IMC Hawks Blog

Author: imcclass

  • Consumer’s Point of View

    Although this may seem repetitive of earlier posts, we feel that it is necessary to give another point of view on Corporate Communication to give a full understanding of what it entails.  With that said…

    Professor: “Define ‘Corporate Communication.’”

    Students: [blank stares] “umm. Communicating Corporately?”

    Good guess, but no.

    This was the task presented to our 495 Corporate Communication class. What we found was that defining Corporate Communication was slightly more involved than one might initially think. At the start, we suggested definitions such as “all communication within a business or organization.” Profound, we know. When our teacher pointed out the serious lack of content in our initial definitions, we had to regroup and analyze what Corporate Communication actually meant and create a definition that would encompass the multi-faceted divisions that work together to create Corporate Communication. Our group defined Corporate Communication as:

    “The consistent communicative interaction that builds on organization’s identity and reputation by persuading its internal and external stakeholders to buy into the organizations public narrative. “

    Sounds good right? … We think so too.

    So, what does this mean?

    Communication within an organization must be consistent.  Everything within a corporation is constantly moving and changing; therefore, they must have definite communication practices in order to be successful.  These practices help maintain and sustain their relationships with their stakeholders and/ or public. While maintaining their relationships, an organization must build an identity and reputation. They do this through their advertising, marketing, financial charitable contributions, etc. These efforts are to persuade and convince the public and their stakeholders to buy into and partake in the narrative the organization has created.

    You may be thinking at this point, “well that sounds great, but why am I reading this and why is this important?”

    The importance of successful Corporate Communication is that it has a trickle-down affect, which ends with the consumer, aka you! Your satisfaction with an organization is dependent on the success of their Corporate Communication skills. For example, this became very obvious this week to one of our writers while dealing with AT&T. While considering the consequences of the criminal behavior that releasing our frustration on this company would cause, we weighed out the pros and cons and figured the most effective and productive use of our frustration would be to illustrate the effects and consequences of poor Corporate Communication and how it directly impacts you, the consumer.

    Setting up a wireless Internet account and having it installed shouldn’t be an impossible task, right?  Well, apparently it is when you’re dealing with AT&T.  After setting up an installation appointment, mind you it was two weeks after the initial phone calls and account set-up, and having the repairman install it at the wrong address, several calls had to be made to the customer service line.  The calls almost always ended in the same routine:

    Call. Wait. Talk with a representative who takes your number just in case “we get disconnected.” Get disconnected. No call back.

    Finally, I got through to a representative who tells me it will be at least two weeks until I can get another installation date, and wait, she has just checked and the Internet availability in my area is non-existent.  “Wait? What?”, I say.  Couldn’t they have recognized this discrepancy when I set up my account?  After a weeklong process or countless waiting, endless daytime minutes used, and plenty of pent-up frustration, I told them to forget it and cancel my account.

    On the contrary, as a test we called the customer service line to Chase Sapphire credit cards.  They advertise that you get an actual person whenever you place a customer call (what we consider acceptable Corporate Communication, unlike AT&T) and sure enough, NO RECORDING; you actually speak to a real person immediately without any hassle.

    We’ve all experienced some kind of frustration in dealing with recordings and major corporations but have we ever stepped back and thought of what it was saying to us about the corporation?  This is our story, what’s yours?

    Breanna Alexander
    Lauren Dehart
    Lauren Smith
    Kelly Wiley

  • So…What Exactly is Corporate Communication?

     In defining Corporate Communication this early in the semester it is important to note that our class definition is somewhat vague now, however it supplies us with a good foundation. With that being said we decided to jump ahead and do some of our own research to expand our definition. In every definition we found there was at least a mention of crisis communication. In most cases, the definitions stressed the importance of communicating quickly and efficiently during a crisis.

    This research left us baffled as to why our definition fails to include the propensity for crisis management. Despite the greatest risk management efforts, organizations still suffer from crisis every day. It is the responsibility of these organizations to recover from these hardships while still maintaining favorable relations with stakeholders. How a company responds and recuperates after crisis is a vital part of the organizations corporate communication.  That is why we feel it is necessary to incorporate crisis management into the umbrella that encompasses corporate communication. As the semester moves along we look forward to visiting this idea of crisis management in case studies and in any corporate settings we may encounter in our own future careers.

