IMC Hawks Blog

Category: Entertainment

  • Marketing for Vacationers

     

    Sun tans, sand between our toes and palm trees are images that come to our minds when thinking about spring break. For many college students, spring break is a chance to escape the monotony of the academic lifestyle. This escape often incorporates tropical beaches and fun times with friends. Spring break is about getting away for a little while before the stress associated with the end of the semester creeps up on us.

    Since so many students decide to travel during their spring break, travel agencies take notice of this huge resource of customers and tailor a variety of packages to students. These agencies are aware that students are traveling on a restricted budget, and therefore market cheap packages to them.  Popular packages include flights and rooms is hotels  for five nights (because spring break is usually Monday through Friday).

    One travel agency in particular is cashing in on the huge revenue associated with the student demographic, StudentUniverse. The agency’s website promotes the company as a resource for students to find travel deals catered to them. On the website students can search prices for flights going to their potential spring break travel destinations, activities to do while on vacation,  and cheap hotel rooms. StudentUniverse creates travel packages to popular spring break destinations, such as Panama City and Cancun.

    All though StudentUniverse markets itself as a travel agency for students, it also provides profitable advertising and marketing tactics for companies. The StudentUniverse website shares the benefits of marketing to students with companies. The website also tells companies how they can connect with students without the internet.

    It is apparent that StudentUniverse works with other companies when looking at the activities and events it suggests for its student customers.   The website promotes specific restaurants, parties and other things for travelers. Companies are aware that StudentUniverse can connect them with thousands of potential customers. These customers are looking to go on vacation, have fun and spend money.

    StudentUniverse is an excellent example of the ways companies are marketing to us, without us ever being aware of it. Maybe the next time you are planning your trip you will take a  minute to consider the locations and activities your travel agency is promoting and why.

    ~Hunter, Josh, Molly and Ashley

  • Get your Fuzzy on!

    Looking for something new and exciting in your life?  The Fuzzy Peach is a self-serve frozen yogurt bar that allows their customers to be as creative as they’d like. Located in Racine Commons, and in three other sections of Wilmington, The Fuzzy Peach offers eight different flavors of frozen yogurt each day. Also available are rows full of toppings including fresh fruit and candy to make each yogurt creation unique. The Fuzzy Peach is a healthy alternative to dessert, but still satisfies the sweet tooth that we all have. Customers pay by the ounce, so they’re in control. Add on ten toppings, or maybe just one, but in the end the customers will have exactly what they’ve been wanting. Rocco Quaranto, Wells Struble and Jason Nista graduated from the Cameron School of Business from the University of North Carolina Wilmington in 2008. The trio met their freshman year in the dorms and ran track together. They graduated and continued on to peruse employment in the corporate field, but it didn’t take long before they were bored with their jobs and wanted something new and fresh. The young entrepreneurs came back to Wilmington, NC two years after graduation and decided to start their own business named The Fuzzy Peach. They got the idea of a frozen yogurt dessert bar from California and thought it would be a business that would be successful in the Wilmington market.  Needless to say they found a niche and have struck gold in the Wilmington area.   Did these young entrepreneurs place their yogurt shop in Wilmington by chance, or was it a strategic planned marketing move?  Their knowledge of the Wilmington area and their locations for their stores leads us to believe it was a strategic move on their part.  Their placement of the first Fuzzy Peach store is conveniently located close to UNCW, and their probable target audience is college students.  Through word of mouth and advertising, this location became a popular spot for college students in Wilmington craving frozen yogurt.  Once that location became a hit, they opened up their second location in downtown Wilmington.  This location offers free frozen yogurt to a different company downtown and their employees on certain Fridays advertised by the store.  This second store’s target audience is businesses and professionals working in the downtown Wilmington area. However, they are also still open late for young students wandering downtown.  Their Monkey Junction location is their third, and attracts people from the surrounding areas much like their newest location in Porter’s Neck.  A Fuzzy Peach yogurt store will be coming soon to Carolina Beach, which will further expand their target market.  Each location offers specials, such as T-Shirt Tuesday where customers wearing a Fuzzy Peach shirt into the store will receive 10% off their frozen yogurt purchase.  The future seems very bright for the three entrepreneurs who have brought a frozen yogurt empire to the Wilmington area. -Kelsey Bendig, Brooke Keller, Andrea Blanton, Brian Burch

  • Why did you vote for THEM?

