super secret message
National Student Advertising Competition 2025
During the fall semester of my junior year, my branding class got to tour the Brandcenter at VCU to learn about the programs and opportunities offered. During the tour, faculty introduced us to their ‘NSAC’ Class and its unconventional format, in which a single, class-wide project integrates work with a real-world client. The idea of collaborating as an entire class toward one common goal for an established client stood out to me as an experience to grow, so I registered for the class.
The Ask:
How can we leverage ‘connecting changes everything’ to build brand love and increase the relevancy of a 150-year old brand amongst Gen Z?
A simple sentence given to us along with a short brief of AT&T’s history, values, competitors, and brand guidelines. Our team was tasked with creating a campaign for AT&T that appeals to Gen Z, as they represent a significant growth opportunity for new wireless plans and internet. Our goal was to shift the consumer mindset of consumers from AT&T just being a bill to pay to a brand that connects them to a greater possibility.
The Process:
Immediately after my first day of class I learned that this would be a completely different process than what I was used to. Each student was asked to bring back 5 potential ideas or paths we could go down and bring them back as a part of the brainstorming/conversational phase of our research process. As a class we decided to split into smaller groups and my team chose to hear from small/local business about how they connect with their customers and how their customers connect with them. As a group, we learned that nearly every business mentioned people before product and the physical space matters as much as what is being sold.
We then organized ourselves into teams: Creative, Design, Media, Project Management, and Research. I decided I would be best suited for the Design team, where we were responsible for setting the tone of the pitch. Our role involved creating mood boards and closely studying AT&T’s existing design language, as well as analyzing competitors like Verizon and T-Mobile to understand how each brand visually communicates connection, innovation, and trust.
From there, the class moved from exploration into execution. Once roles were established, each team began working in parallel while staying closely connected through regular check-ins. The Research team synthesized insights from primary and secondary research, helping define the target audience and key tension the campaign needed to solve. These findings became the foundation for strategic decisions across all teams, reinforcing the importance of grounding creativity in real consumer behavior.
As a team, we created the concept of AT&T &Beyond, a response to the negative perception of spending time online and a reminder that technology isn’t a distraction, but an extension of our identity.
The Team:
| Everett Ching, Jessica Collins, Harper Locke |
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Mia Almaraz, Nadiah Barezki, Ellie Bird, Joe DellaCorte, Sam Facio, Julia Martinez Godinez, Samantha Hall, Ryen Harris, Lilly Heit, Whitney Hlland, Serena Loomba, Makylie Malloy, Marie-Gant-Welch, Chelsea Mereand, Mia Moreno, Molly Nealon, Trey O’shea, Nick Popeck, Dana Przybocki, Alex Robinson, Mayuri Samala, Laura Stanley, Deja Wilson |
| The Outcome: Being a part of the team that created this final pitch proved how much I value the journey. Although we were not selected as finalists to continue in the 2025 NSAC competition, I found comfort in how much I developed through the experience. |
View the final plansbook here