| WASHINGTON DC, AUGUST 31, 2020—It’s a Match!… between the world’s most popular dating app and the nation’s largest collegiate advertising competition. The American Advertising Federation (AAF) is excited to announce Tinder as the lead partner for the 2021 National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC).The National Student Advertising Competition is the premier college advertising competition that provides more than 2,000 college students the real-world experience of creating a strategic advertising/marketing/media campaign for a corporate client. Students develop a marketing plan and then pitch their work to advertising professionals at the district, semi-final and national levels.
The NSAC tasks AAF college chapter teams to develop an integrated marketing campaign in response to a real-world marketing challenge facing Tinder. Tinder, introduced on a college campus in 2012, has become a place where 18–24 year old Gen Zers, who make up more than half of its members, can be seen, heard and have the opportunity to explore all the ways that sparks can fly.
“As we think about the evolving landscape of how people meet and connect, our team wanted to put our brand in the hands of the generation really living it. College students are uniquely impacted by the societal shifts resulting from the pandemic and are particularly qualified to advise on how advertisers should speak to them as their core audience,” said Nicole Parlapiano, Vice President of Marketing-North America at Tinder. “We’re excited to see how the NSAC students approach our business and we want to support this generation as they build their careers and portfolios as marketers.”
Teams representing nearly 150 colleges and universities can begin working on the campaign as early as September before competing in the District Competitions in April and are eventually narrowed to the top eight national finalists. The finalists will pitch their campaign directly to Tinder to compete for the national title in June 2021.
“Tinder is a well-known brand to most all of our college students, and having to evaluate it from a business perspective will add a new and exciting challenge to their advertising curriculum. The opportunity to deeply engage with and pitch a campaign to a brand that millions of people use every day is not an experience these students can get outside of this program. With over 40 years of past NSAC competitions completed – this represents a new era in NSAC and expands our portfolio of brands, platforms, technologies and services we have focused on. In addition to their NSAC partnership, Tinder becomes a Corporate Member of the AAF. We’re grateful to Tinder for their partnership and look forward to an exciting year ahead,” said AAF President/CEO Steve Pacheco.
For more information about the National Student Advertising Competition, please contact lroha@aaf.org or visit aaf.org/nsac. |
