By Melody Wang
Daily Bruin Contributor
A group of students will be going to Las Vegas June 19, but not
just to gamble and party.
The UCLA Advertising Team “”mdash; which placed first out of
seven schools at the Southern California regional competition on
April 28 “”mdash; will attempt to win the national competition at
Caesar’s Palace.
Kristen Tuchel, who has been involved with the team since it was
created four years ago and who served as account supervisor last
year, said she is proud of the team for doing so well, especially
since UCLA is the only school without an advertising department or
major that participates in the competition.
She added that UCLA ““ which won the national competition
last year ““ is one of the few schools with an advertising
team that is completely student-run.
“It’s very fulfilling to go in there and beat
students who have studied advertising for four years,” Tuchel
said.
Caneel Joyce, an account supervisor, said the lack of an
advertising department at UCLA actually benefits the team.
“We have a unique way of looking at advertising,”
she said. “It’s a fresh approach.”
Susan Cheng, the other account supervisor, said that because
UCLA does not have an advertising program, other teams don’t
expect the UCLA team to win.
“We take everyone by surprise when we win,” Cheng
said.
But the team works hard to achieve its success, Joyce said. Team
members spent 30 to 60 hours a week preparing their advertising
campaign during winter quarter.
“It’s understood that when you’re on the ad
team, it’s your number one priority and you let it take over
everything in your life,” Joyce said.
She added that the team is successful because of alumni support
and because UCLA is one of the few top-tier universities in the
competition.
Each year a different corporation sponsors the event and each
team has to design an advertisement for that company.
This year, the team’s assignment was to write a 40-page
plan of how it would advertise the New York Times. The team’s
advertising proposal encourages people to “Know More”
and promotes the New York Times as a vehicle to gain more
knowledge.
Because the written plan cannot be changed after the regional
competition for the national competition, most of the team’s
work is already complete.
But five team members must still give an oral presentation of
their approach.
The written plan and oral presentation will each be worth half
of the team’s overall score.
“I’m more excited than nervous, but I don’t
have to present,” Tuchel said. “And it’s fun
seeing what other groups have come up with.”
Tuchel added she is confident the team will do well at the
national competition.
“It’s always hard to say because you don’t
always know exactly what they’re looking for, but we’ve
got an amazing pitch,” she said.
Winners of the competition are often offered advertising
internships and jobs, but not everyone on the team hopes to have a
career in advertising.
Joyce said the team’s members have a variety of talents.
While some have excellent artistic abilities, others are analytical
and great public speakers.
“We don’t expect one person to be everything,”
Joyce said. “You learn a lot as you go along.”
Cheng said being part of the team is a valuable and challenging
experience, despite the hard work that must go into it.
“I think the competition is a great thing because it has
motivated us to surpass our expectations and accomplish things that
we didn’t even imagine at first,” she said.