From the advertisements on the walls and benches of bus stops to the billboards and those posts you see on social media, it’s all a part of an organization’s marketing campaign.
Adworks is an Arizona State University student organization inside the W. P. Carey School of Business. They collaborate with advertising agencies to create marketing campaigns for various businesses.
This semester, some of those businesses include global brands like Adidas, Dove, Hellmann’s and Shea Moisture. Adworks members have been working closely with three different agencies with offices in Phoenix to develop several strategic marketing campaigns for these companies.
For each of the businesses Adworks is collaborating with, they’ve only had one semester to create and present a complete advertising campaign for the client to implement potentially.
Jack Hipschman, who represents Adidas inside Adworks’ nine-person project team, has taken on the role of account manager for the campaign.
“Between the beginning and final presentation, we are in contact with the agency, and they give us feedback on our ideas, research (and) on our creativity.”
As account manager of his group, Hipschman maintains communication between his project team, the agency and the agency’s partnered client. Hipschman is currently on his fifth project, and he’s been part of Adworks since he transferred to ASU.
Hipschman’s previous internship with Adidas allowed him to bring on the company as a client for Adworks by talking to an old colleague.
“I told my old boss about Adworks and what we do,” Hipschman said.” I showed him some of the work [we’ve done], and he was super interested.”
During his internship, Hipschman recognized how valuable other peoples’ time is when presenting his ideas to the company’s employees. However, most of the campaign skills he utilizes today come from his Adworks experience.
“It goes to show how much Adworks prepares you to go into the real world and (teaches you to go) above and beyond (the) expectations of a lot of companies,” Hipschman said.
Justin Bock is president of Adworks and has been leading over 70 members like Hipschman this semester. Since the club’s inception over a decade ago, Adworks has built concrete relationships with these companies, and Bock has worked on the frontlines of maintaining those partnerships.
As an organization filled with college students and young consumers, clients do not just perceive members for their campaign skills but by their unique Gen Z persona.
“One of the reasons why agencies and clients want to work with us is because we provide [the] unique perspective of our age,” Bock said. “Gen. Z is such a large group of consumers that are about to enter the marketplace.”
Some of the past campaigns created by Adworks have been taken into the industry by the client, and other ideas have not. But it’s the experience with each brand that leaves a lasting impact on each of the organization’s members.
A past collaboration with Shea Moisture featured a campaign on its ethically sourced products and how they avoid manufacturing in other countries where unfair labor practices are prevalent. With Dove, one campaign focused on women suffering from hair loss, emphasizing how the company recognizes a community that can go unnoticed.
“That’s probably a group that is not buying their product, but it’s introducing that group to their product,” Bock said. “[It’s] the manner of approaching with help versus just ignoring that community in general.”
Bock was personally involved with a project last semester that surrounded creating a campaign for Hellmann’s Mayo. They focused on convincing consumers to eat in a group setting and go on their own journey of eliminating food waste.
Inside this semester’s project team for Adidas, Hipschman says that their final product was commended by the company for its quality and creativity. Although the details behind the Adworks Adidas campaign can’t be disclosed due to potential implementation, the ability for members to work directly with agencies in Phoenix has been a game-changer.
“They’re getting in and talking to people that are doing this every day and learning from them. It’s just invaluable experience,” Hipschman said. “Every job, interview or internship I’ve had, they end up just picking my brain about Adworks.”
For the 2022-2023 school year, Adworks was named Business School Club Organization of the Year. Most recently, out of hundreds of submissions and 40 competitors, Adworks obtained a silver award for their Shea Moisture campaign at the American Advertising Federation’s 2024 Award Ceremony.
Come Fall 2024, members will gear up for another set of partnerships, so the next time you’re sitting at the bus stop or scrolling through social media, Adworks might be the one who caught your attention.
