The Newhouse School was ranked as the second most awarded school internationally in the Communication Arts Advertising Annual 62, winning two of the 10 awards presented and five Shortlisted.
“The students at Newhouse continue to be very influential,” said alumnus Dan Lucey ’99, chief creative officer at Havas in New York City. “They consistently demonstrate clear and powerful thinking that translates into brand activation, social media execution, mobile apps, experience, new technology integration, out-of-home and print advertising.”
The winning campaigns were created in the creative advertising portfolio courses taught by Professors of Practice Kevin O’Neill and Mel White. Sam Luo, who created three of the winning campaigns, said the experience and mentorship of his professors helped him succeed in and out of the classroom.
“They both have so much experience in guiding students and young creatives to produce the best work of their lives,” Luo said. “They are very patient but give direct, honest feedback every round. They are not afraid to push students to become better craftsmen in the field of creative advertising.”
The portfolio courses are designed to reflect the rigors of the creative advertising industry. Entering competitions such as the Annual Advertising Communication Arts awards helps student portfolios stand out when applying for jobs and internships.
“The advertising industry, especially the creative end, is a very competitive business,” O’Neill said. “The demand for awards in publications such as Communication Arts harnesses our students’ competitive instincts and drives them to ever-higher standards of excellence.”
“Students work hard in their creative advertising courses to create strong advertising campaigns, and the Communication Arts Advertising Awards and Shortlisted Awards are a great result. The advertising industry has noted that these students produce award-winning work. And this goes a long way when interviewing for jobs.”
The two award winners in the Communication Arts Advertising Annual 62 were “Jeep Views,” created by Mike Gaines, and “McDelivery,” created by Luo. The campaigns are featured in the latest November/December print and digital editions of international publication Communications Arts.
“Both projects demonstrate a strategic understanding of the brand, brand assets and the need for simple communication in an era where our attention is divided between multiple screens,” said Lucey.
Gaines wanted to create a campaign that spoke to Jeep’s ruggedness and functionality.
“For Jeep owners, their vehicles are much more than just cars. They are a way to explore and experience previously unimaginable places,” Gaines said.
One of Gaines’ biggest challenges was communicating Jeep’s ability to unlock new experiences for owners and drivers while keeping the company’s branding at the forefront. In Gaines’ campaign, Jeep’s signature grill became a cutout on billboards and print ads. Mountainous, snow-capped and desert landscapes peek through the grills ready to be explored behind the wheel of a Jeep.
For Gaines, the award confirmed that he had chosen the right career path. “It’s great to have my hard work, dedication and creativity celebrated at such a prestigious advertising competition. It was an achievement for me to even be considered and run among so many other young creative people,” he said.
Art director Luo won another Annual Communication Arts Advertising award for his “McDelivery” campaign for McDonald’s. Luo wanted his campaign to highlight McDonald’s delivery service while aligning with the company’s signature brand.
“I’ve seen so many well-done McDonald’s campaigns over the years. Their brand voice is so clear and easy to understand,” said Luo.
Luo focused on the insight that McDonald’s has one of the most comprehensive fast food delivery services in the world, making it easy for customers to order their favorite meals. From there, Luo turned to his pencil to brainstorm his concept, using McDonald’s distinct branding as a guide.
“It’s important to write down every nugget of an idea because that can add up over time and spark more ideas,” Luo said. “Usually at that stage, I draw a lot of things and pick about a dozen ideas to develop further.”
To illustrate the company’s delivery service, Luo developed a print campaign featuring McDonald’s arches lit up at night as they bounced off city streets into apartment windows. Although the art direction became clear to him, Luo said figuring out how to physically realize his vision was challenging.
“The execution took a long time,” he said. “I tried different ways to bring the iconic golden arches to life, and eventually landed on 3-D renderings, which took me a while to figure out.”
“This award is one of the hardest awards to win in the industry because they give such a limited amount,” he said. “The judges are also high-level creative directors and even executive creative directors, so it means the world at large has to be supportive.”
Five Newhouse creative student advertising campaigns have won a Communication Arts Advertising Shortlist award.
Luo and partner copywriter Grace Curran worked on the shortlisted “On Hold” campaign (video) for WhatsApp, which focused on mental health. This integrated campaign addressed the high levels of depression and anxiety among Generation Z and their attachment to social media.
“Sam and I were inspired by our own experiences as members of Gen Z,” said Curran. “We had many discussions about anxiety and mental health together and agreed that being connected to our phones was the root cause of many of the mental challenges we faced on a daily basis.”
Luo and Curran decided to do the unexpected and turn to the technology in their phones for inspiration. “Of course, it seems like a phone app like WhatsApp is trying to tell people to take time away from their phones, but that’s what we liked about it,” Curran said. “Not only is it provocative, but it also shows that they care and, sure, sometimes what’s going on digitally is important, but what’s going on mentally is always going to be more important.”
