Now that Valentine’s Day is over, we can get down to the real celebration of the season: Single Awareness Day, or SAD. A dedication to all the single people out there, sick of the holidays and searching for a break from the commercialism that is Valentine’s Day.
With no evident background explaining why Valentine’s Day is the cheesy, romantic holiday we all know and endure, the media has flourished coming up with its own meaning and traditions. The day itself cannot be pinned down to a single event, all we know for sure is that it is a mix of Roman and Christian traditions. The Catholic Church recognizes three different St. Valentines, each carrying their own legend. It is a holiday with a mysterious history, yet it is deemed the day of love.
Single Awareness Day has its own history, believed to be started by a college student at Mississippi State University. It became prominent on social media year after year on Valentine’s Day, but was recently changed to February 15th in order to give it its own celebration. Single Awareness Day is now officially a national holiday!
According to the website, singleawareness.com, suggested activities for this celebratory day include sending yourself flowers, partying with other singles, and exchanging gifts with single friends. And don’t forget to wear green, the complementary opposite of red, or black if you want to symbolize your absence of celebration.
For all the single people out there, you made it through another over-sentimental Valentine’s Day. Now is the time to assemble with your single friends, and buy the discounted chocolate. Being single is not a curse, but a celebration of independence and empowerment. That is what Single Awareness Day represents.
Life near the beach means seeing surf shops by the dozen. And what do you think lies inside these surf shops? Brands like Roxy, of course.
In 1990, Quicksilver began a venture to create Roxy, a swimwear brand that encompassed the female surfer, the first of its kind in a sport dominated by men. The brand grew and was well received by the surf-ette, and Roxy even created the first women’s board short.
So what can we learn from Roxy’s brand identity?
1. Their products are for women.
2. They target these products to women.
The logo, two Quicksilver logos reflected against each other to create a go to feminine symbol, a heart, encompasses the brand’s feminine spirit.
Roxy took a plunge into a market dominated by menswear, and came out drenched in success. But Roxy faces a definite challenge-
How do you advertise an all women’s surf-wear brand, especially swimsuits, without receiving backlash for objectifying women’s bodies?
The answer? I don’t think Roxy has been able to do it yet.
Critics were quick to comment on this ad for the Roxy Pro Biarritz competition from 2013 featuring surf pro Stephanie Gilmore.
This is the teaser video that doesn’t reveal Gilmore’s face, but the focus on her body was enough to send consumers into a critique frenzy
Advertisements seek to sell the product to the consumer, and noise, like a consumer not paying attention, can affect the ads effectiveness. The problem is that women’s bodies, even men’s, are often objectified as a tactic to break the noise that can distract consumers. Sex appeal holds attention, it gets consumers talking.
What are some alternatives when advertising a ‘women’s’ brand? Vera Bradley tried last year in 2016 with their #itsgoodtobeagirl campaign that was supposed to celebrate the everyday woman, and sell the luggage and handbag company’s products of course.
@KatMurti
Consumers were OUTRAGED, calling the campaign sexist and offensive not only to women, but men as well (ouch). The campaign eventually released less abrasive content, and called on a more girl-power type approach by quoting inspiring women.
The hashtag #itsgoodtobeagirl is still trendy on Twitter today #PRsave.
@islasianxjacki
Gender objectification in advertising is obviously a hot topic to critique, but as everyone knows, sex sells. And when you’re trying to sell a product, you need to sell.
There has GOT to be a way in advertising that can celebrate and use the human body without objectifying it.
Since the Roxy Pro Biarritz scandal, Roxy has laid pretty low in terms of video advertisements.
The question is this, if you were Roxy, how would you continue to advertise your all women’s apparel and surf wear? Keep in mind surfing isn’t done in hoodies and sweatpants; it is done in swimwear, boardshorts, and wetsuits. So…would you use sex appeal, or pull a Vera Bradley and try something risky and innovative (even if it could possibly fail at first)?
Applying for jobs has many young adults worried. There are ways, however, to boost your chances of landing that job. Creating a Linkedin Profile is one way to show your professionalism and is a good way to network with countless other people, but you are probably thinking that many people have these profiles. How can you make yours stand out? We have some tips that you can use when crafting your profile.
