IMC Hawks Blog

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  • SOPA/PIPA : The end of blogs

    The Internet as we know it today is vast and full of amazing features that allow us to communicate in ways that its original inventors would have never dreamed of.  What began as a way for the US government and military to communicate with each other has turned into a platform in which millions of Americans recently protested against the ominous SOPA and PIPA bills.  Today’s generation of young people have finally spoken up and we’ve seen small but significant changes as a result of our awe-inspiring protests.  Since SOPA and PIPA were shelved after an overwhelming opposition from the public we’ve lost sites that were the largest culprits of Internet piracy, such as Megaupload. This is only the beginning of what will likely be a long fight for ethical Internet laws that stop piracy and abuse without censoring creativity.

    The truth is, this blog and the billions of other blogs and content on the Internet would not exist with these bills in place.  Musicians, artists, designers, and various creative types rely on blogs to showcase their content to people they could never reach before.

    Simply featuring a product in a blog post can bring loads of traffic to brand’s site, for free! Getting featured on a popular blog is great for small businesses with tiny advertising budgets.  In fact, numerous bloggers get paid to feature and review products.  Blogs have turned in to a great source for marketing and advertising.  If a blogger whose opinions you respect recommends a product, you are more likely to believe her than the advertisement to the left of the page. Blogs are not new, but the concept of using blogs to bring brand awareness and reach new customers is new to Integrated Marketing Communication, as is the practice of IMC itself.

    Lets hope we find an ethical solution that will keep blogs, social media, and the creative exchange of ideas still alive.

    -Molly Jacques

  • Censored

    I know that I am not the only nerd out there in the world because there are so many people today on “World Of Warcraft” (W.o.W.). This game is known for being addictive and hard to get your significant other off of. W.o.W. has been around since November of 2004; it impressed game critics and got quite a following when it first arrived on the scene. The game is set in a world named Azeroth and it has heroes, villains, monsters, and anything else that you can imagine in the realm of the era of medieval magic.  Now this game has many series that go all the way back to 1994, so it has had time to obtain its millions of gamers; 10.3 million to be exact since September 2011. Like all game companies out there, Blizzard Entertainment is always looking for more gamers to buy the game so that they can earn more money. One of the ways the company has achieved its goals is with its many expansion packs; three in total: The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, and Cataclysm. The last expansion was released in 2010, but to keep the game selling they released multiple short commercials using a lot of famous actors: Ozzy Osbourne, Shatman, Mr. T, Aubrey Plaza, and Chuck Norris just to name a few.

    The game is rated T for teen by Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), meaning that the game is suitable for children 13 and older. In accordance to ESRB, the game may contain more intense violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, low to no blood, simulated gambling, and/or infrequent use of strong language. The game upkeep personal has done a very good job of censoring people who use too much strong language in the game and on the discussion boards. So why is it that they slipped up in two of their commercials? The two little 30 second commercials with Ozzy and Aubrey both have parts that are censored out because these actors used foul language. The company seems to want to have a friendly game environment as we see from their vigilance with language in the game; so why did they have it in the commercials for the game? Now one can reason that the commercials were censored, so you don’t actually hear the profanities. According to the Media Awareness Network, the thing to keep in mind is that the public has to find the content relevant, tasteful, and entertaining. The public audience that W.o.W. is targeted towards is young teenagers, who need their parents to buy the game. And if a parent sees those commercials, they might not want their children playing the game because of the thought of the profanities used by the actors might lead them to believe the game uses those profanities as well. So we see that companies need to keep in mind that the commercials they show are possibly the first contact the perspective customer has with the product. If there is not a true representation of your game in that commercial then you may be losing more business then wanted.

    – Dorothy Conley, Christina Stevenson, Mollie Berthold, Laura Simmons

  • VitaminWater: Ethically Healthy?