    -Gracie, Emily, Meghan, Wade

  • What is Corporate Communication?

    Defining Corporate Communication was a bit of a challenge for us as a group.  We spent nearly an hour trying to generate a common definition that encompassed all our ideas of what the subject truly is.  As a class, we broke up into five different groups and came up with definitions that had similar starting points but all were worded differently.  Then, with the help of our professor, we selected key words and phrases that stood out and that would lead us towards a more appropriate definition.

    We find it interesting that 20 college juniors and seniors all registered for a course with varying opinions on what it would entail.  This is more than likely due to the fact that Corporate Communication is such a broad subject.  Our textbook, Corporate Communication: A Guide to Theory and Practice by Joep Cornelissen, defines it as “a management function that offers a framework for the effective coordination of all internal and external communication with the overall purpose of establishing and maintaining favourable reputations with stakeholder groups upon which the organization is dependent.”  However, explaining that definition to someone else is more difficult than it seems which is why we find it important to put it in our own words.

    Terms that proved relevant to our own understanding included reputation, narrative, persuasion, brand, symbolism, identity, integration, consistency, building, and maintaining, just to name a few.  From these key words our group decided that Corporate Communication is the communicative interaction of building and maintaining a reputation and consistent brand while fostering relationships internally and externally.  We realize that our understanding of the subject matter is still rather vague and that as the semester progresses we will continue to edit and expand both our understanding and definition of Corporate Communication.

    …So this is our definition.  What is yours?

    -Haley, Arielle, Lora, Danielle

  • Why Blogs?

    Upon visiting TED, I browsed through a few videos before selecting one to watch and comment on. Mena Trott on Blogs was my final choice. How appropriate! Trott and her husband founded Six Apart in a spare bedroom of their house in 2002. Six Apart has been at the heart of social media and blogging since 2001! The company has many great blogging services including TypePad, Movable Type and Vox which help people connect with others and share their stories. Throughout her lecture Trott talks about how blogging gives regular everyday people the power to share their life’s journey online.

    Although Trott mentions how blogging is changing the way we read news and receive media, CNN and other big networks have their own blogs used to update readers the moment breaking news happens, it is the personal stories that capture her heart. She talks about a blog titled Interplast, in which doctors travel to developing nations and preform plastic surgery on those who can’t afford it. The doctors document their travel and tell their story through this site. Another example she gives is of a man who had a son named Oden born at 25 weeks. The father took pictures of Oden and wrote updates daily. By day 96 when Oden was able to go home readers were cheering.. Trott makes it a point to say that these might not be stories that would be covered in a magazine or a newspaper, but they do pull at your heart. This made me think of our class blog and how although we discussed world issues we still made it feel personal with our senior send off, ILM week, and com studies week.

    Trott also shows how blogs can be used for records. She discusses how she can only trace her family tree back a few generations and then it stops. Trott proposes that we can use blogs as a way to record our lives. Should her grandchildren or great grandchildren ever want to know what life was like for Mena Trott, they can look no further then her blog. Like Mena we have set up a blog for records. Every IMC-Hawk from here on out can look back at what we have accomplished this semester, Hopefully it will continue to keep building and there will be a long history of posts.

    Through the blogging assignment in this class we as IMC-Hawks have had our eyes opened to the powerful messages blogs can send, the people they can reach and the footprints they can leave.

    Jess Smith

  • TED: Are more choices better, or has more become less?

    TED: Technology, Entertainment, Design is a nonprofit project that started in 1984 and focuses on Ideas Worth Spreading. TED holds an annual conference where talented and innovative speakers and performers speak about their lives ideas and challenges. Some of these speakers include Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Bill Gates, Brian Greene and many other brilliant people. This April, Terry Hayes and Dr. Persuit held a video session and discussion time to watch two speakers and for students to discuss the topics and their opinions.

