Wienerschnitzel and the American Advertising Federation (AAF) are pleased to announce that Ithaca College is the winner of the AAF’s 2019 National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC). As the official corporate sponsor/client of the competition, Wienerschnitzel provided a “real-world” marketing challenge to over 2,000 advertising and marketing college students nationwide.
Wienerschnitzel challenged the teams to elevate consumer perception, and encourage them to understand the truths about the misconceptions surrounding one of America’s favorite foods: the hot dog. By changing the perception of the hot dog, with Wienerschnitzel leading the charge, it would have a great benefit to the hot dog industry as well as to its business.
“We were very excited to sponsor this competition, and view the incredible talent and creativity of all participants,” said Wienerschnitzel Chief Marketing Officer Doug Koegeboehn. “Congratulations to the Ithaca College team, which created an outstanding campaign that we look forward to utilizing in our marketing. They clearly understood that consumers have false information on the quality of hot dogs and did a great job communicating that hot dogs are actually made with great cuts of meat, just like any other sandwich you would buy at your favorite deli. At Wienerschnitzel, we were thrilled to utilize our partnership with AAF to be a part of this important competition.”
The Wienerschnitzel challenge was the first of its kind in the NSAC’s 46-year history. “Previous sponsors have tasked teams to provide a solution that focused on their brand’s product or service,” explained AAF Chief Operating Officer Constance Cannon Frazier. “The fact that Wienerschnitzel’s marketing challenge would benefit the entire hot dog industry was extremely exciting to the teams and speaks volumes about the brand.”
Wienerschnitzel, the world’s largest hot dog chain, serves more than 120 million hot dogs annually. Fueled by a mission of “Serving Food to Serve Others,” the company also gives a percentage of its profits back to its charitable partners.
The final leg of the NSAC competition was at The Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood, Florida June 6–7, in conjunction with ADMERICA, AAF’s national conference. Only the top eight teams which qualified from AAF districts and semi-finals competed in the finals. The second place award went to Liberty University, and the third place award to Syracuse University. Other finalists included Columbia College Chicago, Johnson & Wales University Providence, South Dakota State University, Southern Methodist University, and University of Alabama.
