An interdisciplinary team of advertising, graphic and motion design upperclassmen students from Ringling College of Art and Design took third place and were awarded Best Plan Book at this year’s National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC) in Anaheim, California earlier this month. Sponsored by the American Advertising Federation (AAF), each year over 150 schools across the country are asked to develop an integrated campaign for a specific organization to increase purchase frequency. A three-segment competition—district, semi-finals and nationals—students must create a written campaign proposal and a 20-minute presentation before participating in a Q&A with the judges in the final round. In addition to being the only art and design school to make it to nationals, Ringling College was also credited as being one of the smallest schools in the competition.

With Snapple as this year’s client, students from Ringling College created an entire ad campaign incorporated in a strategic concept plan titled “Oddly Satisfying,” marking their first win in the district competition as the only art and design school to make it to semi-finals and nationals out of eight schools that competed in Florida, including previous national champions University of Miami and University of West Florida.

“We've been competing for five years and the best we've ever done was second place in our district. We have really tough competitions out here so it’s a proud moment for us to have made it this far," said Vivian Owen, faculty co-advisor for the Ringling NSAC team.

Through the “Oddly Satisfying” theme charming judges, students tied Snapple to the little odd moments of delight in life: that feeling one gets when taking the first scoop of peanut butter or when pumping gas and hitting the exact amount. Responsible for setting up TV commercials, in-store promotions, mobile apps, packaging and web designs and social media such as Spotify and Youtube, the team’s mobile app and in-store promotions stood out. Inspired by the Shopkick app, students created a Snapple version that used the same audio technology but included a location feature to find a certain flavor. When it came to in-store promotions, the team raised visibility by color-coordinating the caps in order to create a rainbow effect on the shelf.

“I still remember the day the students came up with the idea,” says Owen. “[Faculty Co-Advisor] Allen Harrison and I looked at each other and we got goosebumps. We knew this team had something special.”