Bullet Ad Team Prepares for Shot at National Competition

While some students may have spent spring break laying beside a pool or exploring a sunny beach, 18 Texas Tech University students toiled in the College of Media & Communication building, often until early hours of the morning.

Shannon Bichard, advertising department chairwoman, handpicks the Bullet advertising members, who have been preparing a campaign for Pizza Hut to present at the American Advertising Federation’s 2015 National Student Advertising Competition.

Advertising teams who win first place at their district competitions and pass a phone conference during the semi-final round, advance to the national event. Last year, Bullet finished the national competition in third place. The winning team of NSAC this year will see its national Pizza Hut campaign run for six months.

In preparation for the district competition on Friday, Bullet has been practicing by presenting to advertising classes in the College of Media & Communication.

“Dr. Bichard has figured out that peers give really good advice,” Katherine Parker, a member of Bullet’s creative and presentation teams, said, “and really good feedback as far as, like, what the campaign and presentation entails. And also, she knows how hard it is for people to get up and talk in front of their peers. So, her philosophy is that if we get up in front of them, we can get up in front of anybody.”

Texas Tech University Bullet advertising team. (Photo courtesy of Bullet)

Parker said Pizza Hut rebranded itself last semester, in the middle of Bullet’s planning for the campaign.

“It wasn’t the typical, you know, like campaign rebrand and everything,” explained Parker.  “They actually charged us with increasing the digital orders by 32 percent.”

“Once that came released, it was crunch time,” the senior advertising major said. “We had to figure out that everything that we wanted to do was in the same voice of their new brand identity that they just came out with.”

Bichard, who has been the team’s faculty adviser since 2002, said it is not the first time a company changed a detail before the competition was complete.

“The bad part of that is that it threw us off,” Bichard said. “But the good part, we liked what they were doing, especially with some of the new images. The new logo is clean. It’s nice. So, I told them this is what this is, it’s life. It happens. This is real-world experience.”

Before proposing advertising ideas and logging long hours spent at school, Bichard had the cumbersome task of selecting this year’s students for the Bullet last September.

“It’s so hard to pick,” Bichard admitted. “It’s been an animal that I’ve kind of learned how to manage.”

Parker explained students may initially submit one document to the professor, such as a portfolio or resume, but there are not specific guidelines.

“Basically, you submit something that’s going to wow Dr. Bichard,” Parker said.

Texas Tech University Bullet advertising team’s presentation team. (Photo courtesy of Bullet)

Motivation and ability are the key factors in the selection progress, Bichard said. While she noted she selects students from all majors and classifications, she said she typically expects more from seniors.

“If it’s a senior that’s trying out,” Bichard began, “somebody who’s got one year left, and they’re about to graduate, I’m looking for a lot of ability because they’ve been through the program. They should have a lot to show me, whether it’s a research plan or a media plan or creative design pieces.”

To further eliminate hopefuls, the faculty adviser then divides the selection into two groups of 20. During a try-out session, Bichard placed the students in small groups and gave them an advertising task to do quickly.

“She’ll put you at a table with people like you,” Parker said, remembering she was at a table with five other creative-type of students, and together they proposed a campaign for Snickers.

“The whole time she was watching for, like, how do you work? Are you a leader or a follow? How you work with others, how creative you are.”

Finally, the candidates are narrowed into a team no larger than 18 and get to work.

While Bichard explained it varies each year, internal teams within Bullet include a presentation team, a creative team, a promotions team, a research team, a media team and a sole account leader.

A final dress rehearsal for the advertising team will be held Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in Room 067 in the College of Media & Communication. The presentation is open to the public, and students are encouraged to attend.