IMC Hawks Blog

Category: Charities

  • A Symbol of Hope or Shopping?

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    http://www.sportivostlucia.com/?attachment_id=780

    Whether it be the NFL, Yoplait’s pink lids, or local breast cancer benefit events, like UNCW Communication Studies Society’s Rock for a Cure this Friday night, the color pink is plastered all over the nation during the month of October. As it stands, the pink ribbon is a universal symbol representing the fight against breast cancer. Over the past few years some critics have emerged saying this beacon of hope has merely become an annual marketing campaign. Nancy Stordahl, a blogger for the Huffington Post, criticizes the campaign and in 2012 she composed a list of the ten things she felt were wrong with the pink ribbon.

    You can find the full article here, but there are two points in particular she relates back to marketing that raise an interesting discussion. The first is that the pink ribbon is being used to sell stuff and has lost its original purpose, a purpose to unite this country and show our commitment to finding a cure. Today, marketers are using the pink ribbon to tie the cause to the products they are trying to sell. Stordalh even calls breast cancer the “shopping disease.” Customers are no longer buying just the product but they are now buying into the pink ribbon and what it has traditionally stood for. The typeology approach to IMC acknowledges that companies have products that look like another company’s products and services. However, it also points out that the market depends on common interests between themselves and the people who can help their company thrive. While the number of pink ribbon branded products on the market may be alarming, maybe marketers are giving consumers what they want – a deeper connection to a brand that allows them to make a contribution to something that has seemingly impacted them both.

    The second point Stardahl makes is that marketers are selling the idea of “selling good will.” If the consumer purchases a product that will lead to a company’s contribution, the consumer views this purchase as their contribution to the cause. This tactic allows corporations and organizations to sell more products and increase profits while enhancing their corporate social responsibility at the same time. In turn, consumers are able to buy into the commodity culture that surrounds the pink ribbon. They become part of the fight and part of the cure all while donning their pink ribbon branded merchandise.

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    http://www.shescribes.com/2010/10/free-60-day-membership-to-bjs-wholesale-club-for-everyone.html

    Next time you have the opportunity to join the fight, think local and try to avoid the marketing tactic of “selling good will” and supporting the “shopping disease.” If what critics say is true, and the pink ribbon has lost its symbolism for hope, strength and a unified commitment to a cure, is it ethical for marketers to continue using this symbol on their products? Let us know what you think about the national attention that is brought to the pink ribbon. Do you think it has become a marketing tactic or does it still representation of the fight to find cure?

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nancy-stordahl/breast-cancer-pink-ribbons_b_1951319.html

  • The Hunger Games are…Real?

    The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, opened on November 22, 2013 as a sequel to the Hunger Games. What started as a series of books by Suzanne Collins has been turned into a hit soon-to-be trilogy. Catching Fire made an estimated $158,074,286.00 on its opening night in the United States alone, according to IMDB. The blockbuster film partnered with many companies, including Subway and Feeding America. This trio has combined forces to also include Twitter in an effort to end hunger.

    As a result of Subway and Catching Fire being partners, Subway is currently using the tributes of the Games to encourage people to eat in the restaurant. This type of celebrity endorsement brings in people who might not normally eat there. “Oh, if Peeta eats Subway, I should too!” Granted, this behavior might come more from children but they, in turn, will ask their parents to take them to Subway. I’ve seen this time and time again with my younger siblings. This also works for the older crowd, however, because a partnership of this nature often includes promotional items or sales/deals that someone may anticipate being offered. Subway has transformed their marketing strategies and dining areas, with concepts like “Where Victors Eat” and “Win your own Victory Tour,” with the latter being a sweepstakes in conjunction with their collectible Catching Fire drink cups.r_kat1

    In the third and final facet of this trio of partners, Feeding America has jumped in and put their cause directly in the middle. Subway has placed cardboard cutouts of tributes Katniss, Peeta, and Finnick in the dining areas of Subways. A patron, after eating “What Victors Eat,” can take a photo with the cutouts and post it to the Subway Twitter, with the hashtag of #SUBtractHunger. Each time a hashtag is used, it is counted towards the 1,000,000 meals that Subway will buy for Feeding America. In the fine print, it says that Subway will donate up to $125,000, as each dollar makes about nine meals. However, this linkage will only exist until 11:59pm on December 15, 2013. The meals will be provided from Feeding America through local food banks in areas in need.

    This celebrity endorsement effectively ties in cause marketing in order to create an environment in which Subway patrons are encouraged to aid Feeding America. Though there is no mention of patrons being able to donate money directly to Feeding America via Subway and Catching Fire, the Feeding America website has a donation area, as well as a hyperlink to a Hunger Games site, where a large “Ignite the Fight Against Hunger” plea is proudly displayed under a Mockingjay and above a photo of the tributes stoically ready to win the real-world Hunger Games. The number of families that go hungry over the holidays is continuously growing. With Feeding America, Subway, and the Hunger Games movie series teaming up to feed families, alongside many other organizations attempting to end hunger, do you think the odds are in are their favor?

    -Hilary Hall

  • Towels For Troops: Supporting Our Heroes

    I cannot speak for others, but one of the most quickly used products in my household is paper towels. Often times, it seems that they have to be bought on a weekly basis. Thankfully, Brawny, the paper towel company, recognized the necessity that paper towels have become and leveraged their product to help out a worthy cause.

    Last year, Brawny partnered with the Wounded Warriors Project to launch an “Inner Strength” campaign. For two years, Brawny has prided itself on standing strong alongside the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) as a means of honoring injured service members. In 2012 alone, Brawny raised more than $500,000 for the WWP.

    hahahahaha

    For those of you who are unaware of the Wounded Warriors Project, it is a form of charitable support for members of the armed forces who were injured in the line of duty. Donations made to WWP help thousands of wounded warriors and their families as they return home from current conflicts.

    With great success, Brawny decided to continue this cause marketing initiative committing to raise $600,000 this year. As a means of accomplishing this goal, Brawny has promised to make a direct donation of $250,000 to benefit the WWP. They have also announced their pledge to donate an additional $1, up to $350,000 for every individual who: shares a “Thank You” note on the Brawny Facebook page, “likes” Brawny paper towels on Facebook, or texts THANKS to 272969.

    Large goals like this are often hard to achieve, but worth it when it comes to a good cause. In the study of rhetorical theory, Greek philosopher, Aristotle teaches the three modes of persuasion: ethos, pathos, and logos. In this example, Brawny is able to use cause marketing to appeal to pathos or the emotion of the audience, but this tactic is commonly used in cause marketing. Pathos is the strongest mode of persuasion; making it a more frequently used appeal.

    Personally, when I hear the word “persuasion” I immediately make the connection to an interchangeable and more frequently used term…Influences. Persuasion is a process directed towards changing or influencing people’s beliefs, attitudes, and intentions. Individuals are persuaded each and every day. Persuasion is a critical and underlying goal of all marketing and advertising efforts.

    The “Inner Strength” campaign is an effective form of cause marketing conducted by Brawny and the WWP. This particular campaign does an efficient job of persuading customers purchasing decisions by appealing to the audiences’ emotions. Customers are much more inclined to buy a product if they know that it is for a good cause.  It is that simple.

    In this case, customers are buying Brawny products because it is to their understanding that a percentage of the proceeds go to the WWP. This is because these consumers feel a sense of sympathy for wounded soldiers. This is a form of persuasion at its finest. Ultimately, cause marketing has proven to pay off in this scenario seeing how Brawny sales are through the roof and donations made to the WWP are at an all-time high

    Happy Thanksgiving!

    -Caitlin Ford, Parker Farfour, Alex Corrigan, Kaitlyn Batson

  • White House Ballers

    With the re-election of President Barack Obama there is one sport that is overwhelmingly happy that he is staying another four years, and that sport is basketball. It is obvious to all that President Obama loves basketball and is more than happy to use his influence to help spread the game. It is well-known that he likes to fill out the NCAA March Madness brackets that everyone goes crazy for and is surprisingly good at it. Like most major sports, the NBA  championship team gets to visit the White House and meet the President for a photo-op. Obama,of course,  isn’t complaining since he is a huge NBA fan and has been to several games during his Presidency. Never before has a President been so involved with one sport that he can call upon the biggest name athletes in the NBA to come help him out at different charities and fundraiser events at any point in time and they will come running. For example, in this election year, Michael “Air” Jordan hosted a 3 million dollar fundraiser for President Obama in New York and had NBA players like Carmelo Anthony, Rajon Rondo, Kyrie Irving, Joe Johnson, and Paul Pierce in attendance to play some hoops. With so many NBA superstars on his side he gets a good amount of publicity and respect from basketball fans all over the country. Obama is so integrated into the basketball world that the video game “NBA 2k13” has him show up as a character in the game to greet you at the White House when you win the championship in the game.

    Obama in 2K

    This is great publicity for the Commander-in-Chief, as basketball fans everywhere will see the President’s face every time they win the championship.  He may be the first President with the ability to advertise in a video game just because he loves the game of basketball so much. On election day he even plays his now-traditional “Election Day” basketball game with several big name NBA stars and a variety of White House aides. We think it’s safe to say that many basketball fans and basketball console gamers will be seeing more of President Obama the next four years.

    Eugene Lee, Lauren Habig, Erin Kiffmeyer, Hannah Eure, Ally Walton

  • Less Cancer, More Birthdays

    “Imagine a world with more birthdays.” Everyone loves a birthday. Birthdays mean parties, presents, cake, maybe a few libations followed by the possible dancing, and just overall merriment. Birthdays celebrate life and represent another year in the world. It is pretty agreeable that birthdays insinuate a good thing and have an overall positive connotation. The American Cancer Society, which hosts Relay for Life-a walking event that is held across the nation and raises millions a year for cancer research and resources, has taken this phrase and integrated it into their marketing campaign to make people rally behind their cause. Now the phrase, “Imagine a world with more birthdays” has an even greater, even tear-jerking message. Imagine a world with less loved ones passing away from cancer and more people being able to be merry and on earth for another year.

    As the designated “Official Sponsor of Birthdays” the American Cancer Society takes hold of the emotional appeal of connecting their cause to everyday life.  The American Cancer Society uses slogans such as “Happy Birthday is a victory song,”  “A world with less cancer is a world with more birthdays” and many others to very effectively draw people into raising funds for the events.  Connecting something scary, like the often terminal illness of cancer, to the happy annual event of celebrating a birthday, something that everyone has, is a very innovative way to put the American Cancer Society’s cause at a relatable level for all.  Everyone may not have cancer, but everyone has a birthday.

    The fact that the American Cancer Society markets their events as a general celebration of life in general makes it appealing to those with cancer or those who have survived cancer because they are fighting and have fought to live and have more birthdays.  It also makes it appealing to those who haven’t had cancer because they get a chance to really celebrate, be grateful for their health, and the fact that they have been able to celebrate their birthdays without fear of them being shorthanded by cancer.  Finally, the message really digs emotionally when it comes to a person who has had a loved one pass away from cancer.  How amazing would it be to be able to celebrate one more birthday with that special person?


    As a society, we understand that messages are being thrown every which way to try to get us to do something.  While the American Cancer Society could use a percentage or amount of money to help get people to support the cause of cancer prevention and awareness, instead they opt to display their organization as one that can bring an immense amount of hope to all audiences.  It’s safe to say the proof is in the pudding.  The American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life had an astonishing 4 million participants and raises about 400 million dollars a year.  With a marketed identity of one that sponsors overall joy, the American Cancer Society has struck a chord causing a strong continued success that many charitable organizations long for.  Happy Birthday must be victory song after all.

    – Alexandra Huss, Caroline Merrill, Alyssa Morrello, Lauren Van Trigt, Dann Williams