IMC Hawks Blog

Category: event planning

  • Marketing UNCW’s Midnite Madness & Fan Jam

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    Photo courtesy of the Association for Campus Entertainment.

    In the past two years, UNCW’s Basketball program has grown in prominence and recognition, not only on our campus, but on the college basketball scene as a whole. As a former Spirit Chair for the Association for Campus Entertainment, I was beyond excited when the Men’s team started winning. One of the best ways to garner school spirit on a college campus is to give students something to root for. Events intended to boost that school spirit, like Midnite Madness and ACE’s Fan Jam, are not new to UNCW’s campus, but appear to be getting some new—and well deserved—recognition.

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    Some decked-out fans at Fan Jam. Photo courtesy of ACE.

    This past Friday, ACE worked with the Residence Hall Association, Athletics Department, Campus Dining, and more to organize the event known as Fan Jam. The purpose of Fan Jam is to get UNCW fans excited about the upcoming basketball season, while rewarding them with free games, shirts, and food. It is a way to thank fans for supporting UNCW’s sports teams. In the past, this event occurred after Midnite Madness and ran late into the night. However, this year Maddie Driggers, the current Spirit Chair for ACE, moved the event to 8 p.m., meaning it would take place before Midnite Madness. As with all her events, Maddie was tasked with discovering fun and engaging marketing techniques to inform students about the event and its new time.

    IMG_2792  Basketball cookies made by Campus Dining. Photo courtesy of ACE.

    Aside from creating a flyer and posting the event details on social media, Maddie and her committee members tabled around campus. At their table, students could win Midnite Madness t-shirts by making a basket in a child-sized basketball hoop. This technique proved effective because curiosity drew a lot of people to the table. Additionally, the students were more engaged with the information because they were getting a reward. The Athletics Department also provided glowing foam sticks with “Seahawks” written on them. This giveaway helped market the event because they were conversation starters and looked amazing in photos.

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    The glowing rods in action at Midnite Madness. Photo from UNCW Athletics’s Facebook.

    The foam rods can also be used a sporting events throughout the year and the photos can be used for promotional purposes for upcoming games. On the Tuesday before Midnite Madness, the Athletics Department hosted a Teal Tuesday event where they gave away more t-shirts and free food. They held other events during the week, like an ice cream social. At each of these events, Sammy was present to take photos with students and encourage them to participate.

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    Sammy at Fan Jam with students. Photo courtesy of the Association for Campus Entertainment.

    Overall, the key marketing strategies used by ACE and the Athletics Department for these events were face-to-face interaction with their key public (the students) and freebies. Both groups were also consistent in their marketing in the week leading up to the big day, maximizing the amount of students who learned about the events. In the end, Fan Jam had an estimated 500 students attend the event, the majority of whom went to Midnite Madness directly after making the day quite the success.

     

    By: Katie Solinski

  • Humans of COM Studies: Lauren Arsena

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    Photo courtesy of Lauren Arsena.

    Lauren Arsena entered UNCW in the Fall of 2014. At the time, she knew she was interested in marketing, but was unsure which major would be the best fit for her. She quickly discovered COM and the potential the department had to teach her, not only marketing, but advertising, public relations, and more.

    In terms of campus involvement, Lauren is the President of the Association for Campus Entertainment. ACE is the student-programming board at UNCW; they are responsible for a wide variety of events across campus, including the Jesse McCartney concert in Kenan Auditorium last Friday, September 22. Lauren was an integral part of the team that brought Jesse to campus, resulting in the fastest selling show in ACE’s history. The show sold out in less than 90 minutes.

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    September 22, 2017: Jesse McCartney at the concert on campus. Photo courtesy of Hayley Kane (ACE Photographer).

    Lauren first decided to join ACE because she wanted to have a say in planning events for campus, while still having fun. Before becoming the president, Lauren was the Special Events Chair, now known as the Activities chair. She worked on a few of ACE’s traditional events like Last Seahawk Standing and Speed Dating. She created a few new events of her own as well, including Swing Dancing and Salsa Dancing lessons–both free for students. Last fall, she brought an improv group to campus for a Murder Mystery Dinner. Guests interacted with the characters to learn who the killer was.

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    Lauren (right) and the Spirit Committee Chair Maddie (left) outside of Lumina Theater before one of ACE’s films. Photo courtesy of Hayley Kane (ACE Photographer).

    She has gotten the opportunity to apply a lot of the knowledge from her courses to her position in ACE and vice versa. Lauren states, “I’m on the PR/IMC track, so I’ve learned a lot about how to effectively market on social media. ACE also helps me in my classes because I have experience in event planning, leadership, teamwork, and public speaking.”

    Along with ACE, Lauren works as a Calendar Assistant for Campus Life. She uses Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator to create the calendars in the bathrooms of the Fisher Student Center and Union. Her experience with the Adobe Creative Cloud inspired her to add a Digital Arts minor.

