform, and drive change in communities across the globe. The Cannes appearance follows two other Cre8tor launch events in Chicago and New York in June. Learn more.
Students in Media Entrepreneurship course win ‘Graphic Design USA’ magazine’s 2023 American Digital Design Award
June 5, 2023
Update 4/26/2024: Congratulations to the students who created Roomiversity for winning a combined total of $750 in the Cozad New Venture Challenge campuswide competition in Spring 2024!
Four students in the Spring 2023 ADV 409: Media Entrepreneurship course have won 2023 American Digital Design Awards presented by Graphic Design USA magazine. Congratulations to Caroline Azzo, Hope Fowler, and Lillie Ostarello, all juniors in advertising, as well as to Simran Shah, a master’s student in urban planning.
The four students teamed up to create a comprehensive pitch deck for a new mobile app they conceptualized called Roomiversity. Their Tinder-style app (@roomiversity on Instagram) would help college students meet and match with like-minded roommates. Terry Kasdan, adjunct lecturer in advertising who teaches ADV 409, encouraged the team to submit the brand identity they created for their business to Graphic Design USA magazine’s 23rd annual Digital Design Awards competition, and they won in the student work category.
The winners will be published this summer on GDUSA’s website, with select winners featured in their print magazine and annual awards issue in July. More than 2,000 entries were submitted this year, according to Graphic Design USA magazine’s publisher Gordon Kaye. The students’ work will be published alongside entries by Adobe, Molson/Coors, the NBA, Pepsi, and several other student entries from different universities that also won.
Learn more about ADV 409: Media Entrepreneurship.
CS + Advertising student contributes to research project with MACS professor
June 2, 2023
Jen Li, a senior in computer science + advertising, discussed the work she did as a Mark L. Brandt Public Engagement Fellow for the “Mis/Disinformation in Asian American Communities Research Project” led by Rachel Kuo, assistant professor of media and cinema studies. As part of the project, Li reviewed the process of conducting oral history interviews, working with her peers and family members, and held a Community Conversations workshop.
Hear Li discuss her work in this College of Media video series where students discuss their roles in campus and community engagement projects.
Students in Sandage Project course pitch ad campaign for C-U at Home
June 2, 2023
In Spring 2023, students in ADV 498: The Sandage Project worked on an advertising campaign for the nonprofit organization C-U at Home, which helps people who are experiencing homelessness by providing a safe environment and vital resources.
Ayah Aldadah, a senior in advertising and a media planner on the team, described their campaign as part of a College of Media video series where students discuss their roles in campus and community engagement projects.
Finke gives keynote at Senior 100 Honorary for UIUC seniors
College of Media alum Kevin Finke (BS ’92, advertising) was the keynote speaker on May 7 at the Senior 100 Honorary ceremony, which recognizes graduating seniors who exhibit academic success as well as a commitment to campus involvement and community service.
Media students who received the Senior 100 Honorary this year were Zoe Lewis Nielsen and Nate Walinder, both in advertising. Finke, who was named a Senior 100 Honorary 31 years ago and was also the recipient of the UIAA 2022 Comeback Award, spoke to students about facing challenges while staying true to themselves and pursuing his passion, which led him to his current role at Experience Willow, an award-winning consulting firm he founded in 2012 that focuses on making brands, organizations, and lives better.
(Photo by JR Reed.)
Students place 2nd in AAF’s district-wide National Student Advertising Competition
May 5, 2023 | Kelly Youngblood
A group of Illinois advertising and computer science + advertising students earned second place in the district level at the American Advertising Federation’s National Student Advertising Competition held April 27-28 in South Bend, Indiana.
After extensive marketing research, the Illinois NSAC team of students—which includes researchers, strategists, creatives, media personnel, and designers—developed and pitched an integrative advertising campaign for this year’s NSAC corporate sponsor and worldwide job search site Indeed.
For Indeed, the team created the campaign tagline “Know It All” and produced a 12-page book with research, insights, strategy, and media placements, as well as five creative executions, a video spot, and a live 20-minute presentation. They worked on the project through Advertising 400: NSAC Campaign last fall, taught by Brittany Duff, associate professor of advertising, and this spring, taught by Carrie Wilson-Brown, lecturer of media and cinema studies and of advertising.
“I am so proud of this talented group of students,” Wilson-Brown said. “They exemplify the innovative thinking and professionalism we strive for in the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising.”
Student presenters included advertising majors Brooke Button, Lauren Jenkins, and Thomas Sanders, and chemistry major Juan Camargo. Members of the executive board were CS+advertising major Ayesha Baweja, advertising majors Julie Garcia and Annee Mattson, and advertising and sociology major Cassidy Marcum.
Fifteen additional students have contributed to the campaign since the beginning of the school year or the start of second semester.
“Our executive board has been planning and working on this campaign since August, and we are so proud of our team and presenters,” Baweja said.
The Illinois NSAC team placed third in last year’s competition. Students are already seeking applicants to join the NSAC team for next year’s campaign.
NSAC is an annual competition that provides more than 2,000 college students hands-on experience in creating a strategic media campaign for a real corporate client. Students address real-world marketing challenges and must research the client and its competition, identify issues, and devise an integrated campaign. Then students pitch their campaign to the clients and a panel of AAF judges who are professionals in the advertising, marketing, and communications industry.
The University of Illinois AAF student chapter, which includes NSAC, is the largest in the nation.