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  • What Are You Watching?

    It’s that time of year again when all of the major television networks bring back our favorite shows with the premier of new episodes that we have been anticipating since May.  Whether or not you are a frequent viewer of network television, you most likely know the excitement that comes from the end of summer reruns and the fresh series that awaits.  NBC, CBS, ABC, and FOX are considered the top four major networks; each competing for the top spot as their most popular shows return to television this week.  In addition to the return of the popular shows, these networks invest millions of dollars in the premier of new series that hope to get their viewer ratings among the highest.

    One of the most beneficial ways to get the viewer anticipation flaming is through the persistent use of advertising that each network uses to promote these new episodes.  They build the viewer into believing that the show will be a suitable part of their weekly routine through advertising strategies such as time slots, commercials, clips, sound bites, and many more.  The importance of advertising is to bring the consumer in; while the importance of programming and commercial ads is to keep them coming back each and every week. If an advertisement is presented to us on a persistent level, it can successfully send messages to different aspects of our lives that we feel can relate to the show. For example, reality shows advertise their “genuine”, “real” experiences; family comedies advertise their ability to bring families together; dramas advertise towards our emotional appeals.  In realizing these types of advertisement strategies, we should be conscientious about what we watch in today’s vastly well marketed society. Because where our interests are targeted, our willingness to watch these upcoming premiers follows.  This week will not only reveal the new episodes that these major networks have in store, but will also reveal the kind of connection viewers hope to achieve with the programs they choose to watch.

    By: Oliver Evans, Sally Shupe, and Jared Sales

  • Breaking the Brand Bank

    It’s just a watch right? Wrong. It’s a representation of who you are as a person, an insight into your success and a statement of your style and character. It’s a Rolex and it costs a ridiculous amount of money.

    What do customers look for when shopping for a product? Quality? Price? For most people, this depends on the product. I am sure everyone can think of at least one consumer good in which you are loyal to a single brand. For me, this is my shampoo. Why pay twice as much for a bottle of John Frieda when I can easily get the knock off and save a buck? Because I have developed a brand loyalty; an unwavering devotion to John Frieda hair products and I don’t care if it’s on sale or not. I’m choosing this brand. For most other things in my life, I am content with generics or off brands that generally work as well as the name brands they imitate but when it comes to my hair care I never compromise.

    What phenomenon is it that gets us to pay exponentially more for something that works just marginally more effectively? Does the $8000 Louis Vuitton suitcase really do the job better than your army issue canvas duffel bag? Do the $400 True Religion jeans really make your hips look smaller? The truth is it doesn’t matter. What matters is how we feel. Like the feeling that results from when out of the corner of your eye you notice someone taking an appreciative glance at your checked bag or the “Nice Trues!” from the guy at The Dirty Martini when you come off the dance floor…it’s all about feelings…and feelings matter…to the tune of over 4 trillion dollars domestically in 2009 alone.

    The theories behind brand loyalty run far and wide with arguably one of the more interesting being religion.  An article from futurepundit.com shares that Prof. Ron Shachar of Tel Aviv University’s Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration says that a consumer’s religiosity has a large impact on his likelihood for choosing particular brands. Consumers who are deeply religious are less likely to display an explicit preference for a particular brand, while more secular populations are more prone to define their self-worth through loyalty to corporate brands instead of religious denominations.  Whether it’s religion, feelings, need or just plain greed motivating us, Americans consume labels and brands voraciously.  Perhaps we could all use a little less of both.

  • Wear your favorite shirt, and get paid for it too!

    Do you have random t-shirts in your closet from equally random companies or events? Or, do you have a favorite t-shirt, such as one from Sanitary Restaurant in Morehead City, NC, that you wear as if it were your job? While wearing that favorite t-shirt, have you made the comment “I should get paid for this! ”

    Across the United States, a group of 5 individuals run a company where you pay them to wear your company’s logo; they brand your brand. On their website, iwearyourshirt.com, this group of people post live-streaming videos, pictures, Youtube videos, and share it across the social networks and web. For the nominal fee of $1,550-$1,640 any company can expand their brand via this unique way of advertising. GoToMeeting, a recent client of the t-shirt team recognized this innovative branding opportunity as “a great way to bring humanity to your brand, with great charisma, humor and authenticity.” What could be better than to be successful and authentic?

