BRITTANY YEAROUT
Assistant News Editor
Fresh, handmade, chocolate-covered pretzels and spoons, flavored truffles and heavenly delights are all included in Joy Sakata’s signature products in her startup company called Joy’s Chocolates. The only question with Joy’s delicious chocolates is how to promote them and that is where Pepperdine professor Ginger Rosenkrans’ Advertising Copy and Layout class comes in.
On Tuesday, four different groups of students, or “agencies,” pitched their creative campaigns to Sakata, Pepperdine alumni who are now in the advertising business, and representatives from companies such as JWT Inside, Los Angeles Times, NewmanGrace Advertising & Brand Development and Business.com.
The agency with the best campaign will be announced April 15 at an award ceremony where Sakata will give a surprise to the winners. Sakata said she has a tough choice to make but that she will probably use something from each campaign for Joy’s Chocolates.
“It was an incredible opportunity, I couldn’t believe how fortunate I was,” Sakata said. “I am sorry but only a dummy would have said no. Students are fresh, they are looking at it from a different perspective; they are looking at it from eyes other than professionals. Their ideas aren’t fine-tuned but that is the beauty of it.”
The students have worked on their campaigns all semester, creating at least 12 advertisements from a billboard to a radio spot, television ad, bench ad, magazine ad, newspaper ad and Internet ad.
Each agency had 15 to 17 minutes to sell their campaign and then a 10-minute Q & A during which the audience asked questions and provided feedback.
Larry Greenfield, the partner and creative director for the ad agency JWT Inside, said the presentations were creative and had many valuable ideas.
“I thought the presentations were great, they were all interesting,” Greenfield said. “It is easy to see how much work goes into all of the presentations but what is really fun is to see the different strategic approaches that people take. At the age that everybody is here, at this strategic level, I think some of the work that was done here is completely professional.”
Some taglines for the campaigns included “Seal the deal with Joy,” “Make your business stand out,” “Make a delicious impression” and “Luxury wrapped.”
Junior Diana Southern said she thought her agency, called “Whitespace Media,” did well, but said she has no idea who will win the campaign.
“It is really important that everyone now has a much better understanding of how the entire pitch process works,” Southern said. “After doing this, it seems a lot more like a real-world situation and very applicable to a job we would get and want to strive for in the future. It also feels like such a relief to be done because it has consumed my life and the lives of my group members.”
Rosenkrans, who has served as the assistant advertising professor for five years, said the project gives her students exposure to the advertising community.
“The point is to enrich my students’ learning experience, to give them the opportunity to apply the theories they have studied and the principles they have learned, and apply them and put them in context with a full campaign,” Rosenkrans said.
Besides the learning experience, to assess work and provide feedback, Rosenkrans said there is an opportunity for her students to get internships and possibly jobs.
Pepperdine alumnus Steve Smith, now a graduate student at Fuller Theological Seminary, formerly worked for the direct marketing agency Rapp Collins Worldwide, attended the event. Smith accredited Rosenkrans’ class to his job after college.
“I greatly appreciate the practical aspect that Ginger brings to the advertising program,” Smith said. “I got a job based on this class because I won the competition. I put it on my resume that I had done this and my employers were so impressed and couldn’t believe that I actually had ads published.”
Rosenkrans started the class project with CEO and founder of NewmanGrace Advertising & Brand Development Jerry Hemsworth, who is a Pepperdine alumnus. Hemsworth has been helping Rosenkrans find clients for her classes.
Other clients that Rosenkrans has had in the past include Manhattan Beach Cruisers, Haven Hills Center for Abused Women and Children, Newberry Park Pet Supply and Habitat for Humanity. In addition, Rosenkrans’ Advertising Copy and Layout class will present their campaigns for the “Walking With Dinosaurs – The Live Experience” show that will be held at the Staples Center in September.
The campaign pitches will be held today at 6 p.m. in room CCB 100. Guests attending the event include Zach Rosenberg, alumnus, executive vice president and general manager for Horizon Media, and Pete Deutschman, alumnus, CEO and founder of the Irvine-based advertising agency The Buddy Group.
04-03-2008