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Advertising and ICR faculty, students, alumni present research at 2026 American Academy of Advertising Conference

April 22, 2026

Advertising faculty with appointments in the Institute of Communications Research, doctoral students in ICR, graduate students in advertising, and ICR alumni participated in the 2026 annual conference of the American Academy of Advertising, held March 26-29 in Austin, Texas.

Through presentations and panels, they discussed research and ideas related to teaching AI and advertising, ethics, and more. Advertising Professor Chang-Dae Ham serves as the 2026-27 president-elect of AAA and will become AAA’s president next year.

Below is a list of the Illinois participants and their research.

Special Topic Sessions

“Navigating Advertising Academic Leadership During a Time of Change: An Inside Look at Administration Roles in the Age of A.I., Program Changes, and Industry Upheaval”

Speakers: Huan Chen (University of Florida), Joe Phua (Southern Methodist University), Shu-Chuan (Kelly) Chu (DePaul University), Matthew S Eastin (University of Texas at Austin Professor and Head Michelle Nelson, Soojung Kim (University of North Dakota), Fuyuan Shen (Pennsylvania State University), Tom Reichert (University of South Carolina), Heidi Hennick-Kaminski (Michigan State University), Harsha Gangadharbatia (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

“Teaching Privacy in the Age of AI: Preparing Ethical Advertising Professionals”

Speakers: Kristen Sussman (Texas State University), Faren Karimkhan (Syracuse University), Daniela Molta (Syracuse University), Associate Professor Ewa Maslowska, Carina Alderete (Accenture)

Panels

“Foundational Framework in Virtual Influencer Marketing: Bridging Operational Control and Narrative Archetypes in Virtual Influencer Design”

Speakers: ICR doctoral student Seo-Jeong (Rachel) Heo, Professor and Associate Head of Graduate Studies Chang-Dae Ham

“When Robots Cross the Line: Consumer Moral Judgments of Robots’ Harm and Authority Violations”

Speakers: ICR doctoral student Seo-Jeong (Rachel) Heo, Yuhosua Ryoo (University of Minnesota Duluth), ICR alum WooJin Kim (University of Colorado Boulder)

“Scandals, Morality, and Cancel Culture: How Consumers Judge Brands and Influencers”

Speakers: Saima Kazmi (University of Oregon), Assistant Professor Louvins Pierre, Josh Anderson (University of Arizona)

“When Identity Disclosure Matters: The Interplay of Identity Disclosure, Message Type, and Product Type in AI Influencer Advertising on Social Media”

Speakers: ICR doctoral student Se Il Park, Professor and Associate Head of Graduate Studies Chang-Dae Ham

“Beyond the Algorithm: The Double-Edged Impact of Explainable AI”

Speakers: ICR alum WooJin Kim (University of Colorado Boulder), ICR doctoral student Se Il Park, Professor and Associate Head of Graduate Studies Chang-Dae Ham, ICR alum Un Chae Chung (University of Wisconsin Whitewater)

“Peripheral Cues in a Democracy? Using the Elaboration Likelihood Model to Examine Information Cues and Negativity in Millions of Political TV Advertisements”

Speakers: ICR doctoral student Alice Ji and Professor and Head Michelle Nelson

“Zero-Click Persuasion in LLM Advertising: The Role of Response Structures and Regulatory Mode Fit”

Speakers: ICR doctoral student Seo-Jeong (Rachel) Heo, Yuhosua Ryoo (University of Minnesota Duluth)

“Measuring AI-Advertising Aversion: An Initial Scale Development and Empirical Assessment of Its Relationship with AI Anxiety”

Speakers: Assistant Professor Louvins Pierre, Viviana Carolina Zambrano Rodriguez (University of South Carolina), MS advertising student Jiayi (Joy) Wang

“From Black Box to Glass Box: The Moderating Role of AI Literacy on the Political Matching Effect”

Speakers: ICR alum WooJin Kim (University of Colorado Boulder), ICR doctoral student Se Il Park, ICR alum Un Chae Chung (University of Wisconsin Whitewater), ICR alum Seo Yoon Lee (Texas Christian University), ICR doctoral student Jiyeon Chang