    One of the speakers was Malcolm Gladwell, and his speech was titled “Spaghetti Sauce.” His speech focuses on one man, Howard Moskowitz, and his philosophy that “There isn’t one “perfect Pepsi” there are in fact numerous “perfect Pepsis.” Howard built his reputation and transformed the market world based on this idea, that companies should not try and find the “perfect something,” instead they should find varieties of perfect products. This idea gained its acceptance and status when Howard applied the theory to spaghetti sauce, specifically Prego. Prego hired Howard in the 1980s to help them compete with Ragu. Howard did millions of tests on millions of people using different types of spaghetti sauces and found out that people do not prefer one specific type of spaghetti sauce, instead the American people like many different specific types. This is why when you walk down the grocery isle with spaghetti sauce, there are difference sauces ranging from plain, to extra chunky, to mushroom flavored, and so on. Howard successfully changed the way the food industry approaches marketing, making of the products, and meeting the desires of the American people. The fundamental idea can be used in not just the food industry but in all areas of marketing. Marketers are beginning to realize that the way to make the consumer happy is not remember that they are all individuals with specific and different desires, needs and wants. Howard successfully passed along the lesson that the human population is filled with diverse beings with different ways to achieve their happiness.

    The second speaker was Barry Shwartz and his speech was titled “Paradox of Choices.” His speech talks about his book, which is about the way to maximize the welfare of all of the citizens, you must maximize the individual’s freedom through maximizes the choices people have. Choices lead to freedom which then leads to welfare, which should be the defining goal of societies. Barry shows the world through the choices we are offered by explaining that in a grocery store there are over 175 choices of salad dressing, and when you go to the doctor he or she will give you a number of choices of health care you can choose, and you can choose what prescription drug to take and so on. This has resulted in people giving the choices to wake up every day and invent our own identity and choose from all of the choices offered what kind of person we want to be. All of the choices we are offered occupy our entire day, all day and everyday leaving zero time to actually live the life we have chosen. He does point out the good news about having so many choices, which can be easily seen, but he discusses more deeply the bad news about all of the choices. One is that people are paralyzed by all of these choices because they are unable to choose which action to take. People have become either too lazy or to overwhelmed by all of the options available to them that many times they choose no action, or put off deciding for days and days. Another negative effect of the many choices is that people are beginning to have the expectation to receive perfection because of so many choices they have to choose from. This is resulting in people’s expectations not being met and the people ultimately being disappointed by their choices.

     The TED viewing finished with discussion questions for students to wrap their minds around. I invite you to also watch these brilliant speakers and ponder these questions:

    • Think of companies that have achieved success by offering limited product lines.

    • Think of companies that have achieved success by offering vast product lines.

    • As marketers, do we need to offer more varieties of our products, or should we offer fewer choices in order to help customers decide?

     • When are more choices better? Does it depend on the type of product or service? Is it always better to have more choice for high-involvement products, or is simplicity sometimes preferable?

     http://www.ted.com/

     -Shannon Meadows

  • Remembering COM 495

    As the final blog the IMC-Hawks wanted to give Dr. Persuit and COM 495 salutations through a few testimonial statements to end on a positive note.  The following are from a couple of our team members who wanted to share their thoughts of the class as a whole.  We hope you enjoy:

    “Dr. Persuit’s IMC classes have been some of the most interesting and
    insightful classes I have taken in college. She is excited about what
    she teaches and encourages her students to be excited as well. Her
    Advanced IMC class has inspired me to go to graduate school to study
    integrated marketing communications after I work for a few years
    because I am convinced that it is the future of communication-related
    positions. I think that all Communication Studies programs should
    offer these courses.”

    -Nicole Doherty

    “Dr. Persuit’s passion for IMC and thoughtful interest to every single one of her lessons and students is not only obvious but it has created the most stimulating class environment I’ve experienced during my time here at UNCW.”