    When asking people about their New Year’s resolutions, you are likely to hear about their well-intentioned dietary goals. Our culture today is fanatical when it comes to weight loss and getting healthy. There are numerous hit TV shows such as “Biggest Loser,” “Celebrity Fit Club,” and “I Used to be Fat” plus piles of trendy diet books littering a great deal of homes across America that all attest to this craze. With people’s insatiable appetite for slimming down quick, it is no wonder that the big players of the industry are trying to cash in, even if it means being dishonest. So where do we cross the line? Isn’t it unethical when companies are turning out products that claim to be good for you but in truth are the opposite?

    By branding and promoting products as healthy, companies are capitalizing on the fact that people will buy almost anything they think will make them healthier, lose weight, or feel better. Some companies have gone to extreme lengths to ensure “healthiness” and “good for you” are  intertwined in their brand message but some go too far. It’s simply unethical for marketers to make a product seem healthy just to soothe our guilty conscience and sell their product. While striving to reach your health goals this year, keep the following misleading speed bumps in mind on your road to getting skinny and staying healthy.

    For example,Vitamin Water has healthy buzz terms in its title yet when you take a closer look at the nutrition label, its marketing campaign is contradicting the actual product. The brand of choice endorsed by our favorite two-coin rapper actually has about 32.5 grams of sugar per bottle. “Vitamin” and “Water” carry healthy connotations in their misleading titles and have relied on clever campaigns that play directly at our desire to be healthy. However, these products don’t in fact deliver on their promise. These little morsels of advertising non-truths can soon turn into a fat lie.
    -By: Alexis Kapczynski, Kacy Cox, Sara Kaloudis and Josh Bowman.

  • Every Ending Is A New Beginning

    Last week, in the prerequisite class for the IMC-Hawks, Integrated Marketing Communication I, students were assigned a project in which they had 48 hours to complete. The assignment was to create a multimedia campaign to promote UNCW. One group of students in the class proposed an idea to ask students and faculty “one question” in an attempt to capture their experience at UNCW in just a few words.

    As this class, and many of our college careers come to a close, we decided to expand on this evoking concept and provide our own final few thoughts before we all sign off for the last time.

    Looking back at my college career, I was offered a lot of advice but the one that held true no matter what the circumstance was to value your time here. These past four years have been frustrating, exhilarating, gleeful, melancholy, and turbulent but they have helped me grow and achieve things that I never thought possible. Treasure opportunities and learn from your mistakes; it’ll only make you a stronger, most resilient person in the end. – Jessica Kingman

    UNCW provided me an opportunity to see the world. Studying abroad with UNCW to Valencia, Spain opened my eyes to various ideals, ethics and values other cultures engage in which I now incorporate into my life. – Michela Noreski

    With one semester left in my college career, I’ve realized that you really shouldn’t hold back.  Do what makes you happy and don’t be scared to try new things; it’s all about the experience! – Liz LaPuasa

    Everyone says that college changes their life forever – UNCW has definitely changed mine. As I am about to graduate, I realize how much I am not ready to leave this place. The best advice I can give to future Seahawks is a lesson learned from the one and only Tom Petty: “You have four years to be irresponsible here. Relax. Work is for people with jobs. You’ll never remember class time, but you’ll remember time you wasted hanging out with your friends. So, stay out late. Go out on a Tuesday with your friends when you have a paper due Wednesday. Spend money you don’t have. Drink ’til sunrise. The work never ends, but college does…” – Jordan Hill

    What does UNCW mean to me? It means opportunity. The opportunity to start fresh, the opportunity to expand my knowledge, the opportunity to be a part of a tight-knit community, the opportunity to meet new people, and most importantly, UNCW has been the opportunity for me to grow as a person. I could not have chosen a more perfect school to spend my college years. I’ll be graduating next December—and when I do, I guarantee you it’ll be with no regrets. – Stephanie Bakolia

    I say, UNDER-PROMISE AND OVER-DELIVER and MEAN WHAT YOU SAY AND SAY WHAT YOU MEAN – Jared Sales

    The UNCW COM Studies Dept. has afforded me the opportunity to become an employee at one of the most prestigious publishing companies in the world. – David Glaubach

    My advice for the next IMC Hawks is: “Keep up with your work on a daily basis and be in full communication with your group members. If you all learn how to use your strengths, every assignment will become easier.” – Sally Shupe