    The strength of political party’s brand largely depends on knowledgeable voting consumers who understand what the brand has to offer.  However, no matter what a person thinks about a particular party, everyone tends to come to an agreement that the strength of a brand can quickly collapse. If the party is viewed as divided or sending incompatible messages, their voter’s perception of the cohesiveness breaks down and credibility is lost.  Although, if the party is perceived as being more “exciting” and innovative the voters are more likely to pardon their misdoings.  According to Gareth Smith and Alan French, “as all political brands try to appear trustworthy and honest, transgressions pose a clear threat to political brand relationships.”  They also stress that the overall brand must satisfy their needs when it comes to “the competitive nature of the political market, the credibility, attractiveness and personality of its leaders, and the party’s perceived salience and credibility in fulfilling its promises.”

    A politician’s campaign for the Presidency is no different than a company marketing a product or service to a target audience.  Just like in marketing, it’s important for politicians to conduct research and gain knowledge about what their target audience perceives to be important and credible.  During the 2008 election, Brad VanAuken, author of Brand Aid, developed, conducted and analyzed a survey given to 100 people from 29 states on political branding strategies.  He hoped to gain insight into the personality traits often associated with strong and powerful political brands.  Through his research, he established two lists; the most desirable and the least desirable qualities for potential Presidential candidates.  Two of the most desired qualities for a potential President include trustworthiness and intelligence. On the other hand, two of the least desired qualities include using fear to motivate and supporting companies over people.  Political candidates should integrate these characteristics into their brand to appeal to their target audience.


    With the upcoming elections, politicians can take this study into consideration when developing a campaign to promote their personal brand.  It’s important to remember that consumers can make or break a political candidates’ chances of becoming our next President.  Candidates should do whatever they can to connect to their audience.  People feel more of a connection with a political brand if there is access to online interactions. Obama successfully created an online community to establish social networks to recruit and fund-raise among the local community. The Internet has become a means of relationships with its voters and will be of importance for the future political brands.

    “Political brands clearly face a challenging future with the only certainty being that old strategies such as the occasional re-branding and change of leader will be insufficient to address the core concerns that consumers have of them. As the world becomes more interrelated, nation states are increasingly unable to deliver on their promises to electors; electors who are increasingly aware of the brand’s attempt to influence them and less prepared to accept their right to do so.” –Gareth Smith and Alan French

     

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

     

  • Who is the Award Really Going To?


    This year millions of people have and will tune in to watch various awards shows that honor and celebrate some of the biggest celebrities in the world. But why? Awards shows are nothing but a bunch of rich people talking about a bunch of very rich people while wearing clothes that cost more than the average viewer’s annual income. The reason these events are so interesting, aside from placing the whose who of entertainment in the same building, is that it offers us a chance to see the face behind the brand. We get to “catch” the actor out of character and see what the musician is like away from the studio. It’s the only time a year that most people get to see Will Smith interact with his family or see Pink step away from her emotionally charged music and have a relaxing night with her peers.

    If we wanted to see Brad Pitt act, we could run to the local Redbox and rent MoneyBall and if we wanted to hear Katy Perry sing we could get online and download her latest album (legally of course) but these shows are about so much more than that, these shows are about taking those brands that entertain us throughout the year and recognizing the face behind that brand.

    There can be that personal connection behind those who have many different faces in different roles of television shows, movies and more.  Even though the winners stand up behind the microphone and deliver a pre-rehearsed speech about how it was not possible without certain people, we still see them in their own skin.  There are no accents or lines, just them.  It’s almost a purity in that we can have those actors and actresses take off their many masks and be themselves for an evening.  That’s what seems to drive the excitement aside from them winning awards in the respective categories.

     

    – Julius Roberts, Leanna Marshall, Bryce Koonts, Leslie Tyler

  • Year of Adele

    The Annual Grammy Awards are one of the biggest nights in the music industry where artists are recognized for their exceptional achievements. Last week the Grammy awards ceremony celebrated its 54th anniversary at the Las Angeles Convention Center with host, LL Cool J. With live performances by Bruce Springsteen, Katy Perry, and Adele, America was eager for this year’s Grammy Awards. The 54th Grammys brought in 39.9 million viewers which was the second highest rating since the 1984 Grammys. America, along with the artists, held their breath with anticipation to hear the winners for the 78 awards.

