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Linkedin is the largest online professional social network. The site currently has over 200 million members and more individuals continue to join every day.

College students are joining Linkedin by the thousands. In fact, it is almost a requirement to have a Linkedin profile in today’s job market. It has become a way to brand yourself online so that professionals will look at your Linkedin profile instead of your Facebook or Twitter page. It is a great framework that will look appealing to potential employers. Linkedin has accommodated the influx of students by having a special “student portal” that is designed specifically for one target audience: college students. It allows them to add special classes that pertain to their field of interest, upload projects and add organizations they participated in during college.

Companies have begun to use LinkedIn as a marketing channel to recruit and reach college students. Organizations and companies go on LinkedIn and look for applicants to fill internships or entry level positions that can be filled by college students. After they find a suitable candidate, they invite the student to apply for these positions in their company. Finding and obtaining a job via Linkedin is not unheard of and is becoming increasingly more popular.

So how can a college student ensure that their profile will be viewed in a professional manner? Fear not, because Forbes magazine has compiled a list called “14 Steps to Improve Your Linkedin Presence in 2014”.

1. Update your photo
2. Craft a killer headline
3. Revisit your summary
4. Insert a call to action in your profile
5. Join 50 groups
6. Connect with all of your current clients
7. Share a relevant status update between 11am and 3pm each workday
8. Find your most relevant group and get involved
9. Download your network database
10. Save your best advanced people searches
11. Maximize your professional gallery
12. Use the alumni search feature to expand your network
13. Manage your skills and expertise section
14. Pursue recommendations

By professionally participating in Linkedin, students have the opportunity to actively engage with potential job opportunities. Companies are using the social networking site as a new and innovative communication channel in order to reach out to potential employees. They are able to go beyond their personal connections and reach out to people from all over the world. LinkedIn is a way to professionally “brand” yourself online to potential employers and create the framework needed to land an interview. If you have the right brand, you just might land your dream job.

-Anna Joy Zima

We want it cheap and we want it now! In today’s culture, we like everything to be immediate. Amazon has taken the idea of shopping online to a whole new level by offering college students the ability to sign up for Amazon prime for free for six months. This allows students to purchase clothing, household items, and even textbooks with free two day shipping. On top of that, Amazon says if a student refers another friend to the program, the initial student will receive a ten-dollar credit to be used at Amazon.  With money being tight in a lot of college student’s lives, it is extremely useful that not only can you buy textbooks, but you can rent them as well.  You can rent new, used, or digital textbooks. The used textbooks can sometimes be as cheap as one dollar! This helps avoid the marked up prices found at many bookstores.

Amazon has become a well-known and well-established brand over the past few years and their symbol is well recognized by people all over the world.  The use of Semiotics has played an excellent role in making Amazon as successful as it is.  Roland Barthes created the concept of Semiotics. He said that we as a culture gather information and attribute meaning to various symbols we see and interact with.  When a student is looking for textbooks, seeing the accredited swoosh of Amazon’s logo, they feel they can trust and know this brand is a good brand to use.

The key for brands that are marketing to college students is for the brands to show that they are reliable and affordable. Being that it is rare to see a college student without a technological device that allows them to surf the web, it is key for brands to have some sort of online presence where they can sell their products. Amazon has proven to be to be an easily accessible brand that has become a vital resource to college students everywhere. Do Amazon Prime’s new incentives appeal to you?

Margaret Caffaso, Kierstin Geary, Connor Gold, Olivia Sadler, Hannah Zeskind

Craving a chance to experience some of Wilmington’s finest dining, but are discouraged by the idea of such a pricey evening? Wilmington’s Encore Magazine has an entire week dedicated to you. Their goal? To drive traffic to the area’s finest local eateries, bakeries and culinary hotspots! Encore’s marketing representative, Shea Carver, took some time to speak with me about how restaurant week works, explaining that “As part of Encore Restaurant Week, we will persuade diners, local and otherwise, to indulge in the outstanding cuisine along our Southeast corridor. In doing so, we ask for participating eateries to come up with an incredible deal to drive diners into their establishments during one week in October and one week in March.” To make Encore Restaurant Week (ERW) not only a success for businesses but for customers, here are examples of what could be offered: 1) Four-course dinner for $25 per person. 2) Three-course lunch for $12 per person. 3) Dessert trio for $10 per person. 4) Breakfast for two for $20,

Encore utilizes the IMC perspective on event coordination throughout the process of organizing this highly anticipated event. In event coordination “professionals must understand not only the basics of event planning such as site selection, setup requirements and on-site management strategies, but also how IMC principles are an integral part of the planning and execution process.” Encore approaches restaurant week with the key purpose of “Let us be your Ad Agency!”

In an effort gain interest from local restaurants and attract their participation Shea Carver enters the planning process with the same goal each year; talking about this year’s event Carver explained, “Forty-two restaurants participated in our last fall event. We want to surpass that number each year! This helps show the scope of the Southeast’s culinary scene and keeps customers coming back, time and again to enjoy our many great eateries.”