Join as Many Groups as You Can
Linkedin allows it users to connect with others and start groups. It is important to be in groups because the more groups you are in the more likely you will be found when searched by an employer. Be sure to only join groups that are relevant to the jobs you want to get. The more groups you are a part of the more times your name your will appear in front of someone looking to hire. You can really make yourself standout by leading a group too.
Be Very Descriptive in Your Summary
The more descriptive you are in your summary the better your chances will be in attracting attention to your profile. This space allows you to tell what separates you from your peers. It is a good resource to share your story. Also, be sure to include many keywords in the “speciality” section so that when searched, your profile will show up sooner.
3. Keep it Professional
Your Linkedin profile should be completely different than your Facebook profile. Linkedin is not a place to chat with your friends or create a profile to see how many shares or likes it can get. It is about networking and giving companies an online representation of who you are. Your profile needs to be organized. If your profile is a mess then whoever is looking at your page will assume that you are a mess too.
Show off Your Work
Linkedin gives its users the opportunity to attach files or link websites in the profile. It is important to utilize this so that employers have a direct link to see the work you have done. Do not be afraid to show off your work and be proud of what you have done. Remember confidence is key. Make your profile a confident one.
Keep it as Updated as Possible
Your Linkedin profile should not be outdated. A profile is not created and then left to be alone. It should be in motion and kept up to date. Your profile needs to constantly be updated so that employers see all your experience. If you leave important information out then they will have no way of knowing of it. They can only see what you put out there. Adding that extra information could mean the difference between getting hired or getting overlooked. If you have experience then be sure to let them know. Do not limit yourself.
Let us know what you think of our tips and be sure to comment below if you have any of your own that you would like to share!
Coming to theaters this Valentine’s Day, a former special forces operative, Wade Wilson, is faced with a new kind of battle when he is diagnosed with cancer. He and his heartbroken girlfriend, Vanessa, grapple with what could be his last few months on this world. In desperation, he finds a brief glimpse of shimmering hope in a dangerous experimental cure. With this new found chance to reclaim his future with Vanessa, the brave young fighter goes forth into the fight of his life. This all sounds like a nice heartwarming romantic movie for a Valentine’s Day date, right? Well, it may very well be a great date idea, however, this summary describes the beginning to the movie DeadPool, a movie that can’t be much further from a stereotypical Valentine’s Day movie.
Featuring none other than Marvel’s now iconic “merc with a mouth”, Ryan Reynolds will star as Deadpool in his very own R rated antihero adventure full of ultra-violence, crude humor, course language, and saucy remarks. While some recent advertisements might suggest differently, by simply viewing the Deadpool trailer in the link above, any potential moviegoer would pick up on the offbeat sarcastic tone of the film. Deadpool is a character loved by fans for his ability to break the fourth wall and to satire the more stereotypical super hero movies.
It is only fitting, therefor, that the movie’s advertisements are equally self aware. By jokingly advertising itself as a romance and by opening on Valentine’s Day, Deadpool is humorously showing the audience the style of comedy they are in for. The character, Deadpool, is notorious for breaking the fourth wall, thus he can directly address the movie going audience in his trailers, allowing for such commercials as this. Aired during The Bachelor, Deadpool appears holding a rose while talking seductively to the audience about how his story was actually, “a love story”. This satiric take on The Bachelor’s iconic rose is contrasted by the action scenes and comedic remarks that immediately follow, showing that while, yes, romance does play its role in the movie, romance definitely does not define the movie’s genre.
While it is certainly not a typical Valentine’s Day romance, but instead an action packed comedy of sorts, many couples will likely be including this interesting piece of cinema into their Valentine’s Day schedule. These ironic advertisements seem to be hitting their mark as Deadpool’s interesting “charm” appears to be making quite the impression.
Although it’s only in Wilmington, NC, once you step through the doors of Indochine Restaurant you are transformed into a Vietnamese wonderland. Guarding the front entrance, a 6-foot golden statue of Buddha welcomes the guests that come to dine. Statues, paintings, and nicknacks line the walls of the interior of the restaurant, all collected by the restaurants owners during their many travels throughout Asia.
The true enchantment begins when you pass through the back doors into the garden. With just over an acre, the Bartsch family has created a Vietnamese-inspired garden that will leave you speechless. From koi ponds to individual tiki-huts for guests to dine in, the garden is a true transformation to a new “far east” destination.