“Adaptive or Defensive? How Perceived Regulatory Efficacy Shapes Consumer Coping with Targeted Advertising”

Speakers: Professor and Associate Head of Graduate Studies Chang-Dae Ham, Ilwoo Ju (Purdue University)

“Signaling Transparency or Triggering Skepticism? Exploring How AI Disclosure in Product Advertising Influences Purchase Intention”

Speakers: Assistant Professor Louvins Pierre, Viviana Carolina Zambrano Rodriguez (University of South Carolina), MS advertising student Jiayi (Joy) Wang, ICR doctoral student Nisa Rahman

Moderators

Professor Sela Sar served as moderator for a panel on the theme of “Rethinking Advertising Research”

ICR doctoral student Yujin (Floria) Lee served as moderator for a panel on the theme of “Social Representation in Advertising”

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Maria Emilia Mancero

Get to know some of our College of Media students! Maria Emilia Mancero is a Class of 2026 advertising major.

What led you to your decision to major in advertising at Illinois?

I’ve always been artistically inclined, so I knew I wanted to major in something where I could still be creative. Advertising checked all those boxes for me. Once I realized that was the path I wanted to pursue, I started searching for schools that offered strong advertising programs.

Illinois immediately stood out to me because it has the oldest advertising program in the country, and as someone from Chicago, I liked that it was still relatively close to home. I also liked that the curriculum felt more specialized. It includes a lot of creativity but still gives students the flexibility to shape the major around their own interests. That was reassuring for me because I didn’t want to pursue something that was overly technical or heavily mathematical. I wanted room to explore different creative directions, and the Illinois advertising program gave me that opportunity. Along with the university’s large network and resources, Illinois felt like the best place for me to study advertising.

What advertising course has been the most valuable to you?

A course that stood out for me was ADV 360: Innovations in Advertising, which introduced me to a lot of the technology and strategy behind modern advertising. I also took ADV 480: Social Media Analytics, where we learned about things like Google search, organic search results, and key metrics such as impressions, clicks, and click-through rates. Even though I originally preferred the creative side of advertising, I found myself deeply interested in ad technology and the analytical side of the field.

I also took ADV 392: Advertising Immersion and Experiential Learning, which allowed me to apply what I was learning. We worked on running Amazon advertising campaigns, developed bidding strategies, and analyzed performance data to see whether our campaigns were successful. I found it fascinating because while creativity plays a role in strategy, it ultimately comes down to understanding the numbers and how to use them effectively. These classes opened my eyes to a new side of advertising I knew I wanted to pursue.

What has your experience been like in the American Advertising Foundation?

I joined AAF during my freshman year and was involved for about two years. I was a part of On The House, which is an agency within AAF that allows students to work on real client projects. Our team worked with a local Mexican restaurant in the Urbana-Champaign area, where we helped with rebranding and designed new menus. It was a really valuable experience because it was likely the first time many of us had ever worked directly with a client—already building experience as freshman. Since the owner primarily spoke Spanish, I was able to communicate with them in Spanish and help bridge that connection with our team, which made the experience even more meaningful for me. I was also involved in AAF’s DEI committee; now known as the Pangaea agency, where we planned cultural events and initiatives within the organization. While it was more community-focused, it was still a great way to connect with others in the advertising program and get more involved in AAF.

What are your career goals after graduating from Illinois, and how has the College of Media helped prepare you for them?

My long-term goal is to work in product marketing or product management. I’ve become really interested in roles where you can help take a product from the initial idea all the way through launch and marketing. I like the idea of combining the creative and strategic skills I learned in advertising while also growing into more of a leadership role focused on a single product.

The College of Media has been really supportive in helping me prepare for these goals. The advisors and faculty are very approachable and always willing to talk with students, which makes a big difference. My advisor has been a great support system, and I’ve always felt comfortable reaching out to professors for guidance. The small size of the college allows for more intimate connections compared to larger colleges, where that isn’t as easy. The college also emphasizes hands-on projects and collaboration in many classes, which has helped me build skills that are vital in advertising. Additionally, Media Career Services frequently provides great networking and career opportunities for students. Overall, the college provides many resources for students to grow in their respective fields.

What advice do you have for students trying to secure internships?

My biggest advice is to leverage the experiences you already have. When applying for internships, I talked about the courses I took at Illinois that introduced me to the skills and topics relevant to the role. It’s important to show employers that you’re intentionally pursuing opportunities that align with your interests. I would also encourage students not to limit themselves geographically or professionally. My current part-time role as a search engine specialist came through a family connection with a marketing agency based in Ecuador, which is where I’m originally from. Working remotely with an international team has allowed me to gain more experience while also using my Spanish. Stepping outside your comfort zone can lead to really rewarding opportunities!

What advice do you have for incoming advertising and media students?

I would advise students not to limit yourself based on what you initially think you want to do. When I first started, I thought I wanted to focus purely on the creative side of advertising, like designing billboards and ads. But once I explored more of the curriculum, I realized my interests were actually in other areas of the field. The advertising program offers a wide range of courses across different areas like strategy, technology, and creative work, so I encourage students to take advantage of that. Try classes in different parts of the curriculum and stay curious rather than feeling like you need to decide on a specific path right away. Being open to exploring different areas can help you discover interests you might not have expected and ultimately find the direction that fits you best!

—Interview by Alexa Camacho Villicana, New Voices Intern

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P&G learned how to sell soap then created iconic brands

April 15, 2026 | USA Today

Ivory was one of the first packaged goods that led the branding revolution.

Jason P. Chambers

Professor of Advertising

In celebration of America’s 250th birthday this year, the USA Today network is taking a look at iconic companies that were founded and flourished in the nation.

Jason P. Chambers, professor of advertising and associate dean for access and engagement, shared his insights on the branding impact of Proctor & Gamble (P&G), the makers of Ivory soap, in the “Iconic Brands” series, which celebrates American ingenuity with a deeply reported examination of how brands intersect with history, community, and everyday life.

Chambers said brands like P&G emerged in the last decades of the 19th century as the manufacturing industry surged after the Civil War. Not only did the economy get bigger due to growing steel, railroad, and oil industries, but American consumers changed as well.

As more laborers worked in factories, not farms, they had more money, but less time. Consumers were more inclined to buy items that a previous generation would have made themselves—from clothing to crackers to soap, he added.

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Advertising students named to AAF’s Most Promising Students program

April 6, 2026

Four seniors in the University of Illinois chapter of the American Advertising Federation were named to the American Advertising Federation’s Most Promising Students Class of 2026—an honor given to select students each year throughout the United States. Honorees include advertising majors Odinakachukwu (Odi) Ogbuefi, Claire-Michelle Sweet, and Kara Yoo. Valerie Zapata, a marketing major, was also selected.

The students were invited to an industry immersion program in New York on March 23-27, where they visited various agencies and brands, saw customized billboards of themselves displayed on Times Square, and networked with countless individuals at some of the top advertising, marketing, and media companies in the country.

Before the conference, students were split into five teams to participate in the annual pitch competition. In partnership with dentsu and Adobe, students were presented with a brief that challenged them to use various Adobe products to build an activation plan for a fictitious coffee brand. During the week in New York, students presented their pitches to executives from both dentsu and Adobe. Sweet was part of the winning team.

At the completion of the Most Promising Students program, students were honored and celebrated at the Building Bridges Brunch, where they had the opportunity to share their personal taglines and connect with their mentors. The event ended with a Recruiters Expo, where students engaged in one-on-one conversations and interviews with companies eager to connect with the next generation of talent.

The Most Promising Students Program began in 1997 and serves as part of AAF’s mission to ensure that the advertising industry is led by a wide variety of informed perspectives, cultural influences and diverse backgrounds.

Since the program’s inception, nearly a thousand students from colleges and universities across the country have participated in this premier event. Students attribute the success in obtaining a job after graduation to the distinction that comes from participating in the Most Promising Students program.

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Super Bowl commercial expert Pat Burke to be alumni speaker at Media Convocation

March 23, 2026 | Kelly Youngblood

Patrick Burke (BS ’95, advertising)—the creative mind behind top-rated Super Bowl commercials for Lay’s, Rocket Mortgage, and Jeep—will serve as the alumni speaker at the 2026 College of Media Convocation ceremony.

Pat Burke and actor Bill Murray on the set of the 2020 Jeep “Groundhog Day” Super Bowl commercial.

Now the executive creative director at the Los Angeles–based ad agency Special U.S., Burke most recently oversaw the 2026 Uber Eats Super Bowl campaign, bringing his total number of Super Bowl commercials created to 18.

Although Burke didn’t originally set out to become a leader in Super Bowl advertising, he says he’s grateful for the success and opportunities the path has brought.

“It wasn’t my intention to build my career around the Super Bowl, but that definitely led to [my current job] opportunity and even things like the U of I wanting me to speak at convocation,” he said.

Burke, a three-time commercial Emmy nominee and winner of a Cannes Lions Grand Prix, spent the first 30 years of his career in the Chicago advertising industry working at several different agencies, including DDB Chicago, Ogilvy & Mather, and Highdive Advertising.

While at DDB, Burke helped create two Super Bowl commercials that scored in the top five of the USA Today AdMeter ratings. During his six years at Highdive, he made six commercials that landed in the top-five AdMeter spots.

In 2025, Lay’s “The Little Farmer” scored #2 on the USA Today AdMeter. In 2020, Rocket Mortgage’s “Comfortable” starring Jason Momoa scored #5 and Jeep’s “Groundhog Day” with Bill Murray won first place.

“It wasn’t my intention to build my career around the Super Bowl, but that definitely led to [my current job] opportunity and even things like the U of I wanting me to speak at convocation.

Pat Burke

Executive Creative Director at Special U.S.

Burke said that collaborating with Murray on the Jeep commercial, a parody of the 1993 film, was the highlight of his career.

“I didn’t think we’d ever get [Murray] because he doesn’t really do advertising or commercials, and doesn’t have an agent, so he’s hard to reach,” Burke said. “Even if you want to get him to [make] a movie there’s a famous process you have to go through where you send your script to a P.O. Box in Charleston, South Carolina, and then you just wait, and you hope that he gets back to you.”

Murray would eventually see the script and agree to do the commercial just a few weeks before the Super Bowl.

A behind-the-scenes peek at the making of the 2020 Rocket Mortgage Super Bowl commercial starring Jason Momoa. Burke is seated in back, second from left.

“As far as celebrity encounters for me, it doesn’t get any better than Bill Murray,” Burke said.

Another career-defining moment for Burke was the 2012 release of the “Skittlespox” commercial, which he crafted for Skittles while working at DDB Chicago.

The commercial sparked some controversy among critics who found the premise odd, and even Burke admits it may have run for too many years. But the ad is still the highest-testing Skittles commercial in brand history and a pop-culture phenomenon inspiring countless online re-creations and Halloween costumes.

For Burke, seeing an idea he’s worked on for months come to fruition is the best part of his job.

“You come up with an idea that you think is amazing, and so often, it doesn’t end up getting made, or if it does, it gets changed—death by a thousand cuts,” Burke said. “If something does make it all the way through and it gets made in a way that you pictured it, seeing all [the work] come to life is definitely the fun part.”

Burke’s return to campus will bring him closer to the western suburbs of Chicago where he grew up. Burke, who described his younger self as a “creative kid,” came to the University of Illinois to study art but then switched his major to advertising.

He credits a class with Peter Sheldon, senior lecturer of advertising, for having a major impact on him and his future career.

“Peter is just a brilliant creative himself and so we all learned a ton from him. He had us all inspired and feeling like we could actually do this for a living,” Burke said. “A bunch of us [in his class] ended up getting jobs and succeeding in the industry, and are still working today, so he’s got a good legacy.”

Burke keeps in touch with Sheldon and has returned to his class over the years to give feedback on student portfolios.

A nature enthusiast who enjoys fly fishing, camping, hiking, and backpacking, Burke has also published many pieces in outdoor magazines like The Drake, a grassroots journal about flyfishing.

Burke also serves on the board of directors for Chicago Voyagers, a non-profit organization serving Chicago’s at-risk youth through trauma-informed outdoor/adventure-therapy programming.

Burke encourages young graduates, especially those entering a creative field like advertising, to focus on simplicity in their work.

“Focus on a simple idea—those are what resonate. Just stick to it and always keep that as your North Star.”