    One of the many companies that pay the iwearyourshirt.com team to act as a virtual billboard is the apparel company, Life is Crap. The iwearyourshirt team’s approach to driving followers to Lifeiscrap.com involved crazy, yet creative videos and live video chats with the audience where the potential customer for the brand can ask questions and talk to the t-shirt team.

    “Don’t be fooled. These guys aren’t just sitting around gathering dust in your shirt. Your shirt will be worn with pride, given sunshine along with tender loving care. Your shirt will be happy. And so will you.”– Gowalla iPhone app

    The iwearyourshirt team has proved that you don’t have to wear a tie to be successful. Their creative company has exploded into a force to be reckoned with.

    – Michela Noreski, Ashley Nelson, Jordan Hill

  • Marketing’s New Superhero

    In a world where most of the general public has been inundated by the vast amount of advertising on every realm of media, advertisers are struggling to connect with one of their prime markets – the college student. College students are a principal market for corporate marketers with their discretionary spending, having a $2 billion gain from 2009 to 2010. Along with their spending habits, these young adults are beginning to shop for themselves for the very first time, thus beginning to form brand loyalties that marketers strive to form in their target audiences. Herein lays the problem: since we are prone to ignoring most forms of traditional media marketing on television, radio, or newspapers, recent studies have shown that college students are no more likely to open an Internet ad than the rest of the population.

    Introducing corporate marketing’s new superhero: the student brand ambassador. Large corporations are starting to tap campus leaders with a wide sphere of social influence, not to mention the people skills to go along with marketing the brand to a variety of students across their campuses. They also paper bulletin boards, chalk sidewalks, and have constant Facebook or Twitter updates promoting their brand. “The student ambassador tactic embraces all the elements that corporations find [have the] most effect,” states Matt Briton, managing partner of Mr. Youth, a firm that specializes in college marketing, “It’s peer-to-peer, it’s word of mouth, it’s flexible and it breaks through the clutter of the media.” As a market that generally tends to distrust corporate messages, having a peer spin the praises of a certain brand can certainly turn more heads than an ad placed in the correct time slot on MTV.  Marketers are finally beginning to realize something WE all already knew, the best way to sell students something is for other students to be talking about it.                                                                              

    – Jessica Kingman, Alaethea Hensley, & Lauren Phelps

  • Blaming based on Naming


    While we remember the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, we recall the sadness and despair felt nationwide when the lives of nearly 3,000 people were lost.  The murder of the many innocent bystanders shocked the world, and resulted in distrust among certain races and religions.  Is it human nature to want to place blame in the wake of such tragic circumstances?  Maybe so, but it is very important to be sure that the blame goes to the rightful place.

    The attacks of 9/11 were the doings of extremist terrorist groups, in particular, Al-Quada.  Sadly, many people who do not stay abreast of current events and political issues associate the attacks with all Middle Easterners and/or all Muslims.
    Al-Quada is NOT representative of all Middle Easterners or all Muslims, and thinking so is an appalling mistake that some people have been making over the last ten years.   This act of stereotyping someone based on their religion or appearance can be associated with branding.  Some think that branding is about how you present yourself, but branding is really about how other people see you. Unfortunately, in many parts of the world, instances of intolerance, discrimination, and acts of violence occur based solely on discrimination against ethnicity and appearance.

    In the book, “The Authenticity Hoax” by Andrew Potter, he explains the difference between actual truths and perceived truths.  Since the media is such a powerful force in our society, they may inadvertently allude to something that changes the truth in your mind from the actual truth to a perceived truth.  Another problem is that we live in communities with members who share the same beliefs and motives.If your community tends to think ill of a certain group, religion, race, etc. you are prone to such beliefs as well.  Unfortunately, the only way to avoid being persuaded by the media and your community is to disconnect yourself from society, according to Potter.  As PR and IMC students,we agree with Mr. Potter, but we have also learned that there are ways to filter information to stay as close to the “actual truth” as possible.

