Saluki AdLab members who finished third in the recent National Student Advertising Conference District 6 competition are (from left) Ashleigh Spence, Brianna Bergmann, Marisa Nix, Mea Roedell, Audrey Dowland and Alexis Moore. The finish marks the sixth time in seven years the two-time district champions have finished in the top three. (Photo by Russell Bailey)
May 01, 2025
SIU’s Saluki AdLab continues strong showing in district advertising competition
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Saluki AdLab continues to show its strength with another third-place performance this spring at the National Student Advertising Conference (NSAC) District 6 competition in South Bend, Indiana.
The four-member presentation team of senior Brianna Bergmann and sophomores Audrey Dowland, Alexis Moore and Marisa Nix competed April 10-11 against 11 universities — including Michigan State University, DePaul University, the University of Illinois and the University of Michigan. The finish marks the sixth time in seven years Saluki AdLab has finished among the top three schools in district competition, including titles in 2021 and 2023.Saluki AdLab provides students with professional experience and exposure by applying the skills and theory from the classroom to benefit local, regional and national organizations and businesses, as well as strengthen university-community relations. Other competition team members were Ashleigh Spence and Mea Roedell.
Lescelius said she continues to be pleased with the work by Saluki AdLab students when challenging larger programs. Comprising universities from Illinois, Michigan and Indiana, the district is considered a “mega district” due to its high participation rate. Many of the programs that Saluki AdLab compete against have 300 advertising students, Lescelius said.
Each year a corporate sponsor presents a case study detailing a current marketing challenge. The student teams must develop a strategic, integrated marketing campaign addressing this challenge, culminating in a formal presentation to a panel of industry judges. This year’s corporate sponsor was AT&T.
“The individual awards are nice, but from the industry’s perspective, the NSAC competition is more valuable to students when they are looking for jobs,” Lescelius said.
Saluki AdLab also earned individual honors. Ashleigh Spence and Emily Sinnett received a student Gold ADDY at the district level of the American Advertising Awards, and their creative project “Tinned Fish,” will now advance to the national competition in June in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The project was part of Lescelius’ advanced creative class where the focus is only on creative briefs and execution. Students also submitted the Tide campaign from last year’s NSAC competition in the student ADDY category and it earned a silver award at the district level, Lescelius said.