The following is a list of ways Encore promotes ERW:

• www.EncoreRestaurantWeek.com (listing ALL participants and their menus)
• 8-week full-page ad run in encore (begins Sept.) leading up to the event
• Over 20,000 ERW books distributed the month of the event, including book insertions into encore the week of the event
• Radio ads on stations from Hometown Media, Cumulus Broadcasting and Sunrise Broadcasting
• Print ads in local publications (TBD)
• Print ads in Raleigh’s Independent (alternative weekly)
• Online coverage through Port City Foodies, Foodie Confidential, Wine and Walnuts, Wilmington Restaurant Recs, Burgers and Brews Food Reviews and more!
• Editorial coverage in local publications and on TV
• Listings on multiple online calendars: Southern Living, WHQR, Our State, Savor NC

ERW has generated coverage in the following outlets and will be pursuing the same — and more — through ongoing press releases for the event: Greater Wilmington Business Journal • StarNews • Port City Foodies • Charlotte Observer •  Downtown Wilmington Inc. newsletter/blog • Raleigh News and Observer • Cape Fear Convention and Visitors Bureau • WECT • WWAY • FOX News • Open Table • and more!

“If it’s any indicator to the success of our first six restaurant weeks, www.EncoreRestaurantWeek.com (previously www.WilmingtonRestaurantWeek.com; traffic is rerouted to our new URL) has received well over a million hits since its inception in August 2009. We are able to track every restaurant’s statistic online, according to who viewed the menu, which we’ll provide for all restaurants to see after the week has concluded” Carver detailed about how they are able to help each participating restaurant directly, as well as increase participation in the event and gain recognition year after year.

Encore’s final claim to the success they will achieve as advertising agents of each participating restaurant lies within the ERW Book, which states, “Continuing with our successful marketing tactics, we will publish the ERW book featuring every participant/sponsor, so diners can carry it with them during the week and refer to it easily. Each restaurant gets full-page coverage, listing their logo, a picture, address, phone, Web address, and whether they require reservations, along with their menu(s) and prices for ERW. We will categorize it in sections, with the region’s name and customized logo, i.e. “Pleasure Island Restaurant Week.” and will print over 20,000 copies, to be distributed at encore distribution sites, participating establishments and beyond.” Overall, Encore Restaurant Week appears to be primarily about offering the consumer the chance to enjoy fine dining at lowered prices, when in all actuality there is equal focus on the promotion of each participating restaurant as well.

-Madeline O’Connor

It has been a mouth-watering week as Encore’s Restaurant Week here in Wilmington comes to a close. This week is hosted each fall by Encore Magazine and allows restaurants that participate to offer great deals for eight days in order to promote and advertise themselves. This year Encore went above and beyond to make this an easy and appealing opportunity for customers by creating a free EncoreGo! app which lists each of the restaurants, their location and the deal they offer. The app also shows users opportunities like local happenings, staff’s favorite places, drink specials, music and nightlife. With all of Wilmington made accessible with the touch of a finger, why would anyone not want this app?

The use of apps is becoming a more popular form of communication between company and consumers. Each app sits atop a large amount of underlying data and it is up to the business to put the right content in. Apps are highly focused to serve one highly targeted need at a time, which prevents brand confusion and keeps readers focused on the content offered. From the IMC perspective, there is the idea that now that consumers have a voice in companies, phones have become an essential tool to facilitate the conversation. Smart phones create ways for readers to enjoy looking at their screen and it is important to make sure the company’s app is easy to look at and navigate. It is not just about making your content fit on a smaller screen, but customizing the app to offer appealing visuals, information, and interaction so that readers stay engaged. The more enjoyable your app experience is, the longer users will look at it, tell others about it, and continue using it.

A second and essential reason consumers are relying on apps is the delivery of information. Instead of having to flip through various WebPages, apps have the ability to give readers all the information they might need in a condensed version. This helps them to find anything they might have otherwise missed. Most people would rather download a free app associated with a brand they are interested in than dig around multiple sites to find the information or product they desire. This demonstrates why apps are constantly feeding dynamic and fresh content to users to keep them satisfied.

Apps are changing the customer experience to offer stand-alone content that users can only access through Smartphones and tablets. This creates a specific target audience that brands can reach out to on a more individual level than larger social media or websites. Like EncoreGo! an app is aimed at giving readers the right amount of information that they need, keeping it interesting and making sure there is variety and change each time they return to the app. Now that Restaurant Week has ended the app has already modified to advertise new events, locations and deals. This kind of consistency keeps consumers coming back and encourages them to rely on the app to find what they want trouble-free and efficiently.