    As a senior who is graduating a year early, I cannot believe how much I have learned from UNCW and particularly from my amazing professors in the COM department in such a short amount of time. If I take away anything from this experience, it is that you must find a way to feel passionately about the work you do, no matter how trivial it may seem at the time because every assignment will help you develop further as a student and an educated citizen. – Claire Dillard

    My advice for the next IMC class is to READ the books assigned! Not only are they very interesting and teach so much about integrated marketing, but they are a great to source for future interviews! Everyone in the business knows Shirky! – Ashley Nelson

    There are so many things I could say but I am sure my classmates have covered most of them. My advice to you is simple…don’t forget why it is you are here and how important what you are learning is because we are the future. – Alaethea Hensley

    My advice to the incoming IMC-Hawks is to remember the importance of every lesson you are encountering through this course, and every course you take at UNCW. Don’t just do it for the grade, see the importance in each problem, each assignment and each project. You will get out of the course what you put into it!-Lauren Phelps

    UNCW to me is a place where I am able to fully reach my potential and grow as an individual, both creatively and intellectually. As a transfer student, I couldn’t be any happier with my decision. I think it is safe to say that the Communication Studies Department has given me tools to succeed in the working world. – Claire Outlaw

    Thank you to my IMC 2 class for asking me to join them on their last post of the semester. Although this sounds like graduation advice, it’s more like life advice. I try and follow it as much as I can. — Henry James, the American-born writer (he wrote The Turn of the Screw and The Portrait of a Lady, among others, which you may remember from a literature course you might have taken at UNCW), wrote an article called “The Art of Fiction” that was published originally in 1884.  In this piece, James responds to a pamphlet about writing fiction from another writer, with whom James seems to disagree. I’m not a literary critic so I’m going to leave it at that. Anyway, one of the pieces of advice James gives to new writers of fiction has always resonated with me as a student, a scholar, a teacher, and a citizen: “Try to be one of the people on whom nothing is lost!” I offer to you, my IMC-Hawks, that being this kind of person – the kind on whom nothing is lost – is one of the best pieces of advice I can give you as you complete your B.A. in Communication Studies. To me, James is saying more than “pay attention;” he’s reminding us that a lot goes on that we ignore, either willfully or unintentionally, when we should be at our most conscious. I see it in my classes, when students are caught up in everything other than what we’re discussing that day; I see it in my son, who can get lost in a game of Angry Birds (my parenting award is on its way!); and I see it in my own behavior, when I have two monitors and an iPad and a cell phone and all are tuned to something different. To be the kind of person on whom nothing is lost, we sometimes have to stop paying attention to those distractions and focus on what’s in front of us. Conveniently, an education in communication studies teaches us to be the kind of person on whom nothing is lost. Rhetorical theory teaches us how to interpret oral and written communication. Paying attention to interpersonal communication helps you in your most intimate relationships. I try to demonstrate how understanding of IMC doesn’t just make you a better practitioner, it makes you a more conscious consumer and a more engaged citizen.  Being the kind of person on whom nothing is lost rejects the passive and embraces the active. Take an active role in your education, your occupation, your family life, your civic life. Don’t just sit back and let it happen to you. Good luck and I’ll miss you all!   – Dr. Persuit

    We hope you have enjoyed our edition of the IMC-Hawks blog this past semester. Although this is our final blog post as a group, be sure to check-in in January for a new generation of IMC-Hawks! Until then — Stay classy, Seahawk Nation.

    IMC-Hawks:  Oliver Evans, Jared Sales, Michela Noreski, Lauren Phelps, Jordan Hill, Alaethea Hensley, David Glaubach, Liz LaPuasa, Stephanie Bakolia, Sally Shupe, Claire Dillard, Ashley Nelson, Claire Outlaw, Jessica Kingman

  • Time Flies, When You’re In College

    I can remember kindergarten graduation like it was last week. I had on my white dress, frilly socks with my shiny, white shoes (I never understood this style) – big white bow in my curled hair, and lipstick. I remember being incredibly embarrassed when I walked across the stage to get my diploma; simply because when they announced my name and my aspirations of being an ice skater when I grew up: the crowd burst into laughter. My graduating kindergarten class of 1996 was full of future firefighters, doctors, teachers, policemen, and then there was me – the future ice skater. Needless to say, where I am from we do not have ice rinks; we barely even get snow every other year.  This experience at an early age, to realize that I was different and had an imagination, paved the way for how I would now approach my life. I branded myself creative. From this point on, I decided that I was going to be me – no matter how many people laughed at me.

