How Integrated are Your Marketing Strategies? Tips and Tricks to Achieving the Best Possible IMC Plan

November 21, 2019

The world we have come to know today has changed drastically in terms of digital and communication options in media. Marketers have more opportunities than ever to drive sales and build an image for their brand or company. However, marketers are struggling with how to make the right marketing communication decisions. Integrated marketing communication, or “IMC”, can be defined as achieving the objectives of a marketing campaign, by a well-coordinated use of different promotional methods that are intended to reinforce each other. The article that I read titled: “Unlocking the Power of Integrated Marketing Communications: How Integrated is Your IMC Program” highlights tips and tricks that marketers can utilize to gauge how effective and efficient their IMC choices are. 

With some context from the article readers can gain a little bit more knowledge about the “new communications environment.” Author, Kevin Lane Keller states that consumers nowadays can choose to become as engaged as they want with a brand, and the range of influence they can have is virtually immeasurable. Likewise, firms and organizations can choose to become as involved as they’d like with consumers, from hosting their own brand website for consumers to visit on their own, to actively engaging with consumers in product development. When discussing consumer and firm engagement, one mistake commonly made is failing to recognize that empowered does not necessarily mean engaged. In other words, just because the option is there to become engaged, that does not mean consumers or firms have the motivation and will to do so.

A trick that the Keller emphasized to show engagement and interaction is “the brand engagement pyramid.” At the top of the pyramid, you have the customers that want to be highly engaged with the brand. They are the consumers that talk about the brand, mention it on social media platforms, avidly visit the website, read emails from them, and so forth. On the bottom of the pyramid, you will find customers who only want to purchase and consume the brand, or “choose it and use it” if you will. A key to understanding how the pyramid will work on the simplest level is to understand the shape and dynamic of it. Ask yourself: how many are at the top or base? What is the general flow of influence across the different levels? Does any of that trickle down? After answering some of these questions you will have a much stronger understanding of the role of paid, owned, and earned media in the development of your IMC program. 

The last piece of IMC development that I want to drive home is perhaps the most important and crucial finding in the article that I read: the seven C’s of IMC. These are the seven core principles to think about and consider when developing your IMC program.

  1. Coverage- This captures the proportion of the target market that is being reached by each communication option, it also indicates how much overlap exists among the communication options used. With coverage, you see a lot of overlapping within the seven C’s alone. If there is little overlap with your methods, effectiveness can be driven by contribution and complementarity efforts. If there is a greater overlap, the relationship of what is overlapping becomes essential regarding commonality, complementarity, and cross-effects, as well as sequencing correctly.
  2. Cost- As I mentioned when talking about the engagement pyramid, analyzing is essential with cost. This is especially true when looking at the response functions and rates from different communication options. This could lead to new decisions for implementing communication options.
  3. Contribution- Contribution can create the desired response and effectiveness from consumers and achieve the anticipated communication objectives. It consists of the “main effects” of an option in terms of how it is affecting consumers and how they process a communication, followed by their reactions/decisions. Something important to reflect on here is what is the actual content of the option you are using, and what is the context in which it is seen, heard, or experienced. These are both crucial aspects of contribution. 
  4. Commonality- It is inevitable that some communication options are going to share the same content or provide similar effects to consumers. If your information is consistent in meaning, it will be learned and adopted easier, thus recalled more often than unrelated or inconsistent information. However, the unexpectedness of inconsistent information can sometimes lead to more intense processing and stronger associations than consistent information. 
  5. Complementarity- To reach the full potential of communicating effectively, it is usually necessary for communication programs to convey multiple messages and to create multiple effects. Depending on where customers are within their consumer journey may depend on the types of messages and effects they may need. There is only so much that can be said or communicated with any one option. A tip here is “less is often more,” especially when it comes to the world of mass media. 
  6. Cross-effects- The goal with this “C” is to create synergistic cross-effects through strategic and proper coordination and sequencing efforts. If you are tactical with this, you can boost communication effects with consumers from the exposure from one option, and in addition can also create enhanced effects for a different option following exposure.  
  7. Conformability- Perfect targeting will not always be achieved, and additionally overlap will tend to exist in the exposure to different communication options. Consumers will undoubtedly come across messages in a variety of orders or sequences, or maybe not at all. Your target consumers may not even be exposed to the efforts you set out to portray. Therefore, the messages will be new to some consumers but not new to others. Conformability is referring to the versatility and extent to which an options effort is received and how they are exposed to customers. A question to ask yourself is, how well does the communication conform to the different characteristics and communication needs of different target markets? 

Now that we’ve discussed some keys to IMC success, it is up to marketers to take note of these keys and employ them strategically.  By doing so, it is likely that your IMC program will be comprehensive, cohesive, and impactful. The article concludes with an overarching description of steps to follow; evaluate your communication options and programs and establish some priorities and trade-offs among the IMC choice criteria. As we know, the digital world is now our oyster, and more open to us than ever before. Capabilities that we have now both as consumers and marketers for firms are much broader than in the past. The new goal is to unleash the potential and power of all the new communication options available to us.