Savanna Mitchell, Brandon Hawkins, Danielle Salas, Bobby Huckabee, Tony Mangili

Lazy, or uninterested? More and more voters seem to be refusing or neglecting to vote in elections. This voter apathy is being caused by more than just laziness. Politicians are trying to encourage people to vote, but it seems that voters have other reasons for their lack of participation in today’s elections.

The young adult vote is one that many candidates shoot for knowing it can help make a difference. Unfortunately the percentage of young voters is on the decline. In 2012, the percentage of young adults ages 18-29 who voted was 45%, down from 51% in 2008.

As mentioned before, this decline isn’t just voter apathy. In fact, less than 13% of college students said the reason they didn’t vote was that they were not interested. If it isn’t laziness or a lack of interest, then what is it?

Young voters that have attended college makes up 71% of the young voting population so it is likely that college students are the largest representation of young adults ages 18-29. This can get a little tricky for students who opt to attend schools out-of-state. A large majority of students are still dependents of their parents and maintain residency in the state in which they are originally from. Here comes the confusion for students: Where can I vote? How can I vote?

Over 25% of college students reported that they did not register to vote because they did not know where or how to register, or they had simply missed the deadline. How do we fix this? How can we shift this trend of voter apathy?

If a quarter of students are claiming confusion and lack of information is the reason to not vote then possibly a change in distributing information could help. States that mailed out sample ballots, information about polling places, and extended polling place hours, saw youth turnout increase by about 10%. If campaigns could focus their marketing towards students who may not know how or where to vote, we might see a boost of out-of-state college students voting.

By: Kelli Hall, Stephanie Jordan, Morgan McCleaf, Shawn Rause, and Danielle Walters

Photo Credit

The early bird gets the worm! Or, in this case, the early voter gets to skip out on the long lines at the polls. On October 30 at 5p.m., UNCW’s Election Campaign Communication class is helping citizens take advantage of early voting by hosting the Inaugural Run to the Polls event. During this time, UNCW students and locals who take part in the event will run, walk, or bike from Leutze Hall on campus to the Board of Elections and participate in early voting.

The overarching marketing campaign is to increase voter turnout and mobilize young voters, while also informing voters about the 2014 Transportation Bond, known on the ballot as Streets and Sidewalks. According to this article, discussing the Engagement Approach to IMC (Groom, 2008), this type of marketing is on the rise in the ever-changing marketing sphere. Groom (2008) debates the importance of keeping up with the evolving expectations of the target audience by presenting a product or service to them in a way that will engage and bring about a desire to take action. By putting on this event, the Election Campaign Communication class has done just that. The class has also implemented various marketing channels in order to distribute the overall campaign message, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. By using social media as the channels of choice, the class is able to reach their target demographic: students.

According to the article, 12 Basic Guidelines For Campaign Strategy, a campaign should amplify the motivation of your audience, not just their knowledge. The article also states that it is better for the audience to learn by doing, rather than having information thrown at them. The Run to the Polls event exemplifies this aspect of campaigning. It motivates the community to execute a certain behavior–take part in early voting–while also educating the target demographic about the 2014 Transportation Bond. By participating in this event, the community will have the opportunity to learn more about the Transportation Bond from the mayor himself, Bill Saffo. By physically mobilizing voters, this event will affect voter’s behavior in carrying out their civic duty at the polls, which will ultimately impact voter turnout.

-Hannah Rodgers, Kaitlyn Russell, Malia Swift, and Anna Joy Zima

The battle between Kay Hagan and Thom Tillis for the NC Senate Seat will soon be coming to a close with the poll date rapidly approaching. This election has been one of the most heavily funded and discussed elections in recent years. We see proof of this is in the amount of political advertisement that we are constantly bombarded with while watching TV and browsing the internet. These commercials have been extremely harsh and have attacked each of the candidates in an unflattering manner.  The term voter apathy is used to describe the alienation many citizens feel from our government. We often feel like in elections we are picking from the lesser of two evils. These commercials have painted a picture making both Kay Hagen and Thom Tillis seem like horrible options.

Agenda Setting Theory (1968) states that the media has the ability to impact what we as consumers and individuals believe is important. This election, issues of high importance include education, families, and women’s rights. Hagan and Tillis’s campaigns have pegged these issues as high importance and therefore they have become the focus of their attacks on the other. With the recent seven figure ad buy attacking Kay Hagan, North Carolina’s Senate race became number one in outside spending in the history of Senate races, with $55.7 million spent. 

Negative advertisements have completely overshadowed positive ones in recent years. In the 2012 Presidential election, Romney spent 91% of his 492 million dollar advertising budget on negative ads. This trend is not partisan as Obama also spent a majority of his 404 million dollar budget, 85%, on attacking his opponent.  With elections coming up on November 4^th, many people may be just as excited to see the end of these ads as to go out and vote. How do negative ads affect your voting preferences?

– Margaret Cafasso, Kierstin Geary, Connor Gold, Olivia Sadler, and Hannah Zeskind