Students from AAF-UNI won big last Friday at the 2025 American Advertising Awards in Waterloo, Iowa. Aspects of their 2024 “Save Your Style” campaign for Tide detergent won awards in three different categories – including Student Best Of Show.
Student Best In Show Gold ADDY
Social Media Campaign
Tide – “Saved My Style”
Gold ADDY
Integrated Marketing Consumer Campaign
Tide – “Save Your Style”
Silver ADDY
Outdoor Advertising Campaign
Tide – “Save Your Style”
The campaign was created as part of the National Student Advertising Competition – which AAF-UNI has been participating in since 2012. Each year a new client sponsor gives students a real-world advertising challenge – and Proctor & Gamble’s Tide detergent needed a national campaign to meet its sustainability goals of lowering the carbon footprint of washing clothes.
The team’s “Save Your Style” campaign emphasized the benefits of cold-water washing through an emotional appeal to GenZ’s love of their clothing. Washing in cold is the best way to keep colors bright, resist fading, and prevent shrinkage. The team found that people who love their clothes wash them in cold water.
The campaign was visually stunning – using graphic elements taken from vintage Tide advertisements from the 1950s. The creative team worked hard to re-introduce Tide to a new generation of fashion-savvy consumers through a multi-channel creative approach that included social media, out-of-home (OOH) advertising, experiential activations, video advertising, and influencer marketing.
The campaign was presented in Kansas City on April 19, 2024 – and after the competition ended, many team members graduated and went on to professional careers in advertising and marketing.
Team Creative Director Ella Poppen, now a Brand and Web Designer at creative agency IFC Studios, said that winning these awards was a “great way to continue celebrating the team’s hard work.”
The American Advertising Awards are the advertising industry’s largest and most representative competition, attracting more than 25,000 entries every year. The mission of the American Advertising Awards is to recognize and reward the creative spirit of excellence in the art of advertising.