Keller, Kevin, L. (July 1, 2016). Unlocking the Power of Integrated Marketing Communications: 

How Integrated Is Your IMC Program? Retrieved from http://rf2tt2th6w.search.serialssolutions.com/?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fsummon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi

 

This blog post was written by Peyton Hersey, who is a senior graduating in December with a major in Communication Studies and a minor in Business. Peyton plans on entering the field of event management or public relations, and she is thrilled for what is in store come December!

 

 

 

You’re on Your Own: The Importance of Self-Branding Becoming the Result of a Gig Economy

November 20, 2019

Recently, I was offered a full-time job after I graduate in December 2019. My parents expected a “9-5” position where I had to wear business professional from Monday to Friday. They were taken aback when I explained that my new job did not even have an office, but that we met weekly at a coworking space. This is becoming the norm for many people. A Forbes article titled “A Changing World: The Shifting Gig Economy in 2019”, defines the gig economy as “the rising labor market that hires temporary, contracted workers instead of traditional employees.” The emergence of the gig economy has forced people to continually feel like they need to advertise themselves on social media positively. The fascination of being a Youtuber, an Instagram influencer, or a known public figure stems from the need to be perceived positively. 

A study by Brooke Erin Duffy and Jefferson Pooley reinforces the point that the massive push for self-branding among celebrities today is linked to the fact that society is turning to a “you’re on your own” mentality. To come to this conclusion, Duffy and Pooley used Leo Lowenthal’s research as a framework to their own.

It is imperative to know the inspiration behind Duffy and Pooley’s study to fully understand it. “The Triumph of Mass Idols” by Lowenthal, was published in 1942 to bring attention to the obsession about idols’ (a term he used for celebrities) personal lives. His study is extremely relevant in the context of media research. 

Lowenthal studied biographies of various celebrities published in Collier’s and The Saturday Evening Post between the years 1901 and 1941. As a result of his work, two categories emerged. During the early 1900’s he found that politicians and business icons were very prevalent, but by 1941 Hollywood stars and athletes became more popular. He deemed politicians and business icons as “idols of production” and Hollywood stars and athletes as “idols of consumption.” Duffy and Pooley explained that Lowenthal “related cultural renown (famousness) to wide-framed economic conditions.” Politicians and business icons were relevant during the 1900s because those were the type of people that everyone wanted to be. 

Duffy and Pooley used Lowenthal’s findings as a foundation for their research on today’s celebrities. Their goal was to “map the contours of mediated adoration in the present era, using Lowenthal’s original framework while responding to the need to reappraise symbols of popular culture amid a profoundly transformed media ecology.” They collected data from three places. They utilized magazines Time and People from 2016 to 2017, the social media platforms Twitter and Instagram, specifically the “bios” on them, and a series of guest star interviews from two top-ranking talk shows: The Ellen DeGeneres Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live. Through their qualitative analysis, Duffy and Pooley found three key themes of self-branding. 

 
Promise of Meritocracy 

Duffy and Pooley described 21-century success as “overwhelmingly attributed to hard work, talent, or both.” Hence, a promise of meritocracy being a theme of self-branding. For instance, a feature on the supermodel Gisele Bündchen, shed light on the fact that her “success didn’t come easy.” She then went on to talk about 42 rejections and then confessed, “I remember some people telling me my nose was too big or my eyes were too small, that I could never be on a magazine cover.” Duffy and Pooley had various examples like this from Time and People, where celebrities would explain how they started at the bottom and made their way to the top. Duffy and Pooley explained that these “profiles celebrate the self-made success of entertainers far more often than the business figures and politicians who dominated Lowenthal’s sample.” The constant hustle to achieve success is becoming mainstream, and celebrities reflect that. Whereas during Lowenthal’s research in the 1900s, the corporate business was mainstream.

 
Spirit of Cross-Platform Self-Enterprise

The theme of cross-platform self-enterprise regarding self-branding was clear when Duffy and Pooley analyzed celebrities’ textual self-descriptions (“bios”) on Twitter and Instagram. Duffy and Pooley found that the “most consistent feature of the Twitter and Instagram bios was unabashed self-promotion, with figures casting themselves as cross-media entrepreneurs.” Nearly half of the bios in their sample contained a self-promotional reference; Kim Kardashian had her website in her bio and Selena Gomez promoted her new album. While self-promotion is common in celebrity’s bios, they also like to describe themselves as “jacks of all trades.” For instance, Demi Lovato’s bio reads, “”Singer, Songwriter, Actress, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist.” These entrepreneur-like actions are a result of the push for independent employment.

Incitement to Express Oneself Authentically

Authenticity is attractive, especially when it comes to self-branding. Celebrities have to work hard to come off as genuine people. For instance, Tyler Oakley told Time, “authenticity is more important than attempting to seem relatable. I would rather be me than something that’s more retweetable”. Phrases like these are often seen when celebrities are talking about themselves. In one passage, Jennifer Lopez was described as “a surprisingly down-to-earth super-star and hands-on-mother,” and in another, Hillary Duff said her life was “more normal than people think,” despite growing up as a Disney star. Authenticity shows that celebrities are ordinary people, just like us. 

