Two commercials produced by 99 West, ACU’s student multimedia agency, recently received awards at local and national competitions.

99 West is in its first year of existence in the JMC Department, and they have already produced award-winning work.

The agency entered their ads for the Frontier Texas museum and ACU’s Campus Store in the local advertising competition, the ADDY Awards and in Broadcast Education Association’s Festival of Media Arts.

Cade White, instructor of journalism and mass communication and co-advisor for 99 West, was excited both commercials proved to be competitive in their competitions.

The Frontier Texas and the Campus Store commercials won ADDYs for TV spots in the professional division of the local ad competition.

“The ADDYs is significant in its own way,” White said. “We were up against numerous professional agencies and our group, in its first year, won two awards they gave out.”

99 West entered their advertisement for Frontier Texas in the BEA competition. BEA announced winners in mid-February, revealing ACU placed in the top five schools in the video division as an honorable mention for their 30-second TV spot.

“Sure, it’s an honorable mention but when you consider that we’re up against 1200 schools, the significance of that award is something we are excited about,” White said. “Especially since it’s 99 West’s first year of existence and producing work.”

Brance Armstrong, junior multimedia major from Odessa and producer for 99 West, was pleasantly surprised to find out they placed in the BEA competition.

“We didn’t even know we had won until we saw it on Facebook,” Armstrong said. “It was a nice surprise and we are definitely pretty proud of that commercial for Frontier Texas.”

Dr. Jessica Smith, associate professor of journalism and mass communication and 99 West co-advisor, joined the JMC staff after the commercial was complete.

“The commercial was my introduction to the organization, so seeing that and knowing that our staff was capable of that level of work was impressive to me,” Smith said.

Last year’s BEA festival received over 1,250 entries in its 15 competitions.

“This really indicates to me that our staff is not just capable but commendable for their level of professionalism,” Smith said.

As 99 West continues to grow and become established as an ad agency, the advisors and staff members are excited about what the future holds.

“We really hope that our business and service to clients continues to grow,” Smith said. “Our staff enjoys this kind of work. I am glad to see them honored and am looking forward to them having more opportunities to practice that in the future.”