Faith Holmes

MCOM 471

Winthrop students Keri McQueen, Jamie Bunton, and Alina Abedin work on a campaign for the
American Advertising Awards.

Winthrop Students Create Campaign for Advertising Professionals

Integrated marketing Communication (IMC) students in the advertising copy and layout class (MCOM
349) at Winthrop are creating campaigns for the American Advertising Awards of Charlotte. The class
is instructed by Professors in the Department of Mass Communication, Padmini Patwardhan and
Professor Sabrina Habib.

This is the first time students will create themes, billboards, tickets, posters, and a website landing
page for the American Advertising Awards of Charlotte. The American Advertising Federation (AAF) of
Charlotte is an affiliate of the American Advertising Federation, a network of 50,000 professionals in
220 professional advertising clubs, 220 college chapters and 110 corporations.
Faith Holmes
MCOM 471

Students worked on the projects in groups to develop potential themes for the AAF of Charlotte. The
organization then selected one theme. The next step for students is to create campaigns based on
their unique interpretations of the selected theme.
Lillian Garrecht, senior and IMC major in the course says, This campaign is challenging but it
motivates us to do well because we know that winners will gain huge recognition that could lead to
jobs.

The AAF of Charlotte will select one winning group to present its campaign on stage at the awards
ceremony in front of several advertising professionals on Feb. 12. Habib, advertising professor at
Winthrop and co-education chair of the AAF Charlotte says, Working with a real client means real
pressure, tight deadlines, and the chance to make or break your reputation locally.

Creating the advertising campaign for the AAF of Charlotte is challenging, but Habib believes students
will produce work that will exceed expectations. The project will provide students the chance to
display their work on a professional platform while gaining real-world experience. Students are
learning to think conceptually and to execute a complete integrated campaign. They are receiving
feedback from professionals, making connections, and growing immensely from this experience. This
is the best hands-on opportunity a student could get!, says Habib.

Integrated marketing communications is a major that gives students the unique opportunity to blend
communication and business. Projects like the campaign for the AAF Charlotte give students the
opportunity to apply class room knowledge to real clients.