From the Nominator

This full-scale billboard is predominantly displayed to drivers and passengers traveling on one of South Florida’s well-trafficked highways. It’s a bold and whimsical ad created to catch your attention and increase awareness of Nova Southeastern University (NSU Florida). The billboard’s tone, imagery, tagline, hashtag, and logo lockup reflect NSU’s new brand identity, which we rolled out in 2018-19. Our “Be a Shark” rebranding campaign put the spotlight on the mako shark, which has been NSU’s mascot for a decade. Until now, our use of the shark was limited to promoting athletics and school spirit initiatives. Our new marketing and advertising efforts, including this billboard design, draw inspiration from the shark: a fierce, focused, and relentless force of nature.

From the Judges

Very clever use of the shark, and a funny way to depict it. It's especially notable that once the idea was approved the art was created in-house—homegrown rather than created by an outside consulting firm. It's also funny and effective in appealing to its target audience of commuters. We liked its objective—to make people laugh—and its play on the mascot, as opposed to focusing on academics.