    It’s hard to go even a day without hearing the name “Adele” in the music industry. She hit the music scene in 2006, but it wasn’t until 2010 that she seemed to gain fame overnight with her single “Rolling in the Deep.” The young British singer has encountered many obstacles in the past year, from canceling her tour to undergoing vocal surgery in late 2011.  “Adele underwent vocal cord microsurgery by Dr. Steven Zeitels to stop recurrent vocal cord hemorrhage (bleeding) from a benign polyp,” said a source at the hospital where her surgery took place.   She gave her first post-surgery performance at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards last week, and solidified that she’s still got it. Her worldwide fame reached new levels this year with an amazing 6 Grammy nominations; Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, Song of the Year, Best Short Form Music Video, and Best Pop Solo Performance. She won every category in which she was nominated and left the awards ceremony with her arms full of Grammys.

    At 23, Adele has more confidence than most females her age. She focuses on her passion for music instead of trying to look like the “ideal” celebrity.  She is happy with how she looks and is not pressured to be skinny like her competitors.  Despite criticisms of her weight rolling in from the media, Adele prides herself with being a role model for the average woman. Her fame and success prove that talent can overcome looks in today’s society.  “I’ve never wanted to look like models on the cover of magazines. I represent the majority of women and I’m very proud of that.” –Adele

     

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

  • Getting Embedded With Awards Season

    When thinking of awards season, it is easy to get caught up in the sound of long-winded acceptance speeches or drenched by the happy tears of successful artists and advertisers. These 2012 award winners are not the only people making the most of their grand performances however, in fact if you listen hard enough you may hear the sound of Voices Heard Media celebrating their biggest business influx of the year. Voices Heard media is a leader in social communication that provides embeddable applications to websites that wish to drive additional traffic and establish online communities on their sites.

    Voices Heard Media’s biggest hit this time of the year is an application that allows customers to embed customizable and interactive polls in almost any web page. This is perfect for websites vying to capture the attention of Internet browsers who are dying to vote on the “worst acceptance speech” or “most likely to cry” in the 2012 awards season. No matter which social media page you embed them in, these interactive polls have been proven to not only exponentially increase the number of hits a site gets but also entice 50% of users to return again.

    By using their engagement engine to jump-start this years awards season, Voices Heard Media has managed to lure traffic from social media sites to their customers sites. Just like a blogger might use the Academy Awards to drive traffic to their blog, Voices Heard Media uses it to drive traffic to their customers websites and eventually back to their own site, preferably to the $99 purchasing page.

  • InstaBRAND

    As we all know, Facebook and Twitter have been a vital source to promoting brands around the world.  In our ever-growing technological society, consumers want more. They get bored with what has been around and search for new innovative ways to relate to the things or people they love.

    Instagram is a growing social media site that is primarily accessed through a smart phone.  It is the same concept as Twitter, but your “Twitter feed” consists only of pictures to show what you are doing.  You can “like” and comment on the users you follow, edit your images and upload to both your Facebook and Twitter accounts.

    Brands like Michael Kors and Victoria’s Secret use Instagram to give their customers a visual of what they are doing behind the scenes at fashion shows or in the office.  It provides the consumers with a face behind the brand name and sense of feeling involved with what is being created throughout the company without the 140 character limit.  It allows brands and their consumers to have instant interaction through the commenting feature as well as posting pictures as responses.  Not only can consumers learn about their favorite brands, but they can learn about how their brands are being worn or used.

    Even though Instagram has not expanded to lengths of other social media sites, it is growing rapidly among consumers and will soon grab the attention of more businesses around the world.   Companies can now have their customers help in promoting new products to their followers.  Customers are endorsing their favorite brands which can be looked at as free advertising, for the people, by the people.  Consumers like to be able to identify with a brand through images as opposed to 140 characters.  As the saying goes, “Images speak louder than words.”

    – Julius Roberts, Leanna Marshall, Leslie Tyler and Bryce Koonts