    Fast-forward 15 years and here I am graduating college.

    It honestly feels like just yesterday I was moving into Cornerstone Hall on UNCW’s campus, a ‘fresh’ new student straight out of high school. When people say “time flies when you’re having fun,” they are referring to college. I cannot grasp the fact that in 10 days I will be a college graduate; time has definitely flown by. Before this semester began, I thought I had it all figured out, and that I was “ready” to graduate. However, I had it all wrong! My current feelings are similar to Peter Pan’s in that all I want to do is scream “I will not grow up! You cannot make me!” But, I realize that I am not Peter Pan and I do not live in Neverland; I am a Communication Studies student who is about to step foot into the real world. It may be scary, and I might not like it at first, but its life. I shouldn’t worry though – I am prepared for it. I have taken so many different classes at UNCW, have experienced so many different things, and have learned from all of them. I have dealt with my share of “crazy” roommates, the difficult realization that UNCW will never have a football team, and also a climate that is all but predictable. As I am about to graduate, I can honestly say that I am a better person after my time spent as a Seahawk. Although I am not 100% sure what I want to do with the rest of my life, I know that UNCW has prepared me for anything.

    An excerpt from Robert Fulghum’s book, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, is the list of things learned in kindergarten – with the insight I have gained over the past 15 years in parentheses:

    • Share everything. (but write your name on it, roommates sometimes steal from you!)
    • Play fair.
    • Don’t hit people. (it is against the law when you get older)
    • Put things back where you found them.
    • Clean up your own mess. (if you don’t, no one will)
    • Don’t take things that aren’t yours. (you will get caught)
    • Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.
    • Wash your hands before you eat. (getting sick in college is not fun- your mom can’t make you soup!)
    • Flush.
    • Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. (but you should probably visit the Rec Center too)
    • Live a balanced life – learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
    • Take a nap every afternoon.
    • When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together. (especially when you ‘go out’ downtown)
    • Be aware of wonder.
    • Remember the little seed in the styrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that. Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup – they all die. So do we.
    • And then, remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned – the biggest word of all – LOOK. Everything you need to know is in there somewhere.
    • The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living. Take any of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or your government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm.
    • Think what a better world it would be if all – the whole world – had cookies and milk about three o’clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments had a basic policy to always put thing back where they found them and to clean up their own mess. And it is still true, no matter how old you are – when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.

    Some things change and some things stay the same but in the end we all have to grow up. But for the next week and a half that I have left as a student, and for everyone else that has time left here, and for the future Seahawks – I suggest we listen to the lesson that Jay-Z and Alphaville live by and stay “Forever Young.”

    — Jordan Hill

  • Closing the chapter to start a new one

    Today was my last day of college classes! The text books will get sold back to the bookstore shortly, the notebooks will get tucked away and graduation is so close I can smell the freedom of no more school work or projects. My time at UNCW has been a journey. Like any journey there are ups and downs, triumphs and tribulations, tears of joy and tears of pain but I took them in stride and persevered the toughest circumstances I had faced. There have been moments where I wanted to give up, but that is life. The hard times are exactly what it says HARD, but it is how you venture through those times where you succeed and they can only make you stronger and a better person. Absolutely nothing is going to hit us as hard as life. But is it not about how hard you get hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. But we have to be willing to take the hits, and not point fingers saying you are not where you are because of him, cowards do that and that is now me, that is not those of us who are in this graduating class of 2011.


