St. John's News

Tobin College of Business Team Excels in National Student Advertising Competition

May 08, 2008

On Sunday, May 4, undergraduate students in MKT 4306 at the Tobin College of Business presented their ideas for transforming AIM instant messenger into a full-fledged social network to a panel of advertising agency professionals and client representatives.  The presentation was the culmination of two semesters of hard work, all part of the National Student Advertising Competition sponsored by the American Advertising Federation.  In addition to St. John’s, the 19 schools competing in this year’s regional finals included such major universities as Syracuse, Villanova, Georgetown, and Penn State.

The centerpiece of the Tobin presentation was the “Catch AIM” advertising theme, delivered by an Internet and television campaign, a promotional sweepstakes, and a viral video.  A representative from Deutsch Advertising, there to recruit new talent, told team members that after two days of presentations, theirs was the one that stood out the most.

With stiff competition, Tobin finished in a very respectable fifth place position, and the team was singled out by the judges for the way they related AIM’s brand objectives to the larger business objective of driving more advertising revenue for AIM’s parent company, AOL.  Of particular note were the three new targeted advertising formats developed by the students that were designed to take advantage of the wealth of personal information that is input by social network users.

The Peter J. Tobin College of Business has provided the highest quality business education for over eighty years.  Many alumni have risen to senior executive positions in the financial services community in New York and around the world.  Degrees offered include the Bachelor of Science, Master of Business Administration and Master of Science.  The College encompasses the School of Risk Management, Insurance and Actuarial Science, which is housed at the University’s Manhattan location in the heart of the New York financial district.  Recent recognitions for the Tobin College include a listing by The Aspen Institute among the top ninety business schools in the United States whose graduate curricula reflect a commitment to social responsibility and sustainability. For further information, please contact Jennifer Maizel at (718) 990-6218 or email Maizelj@stjohns.edu.

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