On their trip to St. Louis for the final round of the National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC), 12 members of Chapman’s Circle Advertising stood under The Gateway Arch, listening to locals talk about when they spotted a shark in the Mississippi River. While no great whites were spotted by the team, they accomplished something rarer than a shark in landlocked Missouri — competing in NSAC nationals for the third time in four years.

Out of a pool of approximately 100 NSAC chapters, Circle Advertising took home third place, which was their highest finish since scoring first place in 2010. Senior public relations and advertising majors Lauryn Johnson and Talina Hajar, who serve as co-account directors, were chosen as two of the four speakers tasked with memorizing a 20-page script and pitching the class’ work to representatives of the 2023 NSAC corporate sponsor — Indeed.

“The pressure is on when you're representing a team of (34),” Hajar said. “It's all riding on you to make sure that the work comes across in a way that does it justice. It did show me that when you put your mind to something, you can do it, and at the end of the day, you just have to put your best foot forward. It was high pressure, high stakes but also a very high reward.”

The class, taught by associate professor Kathy Thibault, takes place over the course of an academic year. Chapters across the nation are given a brief containing a confidential marketing challenge from the year’s NSAC corporate sponsor. Students are divided into departments — strategy, media, creative concept and development, art and production and film production —- in order to create a cohesive campaign that tackles the disclosed issue. This year’s corporate sponsor is Tide.

“Circle Advertising is the closest thing you can get to real-life experience in an advertising agency without actually working in an advertising agency,” Johnson told The Panther. “It's structured the same as an advertising agency, and you'll accomplish the same goals as an advertising agency would, just over a longer period of time. The benefit of it is to gain real-world experience, meet real-world recruiters and work with a real-world client — and learn those skills that will transfer into day-to-day careers post-grad.”

From the beginning of the fall semester until April, the class curates their campaign and develops a pitch that is first presented to a panel of judges in the divisional round against the University of California, Los Angeles, Mount Saint Mary's University, California State University, Fullerton and the University of California, San Diego – whom they compete against annually. During last year’s divisional round, Hajar won best presenter and was awarded with a $500 cash prize.

“I didn't anticipate (winning best presenter) at all,” Hajar said. “Funny enough, the best presenter award was actually created because a Chapman student did such a good job that they made that award on the spot to honor them. I felt really honored to be able to carry on that legacy as well.”

After placing first in the divisional round at Mount Saint Mary’s University, Circle Advertising was selected as a qualifying school in the semi-final round, which was held over Zoom. Their win placed them in the top eight in the nation, leading to their third-place finish in nationals. 

Circle Advertising was started in 2004 and taken over by Thibault in 2019. Along with being a professor, Thibault continues to work in the advertising industry and has collaborated with over 20 ad agencies and 300 brands. Her real-world experience has been pivotal in helping Circle Advertising reach nationals, thanks to their campaigns for Adobe and Tinder.

“I really enjoyed seeing my students experiencing the connections and the networking that they're able to do, not just among professionals in the industry, but also among other students,” Thibault said. “I'm a firm believer that every student you interact with… those are your future colleagues. That's the exciting part for me, is to see how much they've come out of it learning and the confidence that happens.”

Johnson said that the highest praise Circle Advertising received was by the Indeed representatives who told the team that their work was beyond entry-level and claimed they could see themselves implementing the strategies presented in their pitch. She told The Panther that she believes she’s seen Circle Advertising’s work implemented into real campaigns by corporate sponsors in the past. 

“It's really satisfying and it's also very validating because as a young person, I feel like there's a lot of imposter syndrome and a lot of doubt that comes with being an entry-level applicant,” Johnson said. “To see that your ideas and your thoughts are appreciated… gives you a confidence boost. I feel really excited whenever I see stuff like that because it makes me feel really proud of our team and all the very hard work that we put into it.”

Johnson described Circle Advertising as a quintessential part of her Chapman experience.  

“Circle Advertising has, hands down, been the number one experience of my academic career at Chapman from every aspect — the social aspect, the learning, the hands-on experience and also, it looks amazing on a resume,” Johnson said. “A lot of industry professionals know what (NSAC) is. I've spoken to people from agencies who say if they saw NSAC on someone's resume, they would immediately push their resume to the top. I think that's really valuable.”

As co-account director alongside Johnson, Hajar hopes to craft a more efficient schedule and optimize their time, along with creating a memorable experience for new members. Circle Advertising will continue formulating its campaign for Tide in hopes of returning to NSAC nationals and achieving first place. 

Applications for Circle Advertising are currently closed. Updates on the team can be found on their Instagram and website.