“On Hold” uses mental health checks through facial recognition scans, “On Hold” towers to block signals and automatic messages to help users who feel overwhelmed and anxious. The campaign also included streetwear printed with barcodes that, when scanned with a phone camera, directed users to the WhatsApp On Hold app to find mental health support. Curran said that Professor White and the team’s mentor Grant Mason, then a creative at Wieden+Kennedy in NYC, encouraged them to create a fully integrated idea and stretch it as much as possible.
“We’ve always been taught to think big and make our campaigns flow seamlessly, and turning off our personal devices on a larger scale is definitely something we saw as a seamless strategic activation,” Curran said.
“PAL: Protect Asian Lives” (video), created by art director Rachel Hayashi and copywriter Jessica Mastorides for Apple, was shortlisted. The pair were instructed to use new technology to address a real world problem. Hayashi and Mastorides searched for an issue they both felt passionate about, which led to the creation of PAL, a campaign designed to address the sharp rise in violent anti-Asian hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly the many unreported crimes.
“With many of these hate incidents and violence against Asian Americans, unfortunately, many cases cannot be proven as hate crimes or hate-motivated,” Hayashi said. “There can be video footage, but sometimes if there’s not an audio recording as proof that it’s really driven by hatred against Asian Americans, it’s not going to be classified as a hate crime.”
Both researched new technologies and discovered location tracking software developed by Apple during the COVID-19 pandemic. When activated, PAL combines this location tracking software with voice activation to monitor the user’s travels. If it detected any anti-Asian language, the Apple app would start recording audio. PAL then uploaded this evidence and the location of the incident to a secure database which not only notified the nearest police station but also the Stop AAPI Hate organization for help.
“When we were thinking about ways we could help the Asian community, we steered towards solutions that are already in their hands,” said Mastorides. “That’s why we immediately thought of using Apple and iPhones because everyone has iPhones, and it’s an easy way to have new technology at your fingertips in any kind of crisis.”
Both were delighted to see PAL being recognized at the Communication Arts Awards. “This one had a lot going for it. It was initially an assignment for our Portfolio III class, but then it quickly turned into a passion project for us,” said Hayashi. “Hopefully with this on the shortlist, and even a few judges being able to see our ideas and how we can approach the issue, it can not only make the ‘solution’ more widely known but also on the actual issue.”
Art director Serena Maldonado and copywriter Marta Lala shortlisted “UoK?” (video) for the World Health Organization also focused on mental health. They created the UoK phone app? to help people when they are most vulnerable.
“We developed our campaign around the insight that people are often alone when they go through a manic episode and all they have left is their phone,” said Maldonado.
When a user experiences unusual phone behavior related to mental health crises, such as sudden increases in online shopping, faster typing, web searches specific to depressive thoughts and ignored messages and calls, the app would trigger a notification simply asking if the user is ok . If the user selects “I’m not okay,” the app would open a screen detailing the user’s unusual behavior and connect them to important tools such as a chatbot to express their feelings, mental exercises and call buttons for mental health professionals and crisis hotlines.
The team turned to target audience feedback and market space research to find out what was missing or not working in other mental health apps.
“We were designing an app to help users with mental illness, knowing that an improperly designed app could have adverse effects,” Maldonado said. “We had to think about UI / UX design, something we hadn’t worked on before, while trying to provide a safe virtual space as a resource for our target groups.”
Maldonado said their advertising creative professors made themselves available to give feedback on their campaign. The professors asked tough questions and constantly pushed the team to go further with their campaign.
“The portfolio classes in Teach Nua helped me to understand what good creativity looks like. It taught me that you have to look at the problem from all sides to get a good idea before proceeding with any implementation or layout,” she said.
“CashCan” (video) for Coca-Cola was shortlisted for its innovation in greener practices. “People are growing more environmentally conscious every day, and any opportunity to make their lives easier, faster, faster and cheaper while doing so is a golden opportunity,” said copywriter Joseph Cutuli.
Cutuli and art director Maia Baptista wanted to address the growing number of Coca-Cola cans and bottles piling up in landfills. “CashCan” encourages users of Coca-Cola products to recycle using high-tech, branded and accessible recycling bins linked to Apple Pay. Consumers throw their empty Coca-Cola product bottles and cans into designated Silver Cans, conveniently located on street corners. The recycling bin would scan the barcodes of the items and money would be transferred to the user’s bank account using Apple Pay. Figuring out how to implement contactless payment options in the CashCan was a big challenge for the team, but they knew it was an important part of their idea.
“People want to feel like they’re making a difference in the environment, but people also want to feel like their time is well spent, and they want to get something out of something, one way or another ,” Cutuli said.
Cutuli appreciates the attention and enthusiasm of his professors Newhouse White and O’Neill and his mentors for helping the team put together a shortlisted campaign. “From idea guidance, target audience and art direction to final script reviews, they were there every step of the way,” he said.
Luo also won a Shortlist award for “Go Wild”, a print campaign for Jeep. “Go Wild” showcased Jeep’s adaptability and adventurous spirit on any terrain. By zooming in on wild animals, zebra stripes and giraffe spots, the animal prints became roads for Jeeps to explore.
A full list of 62 Annual Communication Arts Advertising Winners and Shortlists can be found below:
