IMC Hawks Blog

Blog

  • The Apple of Consumers’ Eye

    Everyone wants a bite of the Apple – Apple Inc., that is. The company has innovated the world of technology ever since the release of its first computer in 1976. Since then we have witnessed the evolution of all of their products, particularly the iPhone. Extreme supporters of the brand have been known to camp out in line for hours, even days, to get their hands on the newest version of the phone, and on any given day it’s not uncommon to hear the familiar sound of the iPhone ringtone. So what’s the secret to their success? The answer is their brand management.

    Part of the allure of Apple is its exclusivity. Apple Inc. was originally thought of as a company that offered products for rich professionals ahead of their time, and Apple seemed to be ok with that.  However, the creation of the iPod and then the iPhone expanded Apple’s brand to reach a larger demographic. The iPhone was groundbreaking in its launch in 2007 because it offered its customers an innovative smart phone, at a price that was in reach of most middle class Americans. Despite the fact that the iPhone was still significantly more expensive than others at the time, more people were able to join the Apple family because it was cheaper than many of its other products. People that purchased the iPhone still had money, but could justify spending the extra cash for the features it provided. Even today the iPhone is arguably in a class of its own, and has become the gold standard in the smart phone industry.  But the craze hasn’t ended. Apple announced it would be releasing not one, but two new significantly different, versions of the iPhone this fall: the iPhone 5s, and iPhone 5c.

    The iPhone 5s is aimed at the same people who Apple has always targeted. It is the advanced version of the 5– still pricey, with the same design of its glass face and back. The newest features include on top of other things, a fingerprint scanner, higher quality camera, and a faster processor. The 5s also comes with a new top of the line operating system, the iOS 7, which technology enthusiasts everywhere have been excitedly waiting for. The 5c is in a completely different playing field.

    Image

    Image

    The iPhone 5c is aimed at a different audience that Apple has never acknowledged. Operating under the new iOS 7 system, the 5c features improvements to the iPhone 5 such as longer battery life, the ability to support more LTE bands, and a slightly improved FaceTime camera. But here is the difference–the design and price. The 5c is plastic and comes in five different colors, and for a 16 GB iPhone 5c you will pay only $99 dollars. This is a 100-dollar difference from the starting price of the iPhone 5s and previous iPhone releases. Apple seems to be catering to potential customers that may not have been able to enjoy the apple experience due to high prices. So why the big change, Apple?

    James Twitchell, author of Branded Nation says, “Pay attention to your brand or lose your business” and CEO Tim Cook explained in Apple’s September keynote speech, “This allows us to serve even more customers.” So what do we make of all of this? With market prices that are less expensive than the average competitor prices, Apple appears to be confident reaching out to the completely new demographic. But will this help them beat out competition? Is it showing the public that competition has become a threat to the all-mighty iPhone? Will it turn off loyal customers who pride themselves in being able to afford the Apple experience? Only time will tell if introducing the 5c with the 5s will benefit the Apple brand.

    -Caroline Robinson, Jade Lester, Meghan Carey, Morgan Jones, Savannah Valade

  • “Everything for U”: Target’s Brilliance…Part Two

    Since Target has proved their brilliance once again with their back-to-school marketing and advertising campaigns, we just had to talk about it again! For years, companies have struggled to invent new and innovative ways to advertise this exciting time of the year.  However, Target has perfected profitable, long-term campaigns and has successfully created fresh, new advertising strategies.

    img-thing

    As Thursday’s post mentioned, Target has been successfully hosting Target After-Hours Busing Events for twelve years.  Adding UNCW to its list of schools this year was very popular amongst students in Wilmington. The idea of getting to shop for trendy dorm and apartment materials after hours gives students the feeling that Target is catering to their needs personally. This year, Target took that personal touch one step further.

    With all the hype surrounding live events and social media, Target decided to try their hand at it as well.  Bullseye University, Target’s back-to-school campaign, created five dorm rooms decorated with Target products that real, soon-to-be college students lived in from July 15th to July 18th.  Viewers could interact with the participants by asking questions through social media, entering drawings, and purchasing products without interrupting the streaming video.  This campaign is the perfect way to reach their target audience, college student. Target has not just promoted their brand, but has given their audience an opportunity to interact with their brand.

    Advertising enforces the idea of a Commodity Culture.  Commodities are marketable items that satisfy the wants and needs of consumers.  In many ways commodities are a central aspect to a culture’s values, traditions, and meanings.  Target has mastered the idea of appealing to the Commodity Culture, especially in its Back-To-College marketing strategies.  On their Back-To-College webpage, the “…for U” theme is prevalent for every category of dorm essentials.  The home page advertises an end of back-to-school-season sale, with “Deals for U” stamped in the corner. When you click on “college bedding,” a picture of the many colorful Twin XL beds that college freshmen are so familiar with, with the phrase “Zzz’s for U” in the same position.  Target’s website is advertising the personalization aspect of their products to college students.  Making sure their dorm room, or apartment, and school supplies are able to tell the story of who they are to their classmates.  Commodity Culture states that people define themselves by what they purchase.  Target understands that young adults are finding themselves in college and want to stand out, which they encourage by allowing this personalization.

    everything-for-you-footer

    -Maggie Dowicyan, Tilson Hackley, Hilary Hall, Kelsey Raskob, Christine Schulze

  • Target Hits Bullseye With Brilliant Idea

    A company that can take the hassle out of back to school shopping is a company that has definitely won our vote and our business as customers. The days when back to school shopping was fun for us are long gone to say the least. For some reason, the thought of getting every color crayon that Crayola made or digging through piles to find the cutest lunch box, are not as enticing as they were in the past.  Back to school shopping as a college student is now viewed as a huge inconvenience. Over-crowded stores, lines a mile long, and over-aggressive parents that feel the need to bulldoze their way down the book bag isle are usually reasons to steer clear of any store on back to school weekend.

    Screen shot 2013-09-11 at 7.08.31 PM

    The Target in Wilmington, North Carolina has taken these pains into consideration and concluded that something needs to be done. This year Target partnered up with UNCW to take the stress of back to school shopping off of students. Advertised on UNCW’s website was a night where Target devoted its store exclusively to UNCW student shoppers. On August 18th, Target had a shuttle running a continuous 20-minute loop from 10pm to 1am transporting students to and from UNCW’s campus to Target’s New Centre location.

    This is a brilliant marketing plan. Target is a company that knows its consumers and pays close attention to their wants and needs. College students are not wanting to devote an entire day to going from store to store in an effort to find all of the items on their shopping list. And even those that do, the goal is to get in and get out as fast as possible. By opening the store late at night for college students, Target was aware that students would be more inclined to taking their time browsing the store and seeing what all they could purchase for their dorm or apartment. This plan was likely to make Target more money than if students were to be overwhelmed with people and having the “in and out” philosophy.

    Target has once again put themselves ahead of the curve and made it exponentially harder for competitors to compete with their brand. Known for being a more high-end store, Target has taken back to school shopping to the next level and to the most profitable target market imaginable. College students ranging from 18-24 are known for impulsive buys and back to school is just the time to boost their sales. They have taken their ideal market and closed off the store specifically for them. Many new students coming to college do not have the luxury of owning a car or having their family living close by and this can become troublesome when trying to make those back to school purchases. The fact that Target has taken this into consideration when shuttling students not only tells you about them as a company but gives you an idea of the loyalty they have for their customers.

    They then took this a step further and went beyond your everyday college student. Target gave kids living under the poverty line in Wilmington a chance to stock up on new supplies, clothes and necessities for the new school year. This says a significant amount about Target as a brand. Not only do they strive to meet the needs of college students in Wilmington, but as a community they want everyone to have an equal chance for success in the upcoming academic year. This makes us love Target even more. As as a consumer and college student it definitely makes us proud to shop there.

