IMC Hawks Blog

Category: Advertising

  • Aliyah and The Sweetaholic Factory

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    For most college students, including myself, Friday nights are the best times to look forward to. On these nights, we are able to put aside our college stresses and get ready for the fun surprises the weekend holds. Some of these surprises could include spontaneously traveling to another state to see your best friends, partying, or using your free time to catch up on some verrrrrry much-needed sleep. For me, this Friday night included a delicious surprise! I discovered THE sweetaholic’s (someone who is obsessed with sweets) paradise here in our city of Wilmington called Kilwin’s Ice Cream, Chocolates, and Fudge!

    Kilwin’s Ice Cream, Chocolates, and Fudge is a sweets shop located on 16 Market Street in Wilmington, NC. The business started in Petoskey, MI by founders Don and Katy Kilwin in 1947. Since then, Kilwin’s business has spread all across the U.S. with 120 stores opening in 23 states. Kilwin’s also has gained a reputation for selling high-quality chocolate, ice cream, and homemade waffle cones. According to Entrepreneurs Magazine, Kilwins was listed as #68 for their 2019 Franchise 500 Ranking for the amount of money they make. From my visit to Kilwin’s this Friday, I can understand why they are ranked so highly!

    Upon approaching their Wilmington shop, there was a long line of hungry customers outside wanting a piece of chocolatey heaven. I, myself, was in line for about 30 mins for their ice cream, but the beautifully decorated place made the wait worthwhile. Through the store windows, I was able to see a worker hand making Kilwin’s delectable fudge by massaging and cutting them into huge, thick brown slices. On the other side, I saw another worker making homemade waffle cones by carefully taking them out of a machine and rolling them into their notable shape. Just by watching this and smelling the sweet rich aroma made my mouth begin to water.

    Once I was finally able to enter the store, I felt like I was Charlie and that I had won the golden ticket to the Chocolate Factory! The store was decorated with their fancy logo and photos of different ice cream flavors. Along the aisle where the customers and I stood in line, there were stations filled with Kilwin’s wonderful sweets.

     

     

    One that caught my eye was their station filled with their Sea-Salt Chocolate Bark and All Milk Sea-Salt Caramels.

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    Placing these sweets along the buying line was a great marketing strategy for Kilwin’s. It would let the customers gain more brand awareness as they were directly seeing the brand with the Kilwin’s logo along with the extra sweets they sold. By having the stations there, it encourages the most likely hungry customers into buying more things while they wait for their ice cream or fudge. Luckily, Kilwin’s couldn’t fool this IMC student. Aliyah: 1, Kilwin’s: 0!

    Along with the sweet stations, towards the back of the store was the ice cream bar which I was waiting for. There were all kinds of flavors: Key Lime Pie, Georgia Peach, Fudgie Brownie, Cake Batter, and tons of others! Besides their endless selections of flavors, what also made their ice cream desirable was that they were made from Kilwin’s original recipe. Now, THIS I was dying to try!

    In the end, I decided to get one of my all-time favorite flavors, Cookies and Cream, in a waffle cone bowl. With that delicious recipe, I was over-the-moon happy and had to take a picture of that moment.

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    Overall, I would say that Kilwin’s has definitely gained themselves a new customer and her name is Aliyah!

    To learn more about Kilwin’s and their endless sweets, check out their website!

    Also in the comments, let me know what you think about Kilwin’s, their ice cream, and their branding!

    – Aliyah Harris

  • Spring Break Travel, Iceland, and Authentic Advertising

    Spring Break Travel, Iceland, and Authentic Advertising

    March begins the season of spring break for college students and faculty. It’s a necessary period to disconnect, reflect, and have some fun in the midst of midterms and difficult coursework, jobs, or internships.

    But just because we might be escaping our day-to-day lives for a week doesn’t mean we escape the myriad ways that advertising and integrated marketing communication impacts us and our decisions. One huge way IMC impacts us: how do we decide where to go?

    Travel agents, tourism bureaus, hotels, airlines, and other stakeholders create vibrant campaigns. Few have had to deal with a crisis as large as a volcanic eruption.

    Inspired by Iceland

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    Eyjafjallajökull erupting. Via adventures.is

    In 2010, Eyjafjallajökull (an Icelandic volcano) erupted and caused historic disruptions, including ash fall that shut down flights across Europe for almost a week.

    Tourism to Iceland fell by 30%. Inspired by Iceland was a campaign that involved the whole country. The president of the country at the time, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, stopped the entire country in its tracks (schools, workplaces and more) to ask for citizens to submit positive stories–which they did.

    The campaign chronicled its success in this video:

    The huge catalogue of positive Iceland experiences included celebrity testimonials. Webcams provided live footage of some of the most tourist-attracting natural wonders. The results of the campaign included more than £137 million in extra tourism revenue and more than 22 million stories shared.