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College of Media launches new bachelor’s degree in sports media

Illini Sports Night pregame show at women's basketball game

March 9, 2026 | Holly Rushakoff

After years of planning, a new bachelor’s in sports media is ready for prime time.

Illini Sports Night hosting live pregame show before Illinois women's basketball game.

In response to a growing interest from students—and with a proven track record of successful alumni across the sports media industry—the College of Media is expanding its roster to offer a Bachelor of Arts in Sports Media.

The program will prepare students for a variety of careers in sports media, including as PR and strategic communication managers, content creators and digital storytellers, social media and data analysts, sportscasters and producers, and more.

The new undergraduate degree received official approval from the Illinois Board of Higher Education in Spring 2026.

This is an area of high interest from students and employers alike, and, together with our campus partners, we are prepared to offer students a first-rate experience marked by the innovation, rigor, and personalized attention that defines all of our degree programs in the College of Media.

Tracy Sulkin

College of Media Dean

Starting April 27, current University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign students may apply to transfer into the BA in sports media for Fall 2026. Transfer students from outside the University of Illinois can apply to the program for Spring 2027. First-year students can apply for Fall 2027 entry.

Courses from all three departments in the College of Media—Advertising, Journalism, and Media & Cinema Studies—will make up the core curriculum for the sports media degree.

“We’re excited to offer this interdisciplinary degree to prepare students for exciting career paths within sports media. This is an area of high interest from students and employers alike, and, together with our campus partners, we are prepared to offer students a first-rate experience marked by the innovation, rigor, and personalized attention that defines all of our degree programs in the College of Media,” said Dean Tracy Sulkin.

As streaming, podcasting, and multi-screen sports viewing continue to reshape how teams, fans, and brands interact, graduates who understand these evolving dynamics will have an advantage in the job market.

Illini Sports Night interviews sports anchor alum Cassie Carlson

The College of Media already offers sports-focused courses, including “Sports Public Relations,” “Sports Journalism,” “SportMedia, Technology & Culture,” and just this spring, “Sports Advertising & Branding” debuted. Students can also gain firsthand production and reporting experience through Illini Sports Night, a program covering Illinois Athletics, through the course “Newsroom Experience.”

Sports media majors will be able to take elective courses within the Department of Recreation, Sport, and Tourism in the College of Applied Health Sciences, such as “Sport Analytics: Data-Driven Decision Making,” “The Foundations of Sport Management,” and “Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics: The Big Ten Conference.”

To expand experiential learning opportunities, the College of Media plans to collaborate with alumni working in the sports industry to create additional immersion and internship opportunities. These efforts will build upon past programs that included tours of athletic companies like Nike and Adidas. Alumni currently hold top positions across sports media such as producing, anchoring, and writing for national networks and publications; leading communications and videography for professional sports leagues; working with celebrity athletes, athletic brands, and sports teams; and some have even competed as Olympic athletes.

Students will also benefit from the extensive opportunities that come with the University of Illinois’ premier athletics program and its membership in the Big Ten Conference. For example, students have produced live pregame shows for Illini Sports Night in collaboration with the B1G+ network, and many intern at Fighting Illini Productions, the video team for the University’s Division of Intercollegiate Athletics. Additionally, DIA colleagues serve as adjunct instructors in the College of Media, and both local and national sports personalities frequently visit classes, including Brian Barnhart, the Illinois football and men’s basketball play-by-play announcer, and Gus Johnson, the lead college football and basketball play-by-play announcer for FOX Sports.

The BA in sports media is the sixth undergraduate degree offered by the College of Media, along with advertising, computer science + advertising, journalism, media and cinema studies, and an online degree in media for transfers. Learn more about Media’s academic programs.

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I on the Media: Inside the Cultural Momentum of the 2026 Sports Season

Fans in a pub watching hockey and cheering together

February 19, 2025

The Super Bowl, the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, and the FIFA World Cup this summer have set the stage for a sports season defined not just by competition but by community.

These sporting events create shared viewing rituals that bring millions of people together to experience the games in real time. And while audiences continue to reach historic highs, even as media habits fragment, it’s worth examining how these events shape identity, fandom, community, and the way people connect with one another.

To help understand why sports carry such cultural influence and how brands try to engage with fans in these moments of collective attention, we spoke with Steve Hall, senior lecturer of advertising, who is teaching a brand new course this semester on “Sports Advertising and Branding” and serves as chair of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Athletic Board.

With the rise of “communal viewing”—from watch parties to bars to fan zones—how does the social nature of watching sports amplify the impact of an ad compared to watching alone?

Viewing sports together as a shared social experience can be extremely powerful and create incredible opportunities for advertisers. It can also pose serious challenges.

The impact of advertising in communal contexts is complicated and depends on a dizzying array of variables. There are a lot of questions that need to be asked. For starters, how does an advertiser define and measure impact? From a media perspective, there’s a ton of data analytics being generated to measure what and when people are watching when it comes to sports on linear and streaming platforms. But that’s just scratching the surface.

Questions remain: What kind of fan zone, bar, or watch party is it? Organized or spontaneous? Is the game, match, or race interesting or boring? What stake or emotional connection do each of the audience members have with the sport, teams, players, and the group of people or type of fans who are there watching? Favorite or rival team winning or losing? Are people intensely engaged, having side conversations, focused on eating a pastrami on rye, checking fantasy stats, or posting videos of themselves at the party on social media?

Then you have the ad itself. Is the storytelling mediocre or amazing? Does it connect with the audience on an emotional, human level from a creative perspective? Do people discuss, share, or comment on the ad with others in a positive or negative way? Is there a strategy to amplify the advertising message across omnichannel touchpoints?

Understanding the impact of advertising in communal viewing environments is complicated. Stay curious. Keep asking questions. Because you’ll never have all the answers.

With the United States co‑hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup, how significant is this moment for American brands looking to reach a global audience—especially given soccer’s growing popularity in the U.S.?

Whether you call it soccer or football doesn’t matter—the 2026 FIFA World Cup is a huge moment for all brands looking to reach global audiences. As the most popular sport on the planet, fandom is massive and culturally diverse. That opens a very big door for advertisers to tell their stories, create experiences, and connect with people everywhere on the world stage. To be successful, culture should be at the epicenter of advertising, fan engagement activities, and marketing programs. Branding is about what people think, feel, and believe. It’s reputation.

The FIFA World Cup will present incredible opportunities for advertisers to leverage culture, meet new audiences, create trust, and build relationships with everything from in-stadium brand activations to prime-time TV commercials. This global event will allow brands to align fans, teams, and athletes with relevant, authentic storytelling, sponsorships, partnerships, and innovative experiences that will not only reach global audiences, but connect with them in entirely new ways. After all, the world will be watching. Game on.

What are students currently analyzing and discovering in your brand new “Sports Advertising and Branding” course?

Currently, we’re looking at the relationship between culture, trends, and sports. Overall, the class allows students to explore, discover, and examine sports advertising and branding in a broad array of contexts that connect advertising, marketing, media, sports, teams, athletes, fans, events, experiences, and partnerships at amateur, collegiate, and professional levels.

The course introduces industry practices and processes to help students understand and apply concepts related to research, data, consumer behavior, strategic planning, creative content, production, media, and branded integration into the incredibly immense and fascinating world of sports.

Specific topics include sports information, public relations, event management, fan engagement, merchandising, brand activation, technology, e-sports, NIL, gambling, ethics, personal branding, sports celebrities, and collaborations. The class also incorporates experiential learning opportunities with alumni, sports industry professionals, and coaches, as well as attending NCAA athletic events on campus.

Jan Slater

Professor Emerita

Affiliations

Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising

Education

Ph.D., S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University (Mass Communications)
M.S., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Advertising)
B.A., Hastings College, Hastings, Nebraska

Course Specialties

Advertising Strategy
Account Planning
Advertising Management
Advertising Campaigns

Background

Dr. Jan Slater served as the Chief Marketing Officer for Gies College of Business and Professor of Advertising in the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising at the University of Illinois. She aslo served as Dean of the College of Media for six years, and head of the Department of Advertising for three years prior. Before her appointment at Illinois, Dr. Slater was an associate professor and the associate director of the E. W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University for nine years. She joined the academy following a successful career as an advertising practitioner, working in private industry, as well as owning her own multi-million-dollar advertising agency, J. Slater & Associates.

