Olivia Zipperer '20 and Sam Herriges '20 received top honors for their advertising campaigns at The Show earlier this year.
Zipperer and Herriges won two golds in the Copywriting and Campaign categories, as well as Best in Show for their "Catholic Church: Timeless Values" campaign, which started when the duo took Emerging Media faculty member Doug deGrood's Strategic Communication course in fall 2019. Herriges separately won gold for his work on his McDonald's and Big Green Egg campaigns, along with silver for his Chipotle campaign.
"I got there before Sam and instantly darted to where they had all of the campaigns and their subsequent awards posted," said Zipperer. "I physically froze when I saw the two gold awards listed next to our work, one for the overall campaign and the other for copywriting.""I think Liv and I both went into The Show with a 'we're-just-happy-to-be-here' mindset. And I think that having that mindset added to our disbelief when we heard our names called," Herriges said.
Put on by the Advertising Federation of Minnesota (AdFed), The Show is a prestigious annual creative competition for Minnesota advertising professionals. It also features a student category, which is typically dominated by well-known portfolio schools and larger universities.
According to deGrood, this is the first time St. Thomas students have won awards at The Show.
"When they announced 'Catholic Church: Timeless Values' as the winner of Best in Show honors for student work, my jaw hit the floor," Zipperer said. "Sam and I looked at each other in disbelief, then excitement, and then confusion, then pure elation, and then we made our way to the stage and accepted the most meaningful award I've ever received. It gave me the confidence to believe I can succeed in this industry and accelerated my drive to do just that."
Olivia and Sam would like to thank Professor deGrood, Department Chair Mark Neuzil and their classmate Annalise Phelps '20 from the Emerging Media Department for helping them win these awards. They also credit Tom McElligott, Bill Bernbach and Luke Sullivan for providing inspiration for their campaigns. Additionally, they thank other professionals such as Jenessa Vack for their success.
