Wienerschnitzel winner: Student deemed "best" at district advertising competition

Anna Henkels, senior Advertising and Public Relations major at Youngstown State University, won the Best Presenter Award, and the YSU Ads Club came in third overall, at the American Advertising Federation’s National Student Advertising Competition.

The district competition in Louisville, Ky., included AAF student chapters from Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia.

The Best Presenter Award is given to one presenter at each district competition, and, according to the four-judge panel, Henkels won the honor based on her confidence, passion, storytelling skills and dynamic speaking skills.

“The NSAC projects have been some of the most helpful experiences throughout my four years at the Williamson College of Business Administration,” said Henkels, president of the YSU Ads Club. “It's more than a class case study; we're helping national brands with their current problems and using real-world strategies to solve them. Creating a national campaign from scratch is a massive project, and it requires skills from many classes like creative strategies, media planning and buying, public relations, and more.”

Each student chapter created a national advertising campaign for Wienerschnitzel, a fast-food hot dog chain, with the goal of increasing hot dog consumption for the entire industry and addressing misconceptions surrounding hot dogs. With basic target audience information and a budget of $25 million, students began work for the project in September. Throughout the academic year, the Ads Club conducted primary research through a national survey, focus groups and in-depth interviews as well as secondary research using resources such as MRI+ and Nielsen. The students developed taglines and overarching themes for the campaign; graphics for use on social media, print and digital outlets; and the strategies and tactics to execute the plan. To gain a deeper understanding of the hot dog industry, the club visited a local butcher shop to learn more about the misconceptions of hot dog production and health aspects. The club also produced several full-length commercials and created mock-ups of new branded packaging as well as print and digital advertisements.

Under the guidance of advisor Michael Pontikos, senior lecturer in the YSU Marketing department in the Williamson College of Business Administration, students compiled their research and strategy into a 22-page document that outlines the entire campaign. Four Ads Club members, Anna Henekels, senior; Jacob Zillinger, senior; Jessica Hood, junior; and Zoey Novak, sophomore presented the group’s strategy in a 20-minute presentation that was judged by a panel of advertising professionals and the chief marketing officer of Wienerschnitzel.