Mustang Media Group Wins College Media Company of the Year for Third Consecutive Year, Earns 44 Additional Awards
By Morgan Fitzgerald
The Mustang Media Group business team
showing off their CMBAM awards.
October and November brought Cal Poly’s Mustang Media Group (MMG) a bounty of recognition, including national honors from the College Media Business and Advertising Managers (CMBAM), Associated Collegiate Press (ACP) and College Media Association (CMA). Within the past month, Mustang Media Group took home a total of 45 awards, including 13 for first place. Most notably, MMG has been named the national College Media Company of the Year for the third consecutive year, a remarkable feat within college media.
"Being recognized as the top college media organization in the country for two years in a row was an amazing feat. To earn the honor again is simply incredible,” Journalism Professor and Department Chair Brady Teufel said. “Kudos to all the students, staff and faculty whose hard work, vision and standards of excellence lie at the heart of this award and the 44 others that the organization received. Earning this honor is no small task, but these students are determined for even more success."
Mustang Media Group members posing
at the ACP awards in New Orleans.
At the ACP/CMA Fall National College Media Convention held in New Orleans, MMG was recognized for its excellence in both editorial categories as well as marketing and sales, placing first in categories such as Best Newspaper Feature Spread, Best Breaking News Coverage of Diversity and Best Advertisement: Print, Online, Video, Audio. The student-run media organization took home a total of five first place, five second place, four third place, and 11 honorable mention awards from the New Orleans conference.
Shortly after at the 52nd annual advertising awards competition held in Philadelphia, CMBAM announced the winners for categories such as Best Living (Renters) Guide, Best Self Marketing or Promotional Plan and Best Sales Incentive Program — all of which MMG earned first place in.
In total, MMG won nine first place, two second place, five third place, and one honorable mention from the CMBAM conference — including the prestigious title of College Media Company of the Year.
Mustang Media Group Business Advertising Manager Sean Harmon spoke of the team's driven and ambitious nature, saying: “I am so proud of our business team for winning this award for a third time! It is such an honor to work alongside all of our incredible account executives. We have set ambitious goals this year, but I am confident we will reach them with the team we have.”
See the full list of awards from the College Media Business and Advertising Managers, Associated Collegiate Press, and College Media Association below.
College Media Business and Advertising Managers Awards
Winner: College Media Company of the Y ear
First Place: Best Living (Renters) Guide
First Place: Best Video Ad or Underwriting Spot
First Place: Best Self Promotion Multimedia Ad Campaign
First Place: Best Sales Incentive Program
First Place: Best Sales Strategy for a Special Section
First Place: Best Special Event
First Place: Best Self Marketing or Promotional Plan
First Place: Best Staff Recruitment Strategy/Campaign
Second Place: Best Newspaper Ad
Second Place: Bes Coupon Book or App Design
Third Place: Best Sales Promotional Materials
Third Place: Best Rate Card or Media Kit
Third Place: Best Audio Ad or Underwriting Spot
Third Place: Best Self Promotion Video Ad
Third Place: Best Social Media Strategy
Honorable Mention: Best Self-Branded Promotional Giveaway
Associated Collegiate Press
Best of Show:
- First Place: Advertisement: Print, Online, Video, Audio - Ashley Ho
- First Place: Broadcast News Story - Izzy Romero: Palestinian Rally
- Second Place: Broadcast Feature Story - Jessica Carp: Taming Cal Poly’s Turkeys
- Second Place: Broadcast Sports Story - Matthew Muren: Men’s soccer continues unbeaten streak
- Third Place: Reporting: Election 2024 - Staff
- Third Place: Advertising Media Kit: Adrienne Liang
- Third Place: Newspaper – (four year campus, more than 15,000)
- Seventh Place: W ebsite (four-year campus, more than 15,000)
Individual Awards:
- Second Place: Multimedia Feature Story - Lauren Emo, Sarina Grossi, Emmy Scherer, Alina Jaffri: A
- Slice of Life
- Fourth Place: Interactive Graphic
- Fifth Place: Newspaper/Newsmagazine Page/Spread: Liz Ridley
- Honorable Mention:Broadcast Sports Story - Jack Hildebrand
- Honorable Mention: Multimedia Sports Story: Madison Vernon
- Honorable Mention: Social Media Reporting award - Jessa Rosenthal, Ari Lopez: St. Fratty’s Day
- Honorable Mention: Social Media Reporting award - Staff: Rec Center protest
College Media Association
- First Place: Best Breaking news coverage of diversity
- First Place: Best Newspaper Feature page/spread
- First Place: Best Video/Entertainment short
- Second Place: Best enterprise coverage of diversity
- Second Place: Best media kit
- Third Place: Best magazine entertainment page spread: What kind of coffee shop are you?
- Honorable mention: Best Arts and entertainment story: Boo Boo Records
- Honorable mention: Best Audio Newscast
- Honorable mention: Best Interactive Infographic
- Honorable mention: Best Special Section Cover
- Honorable mention: Best Special Section: Go SLO
- Honorable mention: Best Video/Entertainment short
- Honorable mention: Best Video Sportscast