You’re NOT going to read this! – UT Student win “Best in Show” at Addy Awards 2021

Each year, Austin hosts a branch of the American Advertising Awards (or “Addys”) which celebrates the best of the best advertising campaigns from the past year. Students and professionals (“industry people”) submit their work across a wide range of categories to be judged by industry professionals from notable agencies across the country such as Deutsch, Mekanism, and Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB). This past season, UT performed exceptionally well, winning eleven gold, thirteen silver, sixteen bronze, and two judges choice awards. Additionally, Kateri David’s Barnes and Noble campaign won the prestigious Best of Show award for copywriting.

Kateri (Copywriter) and her Art Director, Carlos Villapudia, are two students in Texas Creative (a highly selective advertising portfolio program at UT). As the duo was brainstorming what brand they would work on for class, they began reminiscing about their experiences growing up going to bookstores. “We want to treat books with the respect [they] deserve,” Kateri explained. E-books are becoming increasingly popular, leaving the brick and mortar shelves looking a bit bare. They decided to take on Barnes and Noble for their campaign, Respect The Tread, hoping to remind individuals of the nostalgic experience of perusing a book store. 

As the duo was working on the campaign they knew they had something. Regarding their copywriting strategies, Kateri wanted to push the norm–utilizing almost all long copy ads as readers were the defined target audience. The campaign is comprised of multiple print ads, OOH billboards and an experiential collab. 

Looking back on their accolades, Kateri and Carlos are extremely appreciative of the help they had along the way. “It was so nice to have a broad range of opinions to present to every single week and get feedback,” Kateri said. She especially wants to give credit to Ryan Romero, the Texas Creative Faculty Lead and Assistant Professor of Practice at UT, for helping push her to use long-copy in her work. 

Take a look at the masterpiece yourself and let us know what you think @txadpr!