Duffy and Pooley’s findings resulted in the rise of the “idols of promotion,” a new addition to Lowenthal’s idols of production and consumption. The idols of promotion are “the heroes of media, and the product they are selling is themselves.” They are “their own mastery of the publicity arts, inviting fans and followers to emulate their example.” Celebrities are becoming authors of their own careers, with the ability to promote themselves through platforms like Twitter and Instagram. This makes people that follow them want to do the same. Stories of “self-made success” makes other people want to become successful through independent work, which is exactly what the gig economy entails. Lowenthal, Duffy, and Pooley’s work shows us that our idols reflect the kind of economy we live in.

Written by Tori Gatanis.

Social Media: How Relevant are You?

November 15, 2019

Crafting an idea, building a brand, launching it and growing a following all take time and the key factor in making a brand successful is building relationships on social media. Social media has shifted the focus of strategic marketing from informational ads to creating content and having conversations within social groups. According to the 2018 article in The Journal of Media Research Online Brand Awareness. A Case-Study on Creating Associations and Attachment by Alina Nechita “the symbolic dimension built by communicative means ensures the consistency and value of a brand.”

Nechita discusses figuring out how your audience is using social media, she mentions the reach of Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Pinterest, and niche blogs for reaching your audiences. You should be figuring out what platforms your audiences are using, Facebook and Pinterest report the most active users, Instagram is popular with teenagers and young millennials, what are your consumers using?

Once you know where the people are, where do you start? Nechita’s research recommends piggy-backing on influencers; she specifically mentions using influencers who test products, applies personal experience, and share a final verdict. Nechita acknowledges the potential for bias but mentions that these tend to be very successful and apply similarly to general brand awareness. She states that “in the absence of a well-known brand to associate it with, the impact of its message will soon become null.” 

Though Nechita recommends building brand awareness through more established brands and influencers, it can be done over time through consistent engagement with social groups online. The process requires analysis of not only sales, but of likes, shares, and comments at six-month intervals. 

You should be establishing consistent positive interactions with your consumers online. Nechita mentions looking into all mentions of your brand and having them removed. The text mentions how detrimental to a new brand a negative comment could be and recommends going as far as to look the person up and contact them to discuss having the comment removed as well as frequently removing those who engage negatively online. While a negative comment may be detrimental, I think to contact someone with the goal to remove it seems risky, I would think responding directly would be a better solution. Public criticism deserves a public response.

She goes on to mention that creating a tone or mood to the conversations on social media is also important, she mentions humor working particularly well here in America like Wendy’s use of Twitter. It is essential to create a conversation that your audience wants to be a part of and is relevant.

Another key point that she makes is that the worst possible thing a brand can do is to ignore the customers. Nechita iterates that with well-known brands, our consumption shows who we are, it’s a representation of us so the brand’s personality needs to match up with our own. These brands have to continue to stay relatable to the consumer and she elaborates on this by going over measuring customer satisfaction and that being shared among social communities: if you like it, you tell your friends about it, right? She states that the most successful brands are the ones that “fulfill the needs of community members.” 

This doesn’t just mean physical needs but emotional ones as well, she offers the example of Samsungs’ commercial in India in 2018, where they mention a refrigerator taking care of you like your mother does, driving on strong emotions like a mothers’ love, maybe sadness from missing that mother, and so on. Nechita makes the point that “the brand sales goal is no longer obviously profit-oriented, but apparently targets its alignment to certain emotional needs, to bring joy to customers.”

The article goes on to warn of trying to engage online by launching too many social media accounts at once that you cannot create individual content consistently for each or not having a specific communication strategy which creates inconsistency in messaging. It says that “humanizing a brand will ensure the public’s involvement for a longer period of time” and unattended social media profiles that have old posts at the top of the page create the feeling that the brand is doesn’t care about interacting with their consumers.

So what this research boils down to is finding your target audiences and immersing your brand into the conversation in the various social groups in your audience and then having an honest, organic conversation with your consumers and figuring out their needs and trying to fulfill them. Through this process, you create a lasting impression on your audience and an authentic value to your brand that consumers want to take part in and share with others. 

NECHITA, V. A. (2018). Online Brand Awareness. A Case-Study on Creating Associations and Attachment. Journal of Media Research, 11(2), 91–111. https://doi-org.liblink.uncw.edu/10.24193/jmr.31.7

Carol Friday 

 

Carol Friday is a Communication Studies senior at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and is the creative director for the community group managing the Communication department’s Twitter page, the IMC Hawks blog, and its respective Twitter and Facebook page. 

 

 

Seizing: Personal Stories of Living with Seizures

November 12, 2019

In case you missed it, last week Dr. Julie-Ann Scott-Pollock’s COM 415: Performance Practicum course held their performance of Seizing in Leutze Hall to a studio that was standing room only.

Seizing is a performance of collected stories of individuals who Dr. Scott-Pollock has been interviewing for a few years about their seizure disorders. Included are small bits of information about seizure disorders but more importantly, it illuminates the day-to-day struggles individuals with seizure disorders go through; activities those who are able