    That last part is pretty amazing, because Iceland’s population is fewer than 350,000 people.

    The Brooklyn Brothers, the campaign’s creators, shared a case study on their website with more details.

    What Other Travel Experiences Can Take from Inspired By Iceland

    The award-winning campaign was effective because the agency running it knew its target audience: socially conscious millennials wary of traditional advertising ploys. The Brooklyn Brothers successfully gathered authenticity and storytelling.

    What would be more likely to get you to travel to a destination: a generic, high-production-value slideshow of landscapes with a peppy but robotic disembodied narrator telling you to Visit XYZ? Or a series of pictures of black sand beaches and a story from Olaf, a real Icelander, telling you about his afternoon on Iceland’s south coast? What is more authentic–a curated video or a live webcam broadcast?

    If you picked the second answer for any of those, you’re part of the target audience for Inspired by Iceland.

    Authenticity in marketing is now more important than ever, Business.com writes. That’s counterintuitive for some brands, which strive to carefully curate a perfect facade. Consumers’ desire for authenticity also makes it difficult for brands that lack a clear contribution to “the greater good”–without that corporate social responsibility, authenticity just means admitting that a brand wants a profit.

    The travel and tourism industry has always been about selling experiences, not goods. The next time you start googling destinations, consider what experiences you’re being sold–and whether they’re true-to-life or inauthentic ones.

    –Nikki Kroushl

  • Sneaky Little Sponsored Posts

    Sneaky Little Sponsored Posts

    Product placement is nothing new, in fact, it’s a tale as old as time. Whether it be Wilson the volleyball or the countless music video stars and their Beats, we are bombarded with these gentle (or not so gentle) reminders that celebrities are just like us. Here are the products they use, and you should use them too.

    It’s pretty easy to spot overt product placement, but what happens when you’re scrolling your Instagram a feed and come across your favorite Bachelor contestant showing off a new pair of “sunnies” or your fitspo follow sharing her favorite smoothie recipe that includes a specific brand of protein powder. In recent years, it has become harder to spot when products are being intentionally marketed towards us. Even with the addition of the trusty sponsored post, there is something about Instagram ads that seems a little sneakier than good old-fashioned product placement.

    When a brand pays to be referenced in a film or TV show there is a level of responsibility the platform has to ensure the brand is trustworthy. If a film comes out supporting a faulty product the whole movie is tainted. Yet, when an influencer creates a post supporting a weight loss tea that is said to have very negative side effects, no one bats an eye. Sure, they might get called out here or there but for the most part, they get off scot-free and continue to post disingenuous ads.

    Speaking of Scott, celebrity influencer and member of the Kardashian empire Scott Disick, was the first person to (inadvertently) unveil the insincerity of these sponsored posts. In an ad for Bootea, he appeared to have accidentally copy and pasted the intended caption along with the instructions for posting. The caption read “Here you go, at 4pm est, write below. Caption: Keeping up with the summer workout routine with my morning @booteauk protein shake!” That’s a pretty big mistake to make. Of course, we would have known it was a sponsored post regardless of the blunder, however, there is something so underhanded about knowing brands are telling people what and when to post on their personal accounts.

    (Read the full article here)

    As someone studying IMC, this sort of marketing behavior really becomes a Sophie’s choice. There is no denying the power Instagram ads have in terms of creating brand awareness. We follow people on Instagram because we want to see their lives, the products they’re using, and in turn what products we should be using. But how do we make the informed choice when we don’t truly know it is a product they actually use or just a payout. When Serena Williams signs a contract with Nike we know that without a doubt she will be playing in Nike equipment, there is a level of accountability there. But when Scott Disick posts about protein powder we have no idea if that product ever even got opened.

    There isn’t really a clear fix to ensure that brands and influencers are held accountable for the content they post and promote but, as IMC students I urge to be diligent and aware of those sneaky little sponsored posts and as IMC practitioners I urge you to learn from Scott’s mistake.

    -Tori Lyman

     

     

  • And the Oscar Goes To…Advertising!

    And the Oscar Goes To…Advertising!

    The Academy Awards were last Sunday, and I think it’s safe to say there were plenty of surprises throughout the night. From the program having no host, to Green Book unexpectedly winning Best Picture, there was plenty to talk over the course of the next few days. Although director Spike Lee supposedly storming out after the Best Picture reveal, and Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s steamy duet made headlines, things that didn’t get as much recognition were the various advertisement campaigns geared specifically towards the Academy Awards audience.

