Successful Facebook ad campaign earns honors for UA student

The Akron/Canton branch of the National Sales & Marketing Executives (NSME) is awarding Hali Strub the 2016 Jim Butler Collegiate Award and a $500 scholarship. The junior in integrated marketing communications at The University of Akron created a successful Facebook advertising campaign for her own business, earning enough money to help pay her summer tuition.

This accomplishment, in addition to references, volunteer work and extracurricular activities, qualified her to win the NSME award, which recognizes “unique accomplishments in the sales and marketing field by a young person.”

Determined to graduate debt-free

Strub feels her biggest accomplishment has been paying for her education with hard-earned money and scholarships. She works as a shift manager at a pizza shop, and also as a part-time caretaker for the elderly. But one summer, tuition set Strub back a bit, so she needed to earn additional money. She created a Facebook ad for her pet-sitting service, and it was a big success.

“My biggest role model is my grandfather, Charles, who taught me to never give up on anything,” says Strub.

She aims to finish college debt-free. While she would like a job in advertising after graduation, Strub says her overriding goal is “to be an exceptional person, by always making myself better every day, whether it’s being a better family member, friend, acquaintance, student, or employee.” Living and a working in a big city, “would be cool, too.”

Experiential learning pays off

Jacob Farrar, director of The Taylor Institute for Direct Marketing at UA, works with students like Strub on projects that link IMC curriculum with experiential learning opportunities, like social media marketing.

“The University of Akron has had a long history of students receiving this award,” says Farrar. 

NSME Akron/Canton also has a history of supporting the UA student organization Pi Sigma Epsilon (PSE), a national co-ed marketing and sales business fraternity, of which Hali is vice president of human resources.  

Strub will receive her award at the NSME Akron/Canton’s 44^th annual “Accent on Excellence” event on Tuesday, Feb. 23, at The Tangier, 532 West Market St., Akron.

Media contact: Lisa Craig, 330-972-7429 or lmc91@uakron.edu.