Congratulations to the University of Minnesota for kicking butt and taking names (in the friendliest, most midwestern way possible) at the district level of the 2025 National Student Advertising Competition!
This year’s district competition Took place on Friday, April 4 and Saturday, April 5 at North Dakota State University in Fargo, ND. After months of research, planning, and practice, five student teams from AAF District 8 (North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin) pitched their campaign to a panel of esteemed judges.
The first-place team will now advance to the semi-finals, where they will compete against other district winners from around the country. The semi-final round takes place virtually—first the judging panel reviews teams’ recorded presentations, then follows up with a 10-minute live Q&A with the student team.
The eight winning teams from semi-finals will move on to compete in the finals, which occur during AAF’s national conference ADMERICA in Pittsburgh on Friday, June 6. Follow along with the University of Minnesota team via their Instagram!
2025 District 8 Winners
1st Place: University of Minnesota
2nd Place: South Dakota State University
3rd Place: Winona State University
Best Plans Book: University of Minnesota
Best Presentation: University of Minnesota
Best Presenter: University of Minnesota
2025 District 8 Judges
Beth Anne Mandia – Director of Creative Services at TruStage
Maren Hamilton – Head of Social at The North Face
Jordan Ste. Marie – AVP, Digital Engagement Strategy at AT&T
About the National Student Advertising Competition
courtesy of AAF District 8
AAF’s National Student Advertising Competition is the nation’s premier college advertising competition. It provides more than 3,000 college students with “real-world” experience by requiring a strategic advertising/marketing/media campaign for a corporate sponsor. Schools are selected to present their campaigns to a panel of industry executives at the AAF National Conference held in June.
Each year, a corporate sponsor provides an assignment or case study outlining the history of its product and current advertising situation. The case study is always candid and reflects a real world situation. Students must research the product and its competition, identify potential problem areas, and devise a completely integrated communications campaign for the client. Each student team then “pitches” its campaign to a panel of judges.
Regional NSAC competitions are held each spring in 15 districts throughout the U.S. The winning team in each district and possible wild card team then advances to compete on the pre-national level prior the AAF National Conference in May/June.
The AAF is divided into 15 districts, each containing one to five states. Each district holds a competition in April and the winning team advances to a virtual elimination. From that contest there are eight teams selected as finalists to compete at the National Conference in May. Each district appoints its own coordinator, a local business professional, to handle all details of the local competition. Professionals in the communications industry conduct judging. Judges at the national level are selected from the client and their advertising agencies. Yearly, some districts will have as many as 18 teams competing and nationwide more than 150 colleges and universities take on the NSAC challenge.
The Education Services division and the AAF Academic Committee, a group of advertising educators and practitioners from across the country, who oversee the policies and procedures of the competitions, govern the competition. These members ensure that there is a level playing field and that the competition demonstrates the highest academic and professional standards.