After opening its doors in 2001, Indochine quickly became one of Wilmington’s most popular attractions. Voted Encore’s Best Restaurant Overall for over 15 years, each visit to Indochine is a handcrafted experience. On top of a beautiful atmosphere, the cuisine only enhances the experience. Staying local and true to Thai culture, each dish is freshly prepared based on family recipes.
Indochine has built a brand based on every factor of the dining experience. Atmosphere, service, and cuisine are just a few examples of where the Indochine staff focuses their attention to ensure every guest is experiencing a true taste of Vietnam. Staying true to culture is very important to the owners and doing so has allowed them to build a strong brand awareness in the Wilmington community.
Based solely on word of mouth marketing, Indochine relies heavily on their reputation. Through their success it is clear that staying true to culture and providing the very best experience to the customer is vital in surviving in the restaurant business. Although the owners choose not to advertise in the community, Indochine is a name we all recognize and has become a staple in Wilmington culture.
As Halloween approaches, children and adults have been preparing for the holiday by buying costumes, decorations, and candies. Halloween is known as a night for children to walk around dressed up and get candy. However, recently the holiday has expanded to include all family members, even the pets
This year, PetSmart has taken to Halloween just as much as other retailers, such as Walmart and Party City, usually do. The pet retailer advertises everything from pet costumes and collars to Halloween themed treats and toys. They also offer Halloween events such as in-store trick-or-treating, pet photo contests, and even Halloween “pet camp” for those that don’t want to leave their pets at home that night.
The home page for PetSmart’s website features everything a pet owner could need for their pet to be a part of the Halloween festivities. While the majority of their advertising is for their own products, the site also advertises at home do-it-yourself recipes and costume ideas. This form of advertising says to consumers that the retailer truly cares about the pets and wants them to be just as much a part of the holidays, therefore making pet owners trust their brand more.
The communication design that PetSmart implements makes pet owners believe they need these Halloween items just as much as any other pet necessity. The company is making consumers buy into their narrative and purchase costumes for their pets. PetSmart holds a brand image that presents itself as a company for everything pet related. The company is seen as a go-to for food, toys, training, grooming, and in some stores, even veterinary services. By offering pet supplies and events for the holidays, even Halloween, PetSmart solidifies its image as still being the one-stop-shop for pet owners.
One of the main aims of Integrated Marketing Communication is to affect behavior and not just attitudes. PetSmart has turned a once silly idea of dressing your family pet up for Halloween into a business opportunity to make a larger profit. The creation of not just products, but events too, draws customers in so that they feel they have a reason to buy character costumes for their pets and Halloween themed toys. For most pet owners, their animals are members of the family, and should be included in family fun. PetSmart allows that to happen with their holiday apparel and pet-oriented events.
The pet Halloween industry has grown significantly to the point that CNN even offers the top 5 dog costumes of 2015 in their recent online article about Halloween Fast Facts, which can be found here: http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/13/us/halloween-fast-facts/ The top five costumes were as followed: pumpkin, hot dog, Batman, devil, and a bumblebee. Of those five, PetSmart offered every single one, some with multiple options, even for different sexes of dogs. Is it a coincidence that PetSmart sells the top five costumes? Probably not.
Cucalorus is Wilmywood’s premiere quirky film festival, showcasing independent films from local, national and international artists. Film connoisseurs sporting chunky glasses, artsy students in their thrift-store best and less interesting folk like you and I file into Thalian Hall (or one of the many other venues), settle down and wait for the lights to dim. This November will be the 21st year this little slice of art and culture draws people to downtown Wilmington.
I could barely convince people to keep coming after my twelfth birthday party, so how does Cucalorus garner a big crowd each consecutive year? A cohesive brand narrative, that’s how. And Cucalorus’ brand narrative is nothing short of weird—but in the good way. Let’s explore what makes Cucalorus cool.
It’s in the copy
While none of these factors are ranked in any specific order of importance, I am a word person and always like to read and evaluate the voice of an organization. Many organizations forget about this, not capitalizing its subtle importance. Bad organizations.