    We must always look at both sides of the story, and question everything.  For each possible scenario, ask yourself every question that it could be associated with.  All Americans are not members of hate groups like the KKK.  All Christians are not gay hating anti-progressive activists, and all Muslims are not terrorists.

    – Stephanie, Claire, & David

  • Branded Letters

    Today marks the day that every little girl dreams of since the day her mother blessed her with her very own set of pearl earrings, high heel shoes, and sweet- but- sassy personality. Bid Day for sorority life at UNCW allows girls to put their collegiate fate in the hands of anxiously awaiting sorority women who only hope to have a new pledge class formed from the group of their various “rush crushes” developed over the course of the past five days of formal recruitment. After hours upon hours of chanting, smiling, talking, voting, and dancing, girls of UNCW can be associated with a sorority group on campus that they can call their own.

    With the recruitment process finally over, letter shirts are undoubtedly going to flood the length of chancellors walk. Girls won’t be able to fight the temptation to brand themselves under the stereotype of such letters; proud to be a part of the group that is associated with the letters sewn onto their shirts. However, sorority members must be fair-warned: this type of attire is a form of branding that should be used with caution and responsibility. The actions you take and words you say as you wear these letters not only represent you, but also represent how you want yourself and your chapter to be perceived by others.

    Each sorority on this campus offers something different. From reputation to reality, the young ladies involved in Greek Life all make an impression upon their peers according to how they act when they wear these prized letter shirts. If one girl wearing the letter shirt misses class; all sorority women skip classes. If one girl gossips while wearing the letter shirt; all sorority women gossip.

    At least in the minds of those who stereotype.

    This kind of branding is not only true for sororities. All organizations create their identity based on the kind of brand they hope to portray through their members. Each person has the power to represent their group as a whole based on how they act individually…creating an instant association built from one impression. The new members of the Greek system on UNC-Wilmington’s campus have the ability to either accept this brand that has been established for their particular organization or to enhance it. The perception of a group is something that can change with simple, consistent actions that are valued and upheld by all members. Therefore, the revealing of Bid Day today should also reveal hope to expand the brand that these women are newly associated with on UNCW’s campus.

    -Sally, Jared, Oliver

  • Turning the Channel

         Over the past week, the American public has been inundated with file footage from the events of 9-11.  Much of this footage has been a tribute to the heroes who gave their lives that day; however, the most graphic content reflects a much more horrific aspect of the moment- death and destruction.  No one can discount the painful reality of that day.  The destruction of the World Trade Center, the attack on the Pentagon, and the downing of the plane in Pennsylvania were an act of war, and with that came violence, chaos, and carnage; realizations that most people find unappealing even if it reflects the truth of the matter.  For those of us who have a tendency to shy away from all things bad, should we have been forced to revisit or see for the first time such graphic representations of the pain and death from that day?  As good Americans, we undoubtedly want to honor those who perished by being tuned in to the tributes presented by the media networks, but how much is too much?

         The videos of people jumping from the towers will forever be a tragic part of the archive of 9-11.  Some would cite these as the most horrific images from that day, yet much of the carnage was never publicly released because it was legitimately too intense for public viewing.  The images of thousands of burnt and twisted bodies is certainly something that few people yearn to see, and rightfully so, yet there lingers a debate about the release of this footage.  Roxanne Silver, a University of California Irvine professor of psychology and social behavior, had this to say about the matter, “It’s very clear to me that the repeated exposure of images of 9/11 serves no purpose for adults or children, and I would discourage parents from allowing their children to be exposed to graphic images.”  In regards to the children, it is easy to agree with this statement as it is a delicate task to educate young ones on these events without overexposing them.

         One of the authors of this post had the opportunity to speak to a fourth grade class about 9/11 yesterday and found himself at times challenged to describe certain events from the war, in particular, without being inappropriately graphic.  Children aside, many of these images, graphic and patriotic alike, serve as a rallying cry to serve justice on the persons who brought the war to us that day and will forever be a reminder of why we continue to remain vigilant.

    – LaPuasa, Claire Dillard, Louis