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

  • Looking Cool for the First Day of School

    School is back in session, which means for many parents it’s time to open their wallets so that their kids can dress to impress. While recently watching television and sitting through several minutes of back to school commercials, it was brought to my attention by a friend from France that Americans make a really big deal about shopping for the beginning of school. I have been so careless about how I dress since college started that I almost forgot how exciting it was in elementary, middle and high school to buy an outfit for the first day of school.

    The excitement about looking fresh on the first day has made the back to school shopping bonanza the second largest consumer-spending event behind the winter holiday season. With this time of year being such a money-maker, stores are pressured to produce ads that they believe will bring them the most revenue. Unfortunately for retailers, several of these ads have been a source of great controversy and concern for many parents.

    JCPenney recently received backlash for a TV commercial that many parents perceived to promote bullying. In the ad, a boy sits alone in the lunchroom while his mother explains that what her son wears could ‘make or break’ him. Soon after the commercial aired, JCPenney’s Facebook page was flooded with angry comments from parents. They claimed that the shot of a lonely student suggested that his clothes weren’t cool enough to attract friends, which was then promoting bullying based on fashion.

    Soon after the Facebook comments began, JCPenney personally apologized to each post and even pulled the ad from airing on television. The company announced that it was not their intent to promote bullying and even stated that they support several anti-bullying campaigns. Bad press is the last thing JCP needs, with their sales dropping over the past year. Even after pulling the ad and publicly apologizing, outraged parents still vowed to shop elsewhere this back to school season. Could be too much trouble for a six-second frame, no?

    For fashion-forward kids, going back to school is the best time of the year. With many parents sensitive to the messages that their children receive, I wonder if the need to be “hip” is worth the backlash that comes with many of these seemingly harmless advertisements.

    –Dylan Fowler

  • Kmart Goes Back to School

    “What up y’all, it’s dem kids again” is the intro to the newest Kmart back to school commercial. The commercial, which is in the form of a music video, is being called racist by it’s viewers and is causing a stir among consumers.  The ad features a young hip hop group called “Da Rich Kidzz” who rap about the newest back to school trends.  Kmart’s attempt to appeal to the popularity of today’s hip hop culture has actually done the opposite of what their marketing strategy intended to do.

    The design of the commercial targeted a small demographic, causing their brand image to be misconstrued.  With the majority of the children in the video mimicking stereotypical rap video dancing and using incorrect grammar, it is easy to see how the message of the commercial could be misinterpreted.  Although it is safe to assume Kmart did not intentionally create the advertisement to bring negative light upon themselves, they are now faced with rebranding and reevaluating their marketing strategy.

    With all of the current back to school advertisements out at this time of year, it makes us wonder why Kmart chose to go this route with this campaign. With lyrics containing slang and grammatical errors such as “dem” and “can’t no one pass,” Kmart made the attempt to draw in the youth who listen to hip hop. Instead of making themselves stand out in a youthful way among the traditional back to school commercials, they further narrowed their consumer base.

    According to an article on Business Insider, Kmart’s brand has been suffering for the past six years.  After viewing the advertisement, would you be inclined to shop at Kmart for back to school items? Could this be Kmart’s last attempt to gain back a significant customer base? Seeing as how they have not made a public statement in response to the racial backlash, it will be interesting to see whether or not this campaign will pay off for Kmart.  To have a successful marketing campaign strategy, a business must always be able to recognize who their publics are.  They must also know that by alienating a certain demographic they have to expect that there will be positive and negative effects.

    When all is said and done, Kmart was successful in being memorable.  However, will their sales, in turn, reflect in a positive way?

    -Aaron Love, Kara Zimmerman, Rachel Clay, Rebecca Hobbs

  • Back-to-School- Back to Taxes

    As of this past August, there will be no more tax-free weekends for NC. That’s right, you read that correctly- North Carolina repealed the sales tax holiday in efforts to increase revenue for the state. What is known as the “tax-free weekend” started in 2002, and has become a prime time for families looking to save money to purchase school supplies, clothing, footwear, sports equipment and even some electronics with no sales tax. Retailers say that other than Black Friday, tax-free weekend is the busiest shopping time in NC. However, the repeal of the tax-free holiday was erased by the General Assembly as part of the state’s tax overhaul. (According to a WRAL news report, the state lost more than 13.5 million in tax revenue on the 2012 tax-free weekend.)