Cucalorus, on the other hand, has got its copy down pat. The copy, whether it’s online, in print or broadcasted on the radio, is how an organization communicates not only its news or events, but its personality, its voice and its image. Here’s a snippet of copy from Cucalorus’ donation page on their website:
“Hey Cucalorians!!! Do you need to get rid of unwanted cash? Make a donation and we’ll send you a tax deduction letter to send your fuzzy little friends at the IRS (they don’t need your money and clearly don’t know what to do with it!!). We do know what to do with it – we’re already plotting and scheming for the 21st annual Cucalorus Film Festival – taking place November 11-15, 2015!!! Help us fund the dreams and visions of artists all over the world by making a donation today.
Dreaming of eggnog omelettes!
Cucalorius.
The Cucalorus Film Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit and your donation is tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.”
On first glance this might sound unprofessional and not the voice an organization would want to convey. The context, though, is important. Cucalorus’ audience is mostly the aforementioned artists, hipsters and independent film connoisseurs and Cucalorians. These types of people generally like funny, creative and quirky things (like Cucalorus). These types of people also tend to be skeptical of the IRS—not to mention the state cutting NC’s film incentive last year. So yes, it might be OK for Cucalorus to be a bit irreverent, and it’s their creative risk.
Digital presence, dude
If your business doesn’t have some sort of online presence (an email address counts), I would like you to write to me immediately by carrier pigeon and explain how you’re still surviving. An online presence is increasingly important each year, and now just having a website and Facebook isn’t cutting it. Brand cohesion across appropriate social media networks and inter-connectivity between them is vital.
Cucalorus not only has a website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram but their own blog and—drum roll—they are all updated. Bravo, Cucalorus. Content creation and audience engagement are essential to a successful IMC strategy.
Creepily consistent image
This one is tandem with the digital presence. IMC consists of advertising, public relations, marketing and every other single communication an organization can perform with its publics. Consistency in corporate communication allows the organization and its audiences to construct a narrative and image of the brand. This is what people can relate to. This is how we can see the quirkiness, irreverence and artsy personality of Cucalorus as if it were that weird kid in your English class who would always have some snappy reference to an obscure book even your professor hadn’t read. But less annoying.
The color scheme and design is consistent. The font-faces, graphics and little cartoon dudes are consistent. There’s well-organized navigation and that copy I was talking about earlier. The social media pages follow suit. There’s an article on this if you’re into academic papers. Basically, the author, Simon Torp from Odense University in Denmark, says that as an organization your communication through all channels must be consistent, accessible and in line with your self-image, public image and meta-image for people to take you seriously.
Zany staff workers
When I said all channels of communication, I meant all of them. Even the staff workers and volunteers need to be carefully selected and even briefed on an organization’s code of conduct. One time I went to a screening of a Cucalorus film at Thalian Hall and, not to get into too much detail, I, with the rest of the audience, was sternly asked by staff to partake in a ritual involving whipped cream, button pins and our tongues. Was I offended? No, but I could have been if I had been misguided by thinking Cucalorus was actually a convention for neo-Puritans. Because their self-branding and self-image don’t suggest that, I could expect something out of the ordinary. It’s the risk that Cucalorus takes to maintain its image and appeal to its target audience.
High-quality product
When it comes down to it, a business or organization is only as good as its product. Silly brand narrative and image aside, Cucalorus does a good job at what it does. It recruits and selects excellent film talent from around the world and showcases it in quality and entertaining venues. This is where word-of-mouth comes into play. Word-of-mouth marketing or WOM is an organic and invaluable means of public relations, advertising and marketing. Have you ever read a positive news story about an organization you love? Or has a good friend of yours recommended a product or service they favor? These are examples of WOM that can make or break an organization depending on whether they are in favor or against it. Maintaining the balance between brand narrative, professionalism and good business sense is how an organization thrives. While Cucalorus does an outstanding job of its own branding and controlled media, its reputation for quality and intrigue reign in filmmakers and spectators every year.
I am no way affiliated with the Cucalorus film festival professionally, nor do I represent it. I recognize good IMC in organizations and talk about it here. But, if you are tired of what the local theaters are playing, check out a showing of something interesting between November 11 and 15 downtown at Cucalorus.
Now that Valentine’s Day is over, we can get down to the real celebration of the season: Single Awareness Day, or SAD. A dedication to all the single people out there, sick of the holidays and searching for a break from the commercialism that is Valentine’s Day.
IMC Hawks Blog 