    It’s no secret that we are living in an age of recorded television and streaming services, and people have become impatient in general when it comes to sitting through commercials. Much like the Super Bowl, an awards show such as the Oscars are another example of a live televised event people tune in to in real time, and thus present the perfect opportunity to capitalize on viewers’ attention. While the adverts for the program didn’t cost nearly as much as those for the Super Bowl (according to Variety, 30 second advertisement spots for the Oscars cost between $2-3 million), it was very clear through the commercials’ content that they were advertising directly to the Academy Award audience, especially females.

    One example of this was with Walmart’s ad campaign. It’s known that fashion and style contribute to some of the Oscar’s biggest moments—both on the red carpet and in the award categories. Walmart, one of the night’s sponsors, seized this night of culture and fashion as an opportunity to advertise their clothing lines, while simultaneously highlighting film crew members and stylists who work endlessly behind the camera to make “movie magic” happen. The various commercials reinforced the idea that if ordinary people such as Julia Roberts’, Rami Malek’s, and Chadwick Boseman’s stylists can be glamorous and creative while wearing Walmart, then you can too!

    Another advertisement specifically aimed at women between the awards was a Budweiser commercial featuring Charlize Theron. In the commercial, Theron challenges female stereotypes while drinking her beer in a bar by challenging men to various games (billiards, darts, arm wrestling, etc.). An A-List celebrity, and a beautiful woman at that, was sure to capture and keep the attention of a time-shift-conditioned audience.

    Another Academy-specific ad campaign came from Google. The company utilized clips from various iconic movies, such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Lady Bird, The Hangover Scream, Jerry Maguire, Deadpool etc., and depicted how the scenarios could have played out differently had Google been present in each scene. The commercials assume that viewers of the Oscars are movie buffs, and know enough about the films to understand the references within the commercials.

     

    What do you think? Do you believe the advertising efforts between the awards successfully kept audiences engaged? Did celebrities or those closely associated with celebrities influence your opinion about a product or brand featured? Comment below with your thoughts!

    -Audra Bullard

  • My RA Doesn’t Know What the BAFTAs Are… Do You?

    A couple nights ago, my RA was doing her door-to-door checkups when she came across my roommate and I discussing the BAFTAs (aka the British Academy of Film and Television Awards). We were talking about the typical stuff such as who was there and who we think had won when my RA interrupted and asked puzzledly, “The BA-who?”

    IMC Blog

    For her, she hadn’t heard of the BAFTAs and didn’t know what they were. Even when I explained what the acronym stood for, she still didn’t understand. Eventually, I referred to them as the ‘British’ Oscars.

    Although this explanation gave my RA a better grasp on what the ceremony was, it led me to wonder just how popular the BAFTAs were in the U.S. To be honest, the only reason why I knew about the ceremony was because some of my favorite celebrities, Prince William and Kate Middleton, advertised it on Twitter. Does social media always attract the BAFTAs’ viewers?

    To find my answer, I first had to watch their most recent show which were the British Academy Film Awards.

    The British Academy Film Awards were held on February 10, 2019 at the Royal Albert Hall, London, UK. The show featured notable (and nominated) actors like A Star Is Born’s Bradley Cooper, Black Panther’s Letitia Wright, The Queen of Scots and Suicide Squad’s Margot Robbie, and many more. Some of the film industry’s biggest winners were movies such as The Favourite and Roma which together won 10 BAFTAs.

    The awards were televised on the British network BBC One, but for North Americans, it was on the American network, BBC America. Although having them broadcasted on BBC America was a great tactic to bring in an American audience, not that many people have access to that channel. This led the BAFTAs in recent years to heavily rely on social media platforms to advertise their show.

    According to BAFTAs’ 2017 annual report, they create awareness by paying and partnering with Snapchat, Facebook, and Twitter to increase social engagement. This includes streaming live footage from the event along with hashtagging #BAFTAs or #EEBAFTAs. I have to say this strategy is smart since according to Edison Research, about 80 percent of North Americans had an online presence by 2017.

    Thanks to BAFTAs’ tactics and others, their 2017 online engagement totaled in 104,509,190 people. These engagements also include visits to BAFTAs’ website, organic visits on Facebook, and organic impressions on Twitter. This was an increase of 96 million from 2016.

    Another strategy the BAFTAs use is posting videos from their shows on to YouTube. Currently, their most popular video from the British Academy Film Awards is Dev Patel’s Supporting Actor acceptance speech for 2016’s Lion. It has about 820,000 views.

    The BAFTAs are killing their social media marketing and I hope by then end of 2019, they gain an even a bigger audience.

    Have you watched the BAFTAs this year? What do you think of their marketing strategies?

    Let me know in the comments!

    ⎼ Aliyah Harris

    Sources: Bafta.org

  • Election Day Voter Guide

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    Over the past few months we have been overwhelmed with political campaign advertisements for candidates whether it’s been on social networks, TV, or in print ads. We have seen our family, friends, and even celebrities endorse candidates and their campaigns and it has become a social media trend to post a selfie with your “I voted” sticker. As Americans, being able to express our concerns and beliefs is part of the individuality of our culture.

