At the start of the academic year, the Advertising Federation (Ad Fed) begins work on a major project. From market research to promotional designs, Ad Fed creates a complete advertising campaign for a real-world company. Every year, Ad Fed competes in competitions against other universities across the nation with the campaign they designed. This competition is the National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC). 

In previous years, Ad Fed has made campaigns for companies like AT&T and Indeed. They begin work by receiving an outline from the company detailing the funding for their campaign and the objectives to reach. Then Ad Fed students conduct real market research, even conducting actual focus groups and surveys. Once consumer details have been gathered, Ad Fed begins to brainstorm, plan, and design the campaign. The promotions within the campaign vary significantly from TV commercials to real world events or social media posts and partnerships.  

After the first semester, students have the opportunity to officially enroll in an upper division marketing class. This class is called the NSAC; it is a 4000-level course. All prerequisites to join the class are waived as long as students show up to Ad Fed meetings in the first semester. During this class, students will actually create mockup promotions like videos and posters. Nearing the end of the spring semester, Ad Fed students will compile all the research and promotions they created into one big presentation. This is the presentation they will give at the official competition, NSAC. The location of the competition moves but gives students the opportunity to take a field trip with friends and compete and network at the professional level. President of the club and advertising major, Emilia Giokas shares her favorite part of Ad Fed, “My favorite part is definitely the people! You work so closely together and create such a great bond with everyone.”  

The Ad Fed Club provides students with an amazing way to learn about marketing, advertising, and professional presentation. No matter the background or major, students are more than welcome to join and help design a promotional campaign. For any business students interested in learning about marketing campaign creation, Ad Fed provides hands-on experience in promotional design, market research, and much more. Consider checking out the Idaho State Advertising Federation!