    North Carolinians have only celebrated tax-free weekend for eleven years, but in that short duration, marketing in North Carolina has evolved to persuade consumers to take advantage of the tax break. Companies use flyers, commercials, promotional emails, web advertisements, and even add additional discounts on top of low prices in efforts to beat out competitors by drawing in the inevitable crowds of customers to their stores. Below is an example of a promotional email, sent out by Kohl’s, which gave customers a reminder of the tax-free weekend, along with an extra incentive to bring them to the store.

    Image

    Due to the slower summer season, businesses cling to these holidays to boost sales. That makes us wonder… how will the removal of tax-free weekend change future marketing for North Carolina businesses?

    Advertisers and marketers know that people in North Carolina will not be as easily inclined to spend large amounts of money in such a short period of time with no extra tax break, so what are they going to do? We can only guess what will happen next year, but we predict companies will amp their creativity in the back to school season. Brands like American Eagle and Teen Vogue are paving the way and are praised for their back-to-school campaigns, which include special events such as fashion shows and a huge social media presence.

    We know people are always going to have to buy back to school items, but now the main concern is are they going to buy as much without the incentive? Marketers are going to have to reinvent the way they communicate persuasive marketing to North Carolinians and deliver their new promotions in a way that our state will accept them. How do you think advertising tactics will change in NC now that there is no more tax-free shopping? Will you be spending as much money on back to school gear?

    – Caroline Robinson, Meghan Carey, Morgan Jones, Savannah Valade

  • I Guess I’ll Try Out This Thing Called Life

    Well, that’s it my friends.  Yesterday I took my last exam, donned my best Don Draper power suit, and saluted my undergraduate experience with one last presentation.  The feeling of finality didn’t really have a chance to set in because the exhaustion was fighting for most of my attention, but today has been a different story.  Four years ago I came to the Dub looking to break out of my small-town Georgia bubble and become the next big thing in the movie-making world.  It took me one introductory course in film studies to realize it wasn’t the thing for me, but what freshman actually knows what they want to do anyway?!

    So I spent my first year meeting new people from all over the world (here’s my shout-out to my I-House family), taking spontaneous road trips, and experiencing the best that my new home by the beach had to offer. If we’re being honest, I was thankful for a little time to just exist before I nailed down my major and had to think about growing up.

    Image

    I had no idea what COM Studies was, but thanks to one Jessica Ferrer, I stumbled upon the major and here we are.  I will always remember my freshman year when my good friend (and the best I-house DR) told me he could see me making impressive, impactful commercials.  Actually, I did forget it for a while, until a couple of years later when I found myself taking marketing and advertising classes within the COM department, and realized I’d finally found my niche in the world of creative advertising.  Thanks for that one, Rob!

    The courses I took over my last two years (many of which were taught by Dr.Persuit) challenged me more than any I’d encountered so far, and showed me how much I really had to offer.  I knew I’d never be happy in any career that didn’t allow me to apply my creativity every day, and my department has taken me down a path of finally discovering what career I’m passionate about.  Now I’ve started to build a portfolio and I’m sending out resumes, and suddenly the real world is upon me.

    Image

    I wouldn’t be where I am now if it weren’t for my experiences at this school.  The people I met as an Orientation Leader and Resident Assistant, the friendships I developed in my classes, and all of the unplanned adventures helped me to grow and prepared me for all the changes yet to come.  As I start to pack my things and (hopefully) nail down a new job and new apartment in a new city in the next few weeks, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for this place and all the amazing people and memories I get to take with me.

    Image

    So, final remarks in my final blog? Persuit’s students of the future… take good care of this blog, you have big shoes to fill if I do say so myself!

    Farewell and Happy Graduation class of 2013!

    – Ally Walton