Dr. Slater has served as president of the Association for Educators in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), an organization she’s been active with since 1995. Additionally, she has served on the AEJMC Advertising Division’s executive committee as research chair, teaching chair, vice head, and head. She served as vice chair and chair of the Council of Divisions for four years, and was a member of the AEJMC Strategic Planning Design Team. She has served as a member of the committee, as well as a member of the council of the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications’ Accrediting Committee and has been chair of the American Advertising Federation’s Academic Committee.

Research and Creative Endeavor

Brand relationships, brand strategy, and branded content are the main areas of Slater’s research. She has been published in the Journal of Marketing Communications, Advances in Consumer Research, Journalism and Mass Communication Educator, and the Journal of Advertising Education. She is a contributing author to a series of advertising books published by Sage and co-author of What’s in a Name? Advertising and the Concept of Brands.

Contact

slaterj@illinois.edu

Take 5 with Media Alumni: Alex Studer

February 6, 2026

Alex Studer (BS ‘17, advertising) is the director of web strategy at Peacock. He joined the streaming service in 2020—playing a key role in its launch—and now leads all major web initiatives and experimentation strategies across PeacockTV.com. Previously, Studer worked in the advertising industry as an account executive at Deutsch NY, where he supported the ACUVUE account, and later at Ogilvy NY, where he led client workstreams for Gerber and Nestlé. Studer has received multiple industry honors, including a Sports Emmy, Webby nomination, and three Webby honorable mentions. He has also been recognized as a 2023 MAIPer to Watch and was honored as an ADCOLOR FUTURE in 2019.

1. What is your current role at Peacock?

Currently, I’m the director of web strategy on the growth go-to-market team here at Peacock. I’ve been at the company for six years now and have been one of the key acquisition and experimentation leaders who have helped launch and grow the business. Put simply, my team runs our website (PeacockTV.com). We are responsible for everything consumers see when they come to our site, and we run experiments to try to get new users to sign up as efficiently as possible.

2. What do you find most challenging and most rewarding about your career?

The fast pace at which the marketing/advertising world moves is both a challenge and a reward for me. Each year, there are new advancements in technology, evolving consumer sentiments and values, and shifting company structures (e.g., mergers) in the industry that all result in a need to think into the future to stay ahead of it. This can for sure be daunting but also is satisfying as it challenges me to keep learning, adapting, and evolving alongside the industry.

3. When did you first realize advertising was the career path you wanted to pursue?

I started my journey at the University of Illinois as a pre-med psychology major. I spent my freshman year exploring different majors in the STEM world (electrical engineering, calculus, physics, and chemistry, to name a few), but everything changed my sophomore year on Quad Day when I stumbled upon the American Advertising Federation booth.

I’ll never forget my first AAF meeting and how inspired I was when learning that careers in advertising/marketing existed. The idea that you could have a career in a field where you analyze consumer behavior and use creativity to influence it really made an impact on me and motivated me to one day break into the industry. After getting heavily involved in AAF throughout my sophomore year, I was elected to the executive board my junior year and ended up running AAF Illinois as president my senior year. AAF is the reason I was able to finally discover a career path that felt more in line with my passions and interests. It’s also the reason I fell in love with NYC, thanks to our industry immersion visits here.

4. What advice would you give to students trying to break into the advertising industry today?

The biggest piece of advice I would give is to fully maximize and learn how to talk about all your past experiences to help land your future ones. Even before I started gaining industry experience, I was able to gain relevant, transferable skills through my involvement in student organizations, which later helped me land internships.

Once you start to compile your own set of experiences, I’d encourage students to focus on networking with those who are in the advertising industry, and to seek out professional organizations that can help further your career. For instance, I was fortunate to land my first ad agency internship at Bailey Lauerman in Omaha, Nebraska, after meeting a senior leader during an AAF Illinois campus visit.

My senior year, I decided I wanted to start my career in NYC, but recognized I didn’t have a strong network outside of Chicago. I applied to the Multicultural Advertising Internship Program and became a finalist, which gave me the opportunity to move to NYC after graduation to intern at Saatchi & Saatchi NY. My career in NYC wouldn’t have been a possibility without these prior experiences as I was able to finally start building my network and career here!

