Latitude and Lumiere Return as Official Research Partner of AAF's National Student Advertising Competition — and Take the Stage at ADMERICA

Latitude is proud to continue its partnership with the American Advertising Federation (AAF) as the official research partner of the 2025–2026 National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC) — and this year, we went a step further, bringing our perspective on audience intelligence directly to the ADMERICA stage.

A Second Year of Equipping the Next Generation

For the second consecutive year, student teams competing in NSAC were given free access to Lumiere, Latitude's audience intelligence platform, as part of their campaign development process. The same platform trusted by brands like Amazon, Disney, and Google to understand how content is experienced by real people was placed in the hands of tomorrow's advertising talent.

The NSAC is one of the most prestigious student advertising competitions in the country. Conducted annually by the AAF, it runs as a three-tier national competition — with teams first competing the district level, then the semi-finals, and ultimately advancing to the national stage at the finals. This year's competition challenged students to develop a campaign for the NFL, making Lumiere's audience intelligence tools especially relevant as teams worked to understand fan mindsets and build strategies around one of the most recognizable brands in the world. It's a rigorous, real-world proving ground, and we believe students deserve real-world research tools to compete on it.

Kimberly Kelling, PhD and Associate Director of Research at Latitude awards the Lumie during AAF's NSAC ceremony.

Introducing This Year's Lumie Award Winner: Texas State University

As part of our partnership, Latitude sponsors the Lumie Award — a $2,500 prize presented to the team that demonstrates the most creative and effective use of research in their campaign. Judges evaluate how teams apply audience insights strategically and communicate those findings through their plan books and presentations.

This year, we're proud to award the Lumie Award to Texas State University, whose team stood out for their thoughtful integration of audience intelligence into their campaign strategy. Congratulations to the team — your work is exactly the kind of research-driven thinking that makes great advertising.

Taking the Stage at ADMERICA

Beyond the competition itself, Latitude COO Amber Williams was invited to give a talk at AAF's ADMERICA conference titled Amplifying Your Creative Instincts with AI — a conversation about audience understanding, marketing effectiveness, and what it really means to know how your creative work lands.

The idea at the center of that conversation: data tells us what happened — audience insights tell us why. Pairing performance metrics with qualitative feedback is becoming essential for marketers who want to understand how content is truly experienced, not just consumed.

"For most of advertising history, there's been a gap between the creator and the audience. The conversation is happening – yet brands and creators are almost never in it. For decades, we’ve made creative, sent it into the world, and hoped to overhear what people said. What we're seeing now is that gap closing — because what looks like feedback is really emotion in disguise. It's empathy, quantified."

— Amber Williams, COO, Latitude

That's where Lumiere comes in — giving advertisers and brands access to the qualitative intelligence they often don't have, and using it to build stronger, more informed campaigns.

Why Audience Intelligence Is the Next Frontier in Advertising Research

The advertising industry has never had more data. But more data doesn't always mean better understanding. Click-through rates, impressions, and completion rates tell you what your audience did — they rarely tell you what your audience felt, or why they responded the way they did.

That gap is where audience intelligence platforms like Lumiere are changing the game. By capturing live audience feedback and qualitative responses alongside traditional performance metrics, Lumiere gives brands a fuller picture of how their content and campaigns are landing in the real world.

It's why brands like Amazon, Disney, and Roblox have made it part of how they work — and why we believe it's just as valuable a tool for the students who will be shaping the industry for the next generation.

Real viewers describe watching content in Lumiere.

What's Next

Latitude remains committed to supporting the advertising community — through partnerships like NSAC, through thought leadership conversations like the one we had at ADMERICA, and through continued investment in making audience intelligence more accessible to brands of all sizes.

If you're interested in learning how Lumiere can help your team understand not just what your audience does, but why —we'd love to talk.