Student advertising competition to award internships

Grand Valley State University is well represented among students from across the state participating in a Grand Rapids advertising competition. The top winners will be awarded internships and the opportunity to produce their campaign.

Yardsticks, a student advertising competition held in West Michigan, allows entrants to work as individuals or in groups. All entrants work from the same strategy brief and target audience profile provided by the selected client, Hello West Michigan, an organization that promotes the area to potential businesses and residents.

The top 10 submissions will be presented by students at a public event Thursday, October 25, at 7 p.m., at the City Flats Hotel ballroom, 83 Monroe Center, Grand Rapids. Creative directors, designers, chief marketing officers and human resources directors from more than 25 companies and organizations will attend the event as judges and provided networking opportunities.
 
“The students who create the top four presentations will be invited to a one-day brand-building workshop,” said Frank Blossom, coordinator of Yardsticks and visiting professor in the School of Communications at Grand Valley. “This is the first time internships have been offered as the prize. We will help them take their ideas and shape them into an actual campaign for Hello West Michigan.”

Blossom said Yardsticks is the only advertising event in West Michigan that allows students to produce their work and see it run. About 40 of the 50 groups or individuals submitting work are from Grand Valley. Other schools being represented include Davenport University, Ferris State University, Kendall College, Central Michigan University and Calvin College.