Alex Studer Olympics — Alex Studer with fellow members of the 2024 Paris Olympics campaign team for Peacock.

5. You were part of a campaign team that earned the Sports Emmy for Outstanding Interactive Experience for the 2024 Paris Olympics. What was your role for that campaign and what was it like to receive that recognition?

My team was responsible for the website acquisition and experimentation strategy to garner as many new subscribers as possible for the Olympics. For all organic traffic and paid media, our website served as a destination to learn more about the Olympics and helped consumers sign up for Peacock as seamlessly as possible to start streaming.

If I’m being candid, receiving this recognition didn’t feel real until I opened the (heavy!!) box the Emmy came in and saw my name on it. Early in my career, I was given valuable feedback from a mentor that I don’t take the appropriate amount of time to celebrate my wins and instead immediately look ahead to the next one. I challenged myself for this award to start to shift that and will definitely incorporate more celebration and reflection into any future awards/recognition my career brings me!

Receiving an Emmy was without a doubt a career highlight so far! It doesn’t feel like an “all-at-once” type of recognition, and instead feels more like a culmination of all my past wins, failures, lessons learned, etc. I feel fortunate to have this under my belt, and every day feel reminded of the accomplishment when I walk past the statue at home.

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Centennial Circle: Investing in the next century of media education

Futuristic illustration of person viewing screens

Join a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shape the future of the College of Media at Illinois

January 14, 2026

A centennial is more than a milestone—it’s an invitation to define the future together.

As the College of Media approaches its 100^th anniversary, we celebrate our proud legacy and commit to advancing the next era of media education and research. Illinois Media graduates have informed the public, shaped culture, advanced technology, and transformed the way the world connects. To ensure this momentum carries into the next century, the College of Media invites its most passionate supporters to help lead the way through the Centennial Circle.

The Centennial Circle will be launched to honor visionary donors who make transformational investments. Induction into the Centennial Circle recognizes gifts of $100,000 or more to any fund in the College of Media between January 1, 2026, and December 31, 2027. Donors can make an outright gift, a pledge, or a deferred gift such as a bequest in their will or a beneficiary designation of their IRA.

College of Media Dean Tracy Sulkin emphasized the historic significance of the Centennial Circle as the college celebrates its 100^th anniversary in 2027.

“A centennial invites us to honor our past while envisioning a bold future. In this unique moment, philanthropy will play a central role in shaping the next 100 years of media,” said Dean Sulkin. “Joining the Centennial Circle is an opportunity to create a powerful, lasting legacy—one that uplifts generations of students and strengthens media education and research at Illinois for decades to come.”

Donors may choose to support any fund in the College of Media, including the Centennial Fund, which helps meet emerging priorities, from technology advancements and innovative pedagogy to faculty and student research. Recent examples of donor-funded impact include the founding of the Richard and Leslie Frank Center for Leadership and Innovation in Media and the Roger Ebert Center for Film Studies, student support such as scholarships and the Media Technology Center, and faculty support such as research initiatives and named professorships.

Preparing students for academic and professional success means ensuring they can navigate, analyze, and communicate effectively in an ever-changing media landscape. Support for the Centennial Fund positions the college to address complex societal challenges, including AI, media literacy, civic and public engagement, and the accessibility of news and information.

Joining the Centennial Circle is an opportunity to create a powerful, lasting legacy—one that uplifts generations of students and strengthens media education and research at Illinois for decades to come.

Tracy Sulkin

College of Media Dean

“The Centennial Circle reflects the power of partnership between the College of Media and our alumni and friends,” said Deanne Johnson, senior assistant dean for advancement. “By aligning philanthropic vision with emerging priorities, donors help ensure Illinois remains at the forefront of media education for generations.”

The historic cohort of Centennial Circle donors will be recognized during a College of Media centennial celebration and featured across the college’s communication channels. Recipients will also get a commemorative Centennial Circle lapel pin.

Join us in shaping the College of Media’s second century:

We welcome the opportunity to explore how your philanthropic vision can align with your passions and create lasting impact for the College of Media’s second century. To learn more, please contact Deanne Johnson, Senior Assistant Dean for Advancement, at 217-244-5466 or jhns@illinois.edu.

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