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Just returned from Dubuque, where I was honored to be a judge for the District 9 National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC). There, 7 schools from around the Midwest came to present their plans to combat binge drinking for the Century Council, the “client” in this year’s competition.

Dozens of students spent hundreds of hours putting together the plans and their presentations. We listened to each group, and the other two judges and I unanimously chose the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s plan as the first-place winner. They will head to the national competition in Washington, DC, in June.

The other schools all had something that made me go “wow” in their plans, but UN-L just took their idea and ran with it…their plan was either going to crash and burn or blow our socks off. It did the latter.

Their campaign centered on really smart guerrilla tactics  that showcased binge drinking as a virus that is infecting college campuses across the country. They developed a grungy look for their creative and even launched a microsite – www.Alcofect.com – to accompany their plan. In the end, we really felt that their plan was the most innovative and integrated and had the best chance to educate college kids about the dangers of binge drinking. Here’s a screenshot of their website:

Congratulations to them – and all of the teams – for showing us that the ad industry really does seem to be in good hands once they’re out in the real world.