A team of students from Shanxi University wowed the judges to win gold in the finals of the 8th National Student Advertising Design Competition, which was broadcast by China Education Television on Sept 13.

Associate Professor Han Zhiqiang (second left) and his team celebrated winning a "national first prize" in the finals of the 8th National Student Advertising Design Competition on Sept 13, 2016. [Photo/sxu.edu.cn]

The team, instructed by Han Zhiqiang, an associate professor in the university’s advertising faculty, finished third overall and was awarded a "national first prize" in the ad campaign category for their innovative branding idea regarding backpack based around the tagline beibao feike, a pun on the word backpacker.

This was the first time a campaign from Shanxi University had reached the TV knockout round of the prestigious contest, which featured only the top 15 teams selected from more than 5,000 entries.

In the finals, the university found themselves up against tough competition from Jilin University, Southwest Jiaotong University and Wuhan University of Technology, among others, but succeeded in impressing the judges during the presentation and Q&A rounds.

Shanxi University also found success in the advertising planning category of the contest, picking up two "national second prizes".

Shanxi University is sure to gain a big boost from its success in the competition, which is the only one of its kind sponsored by the Office of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education. More than 600,000 teachers and students from 1,400 colleges took part in the contest overall.