    I can’t think of a more tenacious, more courageous graduating class that the one. It is finally here, all of the hard work has paid off. We all have been prepared on what to expect after graduation, searching aimlessly for jobs hoping to get a bite on the line of resumes we send out. We have compiled our portfolios full of artifacts with our best work, so we should be set right? Well somewhat. We are well prepared an well-rehearsed on how to approach the challenging interview questions, but we are about to enter a new chapter. This new chapter no longer has a safety net or someone to hold our hand, it is the real world where we have a choice to sink or swim. The world is my oyster and is anxiously waiting for me to reveal my talents.
    I am very proud of myself and of my achievements I have had at UNCW. I have had several phenomenal mentors who have provided me with the building blocks of who I evolved into becoming. THANKS MOM, MY #1 FAN!!! It has not been easy being pulled in so many different directions by so many responsibilities. But I muddled through, and I held tightly onto my dream and now that dream is a beautiful reality and a sign of a wonderful tomorrow. The plans of jobs are distant. Applications have been sent and few call backs and interview are in the midst of being scheduled. I know that most of us are concerned about our future, but there’s no need to worry. The economy is booming, the job market is wide open, the planet is just fine. It’s going to be great…… well here is to wishful thinking. But I am hopeful dreamer.
    The torch can now be passed along to others. My work here is now complete. Here are a few tips for those to who are about to embark on their new chapter.
    • Think outside the box to fill the box.
    • Don’t stop learning, keep trying to excel and grow.
    • Don’t miss an opportunity because of a prior commitment or class. (Sorry professors) Take advantage of everything you are given. You may kick yourself later.
    • Don’t ever let someone tell you, you can’t do something. Protect each dream and find the path that will lead you to it. If you want something go get it. PERIOD!
    • There are many roads we can take in life, there are also paths, and some trails, and some paths that turn into roads that then turn into trails. I guess what I’m saying is life is a journey and you can go whichever direction you want.
    • It is easy to slack off, but don’t do it. Taking the extra steps now will make things better in the long run.
    • Don’t say you can’t, because you can. It may be HARD, but deal with it.
    • Don’t be a lizard brain. If you are unfamiliar with any of Seth Godin’s books or blog, a lizard brain is simply saying how you want one thing, but you do something else. That’s a bad characteristic trait to have and does not look well on anyone.
    To conclude live each day by this quote from Ellen DeGeneres it has always put things into perspective for me. “Life is like one big Mardi Gras. But instead of showing your boobs, show people your brain, and if they like what they see, you’ll have more beads than you know what to do with.”

    -Michela Noreski

  • It’s Who You Know!

    The thought of graduating from college is awesome.  The stress of finding a job is not awesome.  I’m fairly certain most college graduates are looking forward to a career that pertains to their major.  I’m happy to report that there are plenty of jobs available for communication studies majors, I probably applied for all of them!  I applied for everything from a junior copywriter at JWT to an assistant account executive at Edelman.  I applied at for-profits, non-profits, large companies and small companies.  Weeks started to pass, then months with no responses.  I started to get very impatient and a bit scared because my current job does not utilize the skills that I’ve acquired at UNCW, and I am very anxious to move on from there.  My resume is above average and I have a very strong cover letter approved by Jen Chin so I didn’t understand what the hold up was.  I wasn’t taking into consideration that all those companies are probably flooded with resumes, and it could take months for anyone to read mine.  Finding job postings was the easiest thing in the world, so I thought everything else would just fall into place, wrong. 

    Then something miraculous happened.  A friend of a friend was able to hand deliver my resume to her HR department at a very reputable publication company where I never thought I would have the chance to work.  I was contacted two days later and interviewed.  My discipline capstone training payed off because I nailed the interview.  I was unofficially hired on the spot, and then today I got my official offer letter.  I feel like the luckiest person alive after all the upset I endured when none of the other thousand applications worked out. 

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    The moral of the story is: One of the most import aspects of job hunting is networking!  You have been told by most of your professors that knowing people and meeting people who do what you want to do can greatly improve your chances of finding employment.  Take your informational interview seriously.  If you never had Tammy Bulger’s interpersonal communication class, I’ll tell you what she told us.  Use Linkedin, clean up your Facebook, meet as many people as you can and leave a great, lasting first impression.  Be proactive, take IMC and utilize that contact list!

    David Glaubach