Miami Ad School Students Create Campaign for Non- Profit Organizations

2008 Brandaid press release:

“Ad Students Cause Community Victory”

The digital timer was running fast. Laptops were switched out every five minutes. The students were sweating.Big money was at stake, as was the fame. For the dozen finalist teams of the BrandAide contest at the Miami Ad school Tuesday, each had only 5 minutes to prove the brilliance of their creative idea to the chief judge Chuck Porter, Chairman of Crispin Porter + Bogusky.  At 11:30am, after a tough deliberation, three teams were awarded $3,000 in cash prizes. Ecstatic as they were, however, the students weren't the biggest winners.

Wanting to help non-profit organizations to become more effective in achieving their missions, 50 students from the Miami Ad School faced off on May 17th in a contest to design innovative marketing campaigns for 3 local charitable organizations: Pelican Harbor Seabird Station, Hearing and Speech Center of Florida, and Family Counseling Services of Greater Miami. Elizabeth Calomiris and Jessica Kizorek, of video production company Two Parrot Productions, unleashed a contest called BrandAide 2008, which teamed up seasoned advertising professionals with students to contribute their creative juices for the benefit of the community. The big winners on Tuesday weren't the students, but the members of Miami Dade County that will ultimately be served by the new fundraising capabilities of these three non-profit organizations.

For many non-profits, their lean operating budgets don't  allow for spending on advertising, marketing and community relations; activities which are vital in maintaining the image of each organization, supporting fundraising initiatives and activities that further their missions.  By providing much needed marketing tools, this contest is making it possible for these groups to increase awareness and visibility of their organizations, and bolster fundraising capabilities.

Congrats to the winning creative students: Pelican Harbor (Alyssa Putnam and Kristina Krkljus), Family Counseling Services (Joseph Furmanek and Jennifer Kutchey), and the Hearing and Speech Center (Kevin Martin, JP Schwartz and Chris Vimini).

Here's the new press release, and photos, which are all available in high-res with this download: https://www.yousendit.com/download/RXNqRFFRaFJVVGswTVE9PQ
Jessica Kizorek
P A R T N E R
Two Parrot Productions
www.TwoParrot.com