    -Taylor Diehl

    “The readings, discussions, and group projects really helped me to get a better grasp on IMC. Intro to IMC is exactly what it says it is, simply an introduction that leaves you more curious than before! The Identity project helped me to imagine what it would be like to work for a Marketing or PR Agency and our Event Planning Project shed some light on that career as well. That kind of classroom experience is far and few between and I am grateful for those opportunities because of their heavy weight on my ‘Career Wish List’! The blog also taught us team work and cooperation and was a taste of what corporate or business communication life would be like. I love it when you learn applicable concepts and themes not found in a text book! Everyone can use a little IMC!!”

    -Mandy Baker

     

    “COM 495 introduced me to many new things and I think writing blog posts was one of the most beneficial. This whole semester of writing has not only given me a fabulous way to share my writing samples, but has also taught me about the whole blogosphere, something I never thought I’d join. COM 495 – IMC combined so many aspects of the classes I’ve previously had, all bunched into one. Thus, to explain this class, I thought it’d be easiest in recipe form:

    Combine the following ingredients and stir over one semester of coursework”:

    3 cups teamwork
    2 cups creativity
    1/3 cup marketing
    1/3 cup PR
    1/3 cup advertising
    2 tbsps innovation
    and add a little bit of reading to taste!

    -Rachel Kaylor

    “Advanced IMC was such a great class, learning experience and opportunity! As a student we were placed in real life situations and were able to get a glance of what the real job world is like. The learning material for the class was challenging yet very exciting to analyze and discuss. This class was very unconventional; however the activities and readings we did really helped us understand more thoroughly Integrated Marketing Communication. Dr. Persuit is very knowledgeable on the topics and her real life experience made the class very exciting and memorable!”

    -Shannon Meadows

    This past semester as I was interning, I worked closely with the marketing department. One day someone asked me what I wanted to do after graduate. I said I would like to work for a few years and then attend graduate school. When they asked for what, I said IMC. They stared back at me with a confused look on their face. I was shocked that someone in a marketing department wasn’t aware of this concept. Perhaps they call it something different? Or perhaps we as students of this class are at a great advantage? I think the second one! This class has taught me how the many aspects of the business side of communication studies overlap. You can use a multitude of ideas and techniques to reach people, which allow you to be creative. Although it may not always be the easy at times, this is one course that definitely prepared me for real world. Dr. Persuit was there to guide us, but we as students directed the class and took on more responsibility in the classroom than usual. It was an awesome opportunity to be and IMC-Hawk and I would recommend it to anyone. Thanks so much Dr. Persuit!!

    -Jess Smith

    “She’s definitely the thought provoking teacher when it comes to understanding social media in the workforce and in society. I have skills that I can take with me anywhere. She is the REALEST professor I think I’ve ever had here at UNCW.”

    -Colby Lewis

    “After taking both the intro and advanced IMC classes with Dr. Persuit, I have finally figured out what I want to do with my Communication Studies degree. All aspects of IMC interest me, especially the parts dealing with the media (advertising, branding, etc.). This class has provided me with a background of experience in the field and I have finally found a potential career path!”

    -Lacey Inman

    “COM 495 has been a great end to my college career at UNCW.  I could have graduated last semester as my departmental and university courses were complete.  I knew Advanced IMC was being taught under Dr. Persuit this spring, and I chose not to graduate for a few reasons, but one being the opportunity to take this class.  I am so glad I did because the project experiences and the class discussions will be remembered and made my choice to stay worth the wait.  I encourage all COM majors to dabble in IMC because I promise you, you will want to learn more!  Even after the intro and advanced courses, I want to learn more, and plan to utilize my graduate career in doing so.  Thanks Dr. P!”

    –Allyson Corbin

  • Goodbye COM 495

    The day has come – the last day of the 2010 spring semester.  This day is bittersweet for many as today brings the end of an academic year, the closing of a chapter, and the end of some great courses.  I speak on behalf of the IMC-Hawks team when I say we all agree this class was superb.

    From day one I think we all knew this class was going to be different than many others taken previously.  I remember, before nestling into my seat, I sat next to Terry Hayes on the first day when he turned to me at the end Dr. Persuit’s opening and said, “This is the first time I feel like I am taking a real college course based on the projected workload.”  I also remember agreeing and sharing excitement with Terry.

    To get an idea of what we were presented, read the following to gain minor insight to Dr. Persuit’s syllabus:

    Your experience in this course will include the application of ideas in writing, presentational skills within a professional communication context, and consideration of the ethical implications of your actions.

    Course Objectives:

    In this course, we work from a praxis (theory-informed action) orientation to prepare you with the knowledge and skill to put what you learn into action in the marketplace.  This approach stresses that you cultivate the habit of learning.

    This class will provide opportunities to:

    • Understand and engage theoretical approaches to IMC.
    • Advance your practical knowledge of IMC strategies and tactics.
    • Engage your intellectual curiosity.
    • Function in a professional organization, on a project team, as a project manager.

    All fifteen of the IMC-Hawks were very excited for what the semester had in store, for we knew we had great opportunities and challenges awaiting us.  The above portion of Dr. Persuit’s syllabus generated a great deal of anticipation and expectation from the team, which I now look back and question how it went by so quickly.

    Many syllabi produce agony, misery, depression, and all other synonyms pertaining there to, but not Dr. Persuit’s.  However, her syllabus did present large shoes to fill as we all were looking forward to the best.  I again speak for everyone when I say these shoes were filled, but perhaps too small as she exceeded any and all expectations we had.

    From the beginning we moved at a very fast pace just as Dr. Persuit warned.  We opened with Bowling Alone and hit the ground running from there.  Dr. Persuit’s intent was to provide a classroom to resemble either a work environment with real and valid deadlines or a graduate school course with simultaneous work and loads of discussion, all while teaching us time management and stress relievers – I never said we had an easy class.

    All of our assignments had genuine meaning and related directly back to Dr. Persuit’s objectives.  We were able to take what we were learning from our course textbooks and apply them to each and every project, better known as praxis, one of Dr. Persuit’s goals.

    As one of Dr. P’s first intro classes, I am pleased to also be one of the first in her advanced course.  At the end of the introductory course, I wondered if the department would allow for the exploration of an advanced course.  I am so glad the department read my mind, or so I like to think, because this course has been one of my and my classmate’s favorite classes because of the application the course provided.  I hope the department hears the praise all of the IMC-Hawks team screams, and this course will have permanence and longevity.

    Rachel Kaylor, another type of lucky student, was allowed to take the course based on outside experience.  Her class assessment is as follows:

    Before taking advanced IMC, I learned about IMC through various internships. Bringing corporate knowledge of IMC to the theory-based classroom was an interesting but incredibly helpful experience. Though I understood IMC before taking Dr. Persuit’s class, I had not learned the academic side. Through the projects we completed all the way down to the nightly readings, the class enabled me to look back on campaign experiences I previously had and better understand what worked, what didn’t, and why! This was interesting because typically we learn in the classroom and apply it to the “real world.”

    Lucky for us, Allyson and I had the opportunity to take this class together from different perspectives, but the course still enabled the same opportunities.  Advanced IMC has offered us the opportunity to rename a company and participate in activities in which we want more experience.  For example, there were three choices for groups: IMC Conference planning (Academic Planning), Cape Fear Center for Inquiry Anniversary (Event Planning) and Google-Ad Words (Marketing/Advertising).  With an interest in the academic world of IMC, we both chose to research the logistics of having an IMC Conference here at UNCW – yes people, this is really happening!  This opportunity provided us the opportunity to learn all of the aspects of planning conferences, which is incredibly important in the realm of academia, as well as how to write a proposal, and how to pitch it.  We learned about the hoops and hurdles of reserving space, working with time and budget constraints as well as the infinite amounts of research it takes to complete something of this scale.

    (Back to Allyson typing) Even though we had different backgrounds coming into Advanced IMC, we are both leaving with great course experience that will help us indefinitely.  We are hopeful that IMC will become as popular in the COM Dept. as we perceive it to currently be.  We would like to send a shout out to Dr. P for all of her effort and hard work put into our awesome class.  Thank you, Dr. Persuit!!

    -Rachel Kaylor & Allyson Corbin