Several students, including two recent graduates of Iowa State University’s Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication, received four silver awards last month at the American Advertising Awards in Des Moines.
The Des Moines chapter of the American Advertising Federation (AAF) recognized students and advertising professionals during an awards ceremony at Rollins Mansion.
Shay Langenhorst (senior in advertising) and Reese Scherder (’25 advertising) received a silver award in the online/interactive category of advertising and promotion/campaign for their BEIS travel web banners. This project came out of the ADVRT 4360, “Advertising Creative Portfolio,” class which is taught by Teaching Professor Michael Wigton.
Langenhorst said, “Being recognized alongside advertising professionals in Des Moines was a very special and rewarding experience. As a student at Iowa State, I’ve been encouraged to try new things and have gained so much knowledge from the incredible professors in the Greenlee school.”
Isabella Prebil (sophomore in advertising) received a silver in the audio/radio advertising/single spot category in film, video and sound for her Iowa Brain Drain ad. This project was part of Prebil’s final project for ADVRT 3340, “Advertising Creativity.” Teaching Professor Sherry Berghefer teaches development and execution of creative advertising materials; copywriting, art direction and computer applications; and creative strategy development, execution and evaluation.
“This experience helped me grow both creatively and professionally. It was amazing to not only accept an award but also watch the award ceremony,” said Prebil. “I’m especially grateful to get the opportunity to meet people who work hard and have impressive work to show at a real advertisement agency! This event made me even more excited about pursuing a career in the field.”
Cade Brown (’25 advertising), Ava Haynes (junior in advertising) and Maddie Marsh (junior in advertising) brought home the silver for their cross platform Pancheros campaign for the integrated advertising campaigns/consumer campaign/local category.
These students created the campaign as part of their ADVRT 4340, “Advertising Campaigns,” course, taught by Wigton. The class simulates an agency environment with students working together in teams on all phases of campaign development, including planning, research, target audience analysis, media planning and objectives/strategies/tactics for advertising.
“The American Advertising Awards is the largest competition in our industry and the projects are judged by professionals,” Wigton said. “For our students to win this award speaks to the caliber of our program and makes them stand out when searching for jobs after graduation. The talent coming out of the Greenlee School continues to raise the bar.”
And finally, Drew Simon (’22 advertising), a Greenlee assistant professor of practice and a copywriter for Meyocks, brought home a silver with his Meyocks team for their Meyocks Gives a Damn campaign. They placed in the advertising/media industry self-promotion category in campaigns/integrated media campaign.
The AAF awards annually recognizes all forms of creative advertising, in all varieties of media, created by all sizes and types of entrants in a three-tier nationwide competition – local, district, national. The student advertising competition is held concurrently with the professional competition and is the largest of its kind, according to AAF. Student work is judged by professionals in the field.
“We have the best advertising students and professors in the state. I am so proud of them and happy to see their hard work pay off,” said Tracy Lucht, director of the Greenlee School.