    If you did not choose the early voting option, do not fret, there is still time to vote and post your own “I voted” selfie! Election Day is finally here and the polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m.

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    Where to Vote: If you waited to vote till Election Day, you must vote in the precinct where you are registered to vote. With over 40 polling places in New Hanover County, you can easily search your address here to find the correct polling place!

    What to Bring: Although a photo ID is not a requirement to vote, certain voters such as first time voters who did not initially provide their North Carolina drivers license number may have to bring an acceptable form of HAVA ID. For example, a valid photo identification or a document such as a utility bill, bank statement, or government document that shows your name and address will be accepted. You can find more information here.

    Candidate Information: Deciding which candidate to vote for can be stressful. It is important to research about each of the candidates and learn their political point of view on a variety of issues and policies. Even if a political issue does not necessarily affect you personally, it is important to remember that many policies can affect the people around you. When deciding on a candidate to vote for, remember to do your own research! Sometimes the media can be one sided and as a voter, you want to make sure you understand who and what you are voting for. You can find a list of the candidates here

    Having the option to vote should not be taken for granted and voting gives us the opportunity to make our voice heard. So, do not forget to go vote today!

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    For more information on this year’s elections in North Carolina, you can visit https://www.ncsbe.gov/Elections/2018-Election-Information

    – Emma Adamcik

  • Elections are overwhelming, but not as overwhelming as bad public officials!

    Elections are overwhelming, but not as overwhelming as bad public officials!

    It should be no surprise that the midterm elections are around the corner. I’m sure we’ve all seen the plethora of ads and commercials that have taken up every inch of public space recently. Multichannel marketing is a sure-fire way to make certain your targeted audience doesn’t miss your message and the candidates this season knew what they were doing. They were all over your mail, your street signs, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Even if you didn’t know their message, you knew their name. tenor

          Both tragically and thankfully, this election season is nearly over, however there is still plenty of time to get educated and get to the polls! Don’t let the rhetoric and oversaturated market you’re seeing scare you away!

    I understand how it could feel overwhelming with how intense our political climate seems to be nowadays. New policies and claims appear to be made daily that threaten the lives of minorities, women, the LGBT+ community, and many others. From DACA to birth control to trans livelihoods to gun control, there seems to always be something new and confusing to comprehend in the political sector.

    64b814bd-9f6f-496f-83f9-6f0ba3d07703       The issues lie with all the campaign ads you see, and the crazy claims being made by publications and political groups. Don’t let all the talk freak you out. This is an exciting and promising time in politics-we can make a real change. Take all the advertising you see with a grain of salt. We know to be responsible communicators and go into the world with honesty and transparency, and to do good. Unfortunately, not everyone communicates in this way and it’s important to keep that in mind. So, when the opportunity presents itself to make a difference about who gets to represent you in Washington, you need to take it.
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     Here’s five steps you can take to tackle this as educated as possible!

    1. Register
      Several states allow voters to register on election day! If you’re lucky enough to live in those few states, congratulations! If you’re a resident of NC I hope you planned and registered ahead of time, because the deadline has unfortunately passed. Registering to vote is the first step in our voting process and if the number of ads we see to encourage registration is anything to go by, it might be the most important. What can you do if you aren’t registered? If you missed the deadline this time around, don’t worry. There is a lot you can do to help the candidates you support. The rest of this list won’t be too useful for a while but feel free to continue reading anyways and share it! You never know who could need a little push in the right direction.
      2. Think
      You know what’s important to you and what values you want upheld. Really think of how you believe those values should be fought for in office. What do you want your candidates to stand for? Guide yourself by the issues you see discussed on the news, online, in your classes. How do you feel about gun control, abortion, education, universal healthcare? While I do believe the information we see is highly polarized and a lot of times dramatized, those are issues that matter. There are so many policies to have opinions on and the more you understand your own, the better you can decide who should stand up for you in government.
      3. Search
      Looking up a sample ballot for your address is the easiest way to conduct a search about the candidates you need to learn about. It’s not very helpful to distract yourself with all the political discussions when you don’t even know who’s running in your district.
      4. Check
      Read up and check on the candidates now! See who fits best with what you want to see in government. Once you’ve researched your ballot, spreading out and looking at other districts and states could be helpful to see whom the candidates associate with and endorse. We know the candidates in different levels of government will often associate publicly and belong to the same public groups to spread their message. Association is a powerful force when marketing and that sort of branding doesn’t come easy. Reputations matter, both in politics and in marketing.
      5. Vote!
      This is my favorite step. Go out to your voting place and fill in your ballot. Don’t forget to grab a sticker and share it online!

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