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    Two of Lauren’s recent calendars. Lately, she has been hiding a Pac-man ghost somewhere in the design. See if you can spot him! Photos courtesy of Lauren Arsena.

    After graduation, Lauren would like to work in event planning for a few years. In the long term, she would like to return to school to work on a masters degree in Student Affairs. Her goal is to work with a student-programming board like ACE.

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    September 26, 2017: Lauren (far right) photographed here with Brandon Stanton (center), the creator of Humans of New York. Brandon’s work is the inspiration behind this post. Photo courtesy of Stefani Norris (right of Brandon).

    “Interpersonal COM, public speaking, and PR have taught me how to market myself better to others so I feel more confident and ready to enter the workforce after I graduate.”

    By: Katie Solinski

  • To Sponsor or Not to Sponsor: That is the Question.

    Currently, one of the biggest trends in music is the presence of music festivals. These festivals host a number of bands from all different genres, pulling large audiences of varied consumers in to enjoy the shows. Festivals are generally a couple of days long and promote a laid-back lifestyle complete with camping tents and hammocks. We can thank Woodstock for this specified musical platform. However, is it also a platform for something else? In recent years, music festivals have also hosted a number of sponsors, who market their brands by simply surrounding festival goers with advertisements and products.

    But what is the benefit for companies that sponsor these events? Since companies spend time and money to become an integral part of the festival atmosphere there must be some sort of profitable gain. The major draw for companies is the audience. Generally speaking, attendees are in their late teens to late 20’s. This generational demographic, once targeted, are often very loyal consumers to their favorite brands. Companies hope to capitalize on this while festival-goers are having a good time, enjoying the music, and are open-minded. This audience is also very important because they have a larger disposable income than most. The ability to spend upwards of $400 for a two day music festival, says to companies that this demographic is, for the most part, either affluent or avid consumers.

    However, there is also a downside to being a sponsor at one of these events. Companies have to be very aware that if the audience does not perceive their product as one that coincides with the overall experience and atmosphere of the festival then they will either be completely ignored or considered an annoyance. For instance, a brewing company will do a lot better and be viewed much more positively than a law firm or insurance agency. In order to be successful as a sponsor you have to ensure that your product will enhance the mood, environment and fit the audience profile.

    One of the best examples of sponsorships working harmoniously with the specific nature of music festivals is Firefly, which was held for the first time this summer in Delaware.  Firefly made all of their vendors and sponsors local companies who brought a higher class of food and drink to the campsites. Instead of bombarding attendees with big named company sponsors Firefly chose to keep the music festival experience more authentic. Dogfish Head, their beer sponsor, even unveiled a new brew named the “Firefly Brew.” The event also had a TOMS Shoes tent, where you could purchase a pair of canvas slip-ons to be painted on-site by a local artist.

    Firefly was successful because they accompanied their musical line-ups with relevant sponsors, which in the end created a newer, more evolved and authentic version of a music festival experience.

    – Lauren Habig, Hannah Eure, Erin Kiffmeyer, Ally Walton, Gene Lee

  • Networking your way to the top!

    The Annual Communication Studies Day is something students and faculty alike look forward to every spring.  This jam-packed day is full of expert panels and networking sessions to help communication studies students get their names out there in their potential field, and a fashion show with examples of appropriate work attire.  Networking is something that is becoming more and more important when trying to get a job in society today.

    What exactly is networking? According to the UNCW Career Center website networking is, “the development of contacts and personal connections with a variety of people who might be helpful to you and your career.” Building a personal connection and relationship with people in the community will be beneficial. According to the UNCW Career Center website, 80% of jobs are filled by networking – people they know. Networking doesn’t guarantee a job, but it is a great way to gather information and get advice from people who have been in the industry for a while. It is important to network at any given opportunity. Networking can occur through various social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Social media is a powerful tool that should be utilized when networking.

    COM Studies Day allows students to hear from professionals and get experience with networking. Jenna Curry, a COM major graduate and treasurer of CSS during her years at UNCW, took these days to heart. After she started her career, she noticed that she did not know many young professionals in the Wilmington Area. With this realization, she decided to create an atmosphere where young college students and graduates could meet and network with local businesses because she had learned the importance of networking at UNCW. Port City Young Professionals (PCYP) is the atmosphere she created. PCYP hosts a networking event the third Wednesday of every month in different areas of Wilmington. Curry hopes to give the members a chance to establish new personal or professional relationships, give young business people a chance to interact socially, and share ideas. “PCYP was created to help improve its members’ networking skills, expand their contact base, and provide the opportunity to promote themselves and their business in a relaxing atmosphere. The goal of the PCYP is to ultimately help its members get involved in the local business scene and to impact the current and future marketplace.”  For more information about Port City Young Professionals check them out at: www.portcityyoungprofessionals.com.

    -Kelsey Bendig, Andrea Blanton, Brooke Keller, Brian Burch

  • Potato — Po-ta-to : Sweet Potato vs. Yam

    North Carolina is known for celebrating many odd and obscure things. For instance, our great state has festivals glorifying everything from pickles to blueberries, from crabs to mules, and in this case: both sweet potatoes and yams. Are you following along – sweet potatoes and yams are two separate entities!

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    In the United States, yams are really just another name for a sweet potato. However, a true yam is usually imported to America from the Caribbean. When cooked, yams are a soft, sweet, orange concoction. I know what you’re thinking – this sounds just like a sweet potato! The US Department of Agriculture requires that the label “yam” always be accompanied by “sweet potato” to avoid the confusion because they are generally used interchangeably.

    North Carolina is known for specializing in this crop of ‘related-vegetables’. The sweet potato is a native crop in North Carolina and is primarily grown in the coastal plain area of the state.  We are also recognized for our crops in tobacco, cotton, blueberries, and peanuts.

    But, why should we celebrate a vegetable? The answer is, why not! October 22nd and 23rd, in Tabor City, N.C., the NC Yam Festival celebrates its agricultural heritage by saluting the yam. From 1947 until 1961, the little border town of Tabor City played host to one of North Carolina’s largest festivals.  Since 1947 the Carolina Yam Festival has been attracting as many as 15,000 visitors each year, to this tiny community of less and 2,000. The following weekend, in Snow Hill, N.C., Greene County will be celebrating the vegetable at the 4th annual N.C. Sweet Potato Festival.

    Each event is sure to be a good time, with the Sweet Potato festival having entertainment such as Jason Michael Carroll at this years’ event.  But, if you look at it like these North Carolina growers do, more is always better – so check out both festivals!

    If you are not craving a sweet potato/yam after all of this, hopefully this will at least ease your mind: the main difference in these two vegetables is that their individual festivals are held on different weekends in October and are about 2.5 hours away from each other! These festivals combined don’t need any marketing, they rely on word of mouth to promote these fantastic events for people of all ages to have a yam good time!

    – Michela Noreski, Jordan Hill, Ashley Nelson

  • The North Carolina Seafood Festival

    The month of October brings many things to look forward to: crisp fall air, the eruption of auburn hues from the trees, and Halloween to name a few. But in the small, seaside community of Morehead City, North Carolina there is one more thing to add to that medley of feelings: The North Carolina Seafood Festival. The streets of downtown Morehead become alive with carnival rides and booths upon booths of delicious seafood to be consumed. You name it and it can probably be found amongst the crowded booths that weave their way down the main and side streets of the festival, shrimp, crab, oysters, clam, calamari, eel, sea urchin, flounder, rockfish, redfish, any kind of fish. With almost 150,000 people attending each year, the Seafood Festival, which celebrated its 25th year this past year, isn’t something that should be overlooked.
    With an emphasis on promoting the seafood industry’s positive economic and social impact on the state of North Carolina, the booths filled with the fresh seafood are one of the main reason people keep coming back year after year. Thus when marketing the festival to remind those who have experienced it before and to garner the attention of those who have yet to attend, focusing on the coast is an integral part of the campaign. Ad campaigns feature footage of the festival the year before, but also focus on the people who make the festival happen: the fishermen. Ads have been known to focus on their stories and what part they play in making the festival come alive. This personal touch brings a deeper meaning and connection with the festival for patrons. The promotion of the Seafood Festival digs deep into the roots of the festival and that is what has been continually celebrated for the past 25 years.

    -Jessica Kingman, Alaethea Hensley, and Lauren Phelps

  • Raise Your Brand to New Heights

      Gina Smith, like many students before her, set out on the collegiate path to a university degree 4 years ago. Whether she knew it or not, by the end of her journey she had created her very own brand. Many things contributed to Gina’s own brand, such as the Communication Studies classes she took, her internship in a PR office, or, more specifically, the student organizations or clubs in which she was involved during her college years. The real question out there is how did these organizations help to form Gina into the final product of alumni?

      The missions of many student organizations include several goals, each pertaining to the success of promoting their own brand through members like Gina. The tough part is how to obtain then keep those handy brand-promoting members, and further, how to promote their organization’s goals? We have the answer. IMC, of course!

      Tomorrow, a group of students from our Advanced IMC class will be addressing the themes of recruitment and retention of members, how social organizations can properly use media in order to reach both their members and the public, and finally, how to plan events for each organization in an hour-long information session called Raise Your Brand .

      We have invited representatives from each of UNCW’s student organizations in order to participate in this interactive information session in order to bring more awareness and action to each of their organizations. The final goal is to equip each organization’s representative with the knowledge and tools to be bigger and better on campus and in the community.

    ~Heather Cornman