Axe ’Em, Jacks!
NACOGDOCHES, Texas –– Stephen F. Austin State University students, including graphic design and communication majors as well as members of the university’s American Marketing Association student chapter, earned top honors for their creative strategies and teamwork during the District 10 American Advertising Federation-Houston Student Conference earlier this month. Competing alongside their peers from across the region, SFA students crafted full-scale advertising campaigns in a high-stakes, industry-style challenge.
The client for the 2025 AAF-Houston competition was Mahindra, which is known for being the world's largest tractor brand by volume. The company provided a budget of $5 million for the student teams to create media plans and creative strategies spanning one year. AAF-Houston officials randomly assigned students with varying majors from different universities to teams of six or seven. Those teams worked from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. to prepare complete advertising campaigns for Mahindra on the first day of the conference.
“Experiencing workplace time and personnel challenges with an actual client provides opportunities for the students to develop a sense of professional behavior and quality work that they will not necessarily experience in the classroom,” said Dr. Marlene Kahla, professor of marketing in SFA’s Nelson Rusche College of Business and faculty advisor for SFA’s AMA student chapter.
The graphic design students in the competition were mentored by Daniel Anguiano, associate professor of graphic design, and Zachary Howell, assistant professor of graphic design, in SFA’s Micky Elliott College of Fine Arts.
“This is a yearly event that our students look forward to so they can showcase their design skills, and it’s an opportunity to network with the professional community of Houston,” Anguiano said. “We are always grateful to the Friends of the Visual Arts that provides the grants for our students to attend events like this for their professional development.”
Emmalie Cleverly, graphic design senior from Kingwood, and Xierra Williams, graphic design junior from San Antonio, received top honors on the first-place team. Joycelyn King, graphic design senior from Crowley, earned second-place honors with her team. Annabeth Wilkerson, marketing sophomore from Diboll and member of SFA’s AMA student chapter, and Leah Kutch, graphic design senior from Bellville, served on the third-place team.
Other graphic design students participating in the competition were Jacob Crosby, junior from Kyle; Julio Espinoza, senior from Tatum; Juliana Frigo, senior from Kyle; Cailey Kilfoyle, senior from Longview; Charles Maples, junior from Longview; Lisandra Santos, junior from Center; Cassandra Sarmiento, junior from Lufkin; Sabrina White, junior from Nacogdoches; and Harmony Wood, senior from Tyler.
SFA media and communication majors and AMA student chapter members who participated in the competition were Madden Bennett, senior from Austin; Katie Carcerano, senior from Orange; Landree Motley, senior from Arlington; and Margaret Ochs, senior from Houston. Isabel Jedmears, marketing senior from Little Elm and vice president of marketing for the AMA student chapter, competed for the third time in the event.
In addition to the competition, the conference offered résumé and portfolio reviews as well as a career fair for attendees.
To learn more about SFA’s School of Art, Department of Management and Marketing, and Department of Media and Communication, visit sfasu.edu/art, sfasu.edu/mgtmkt and sfasu.edu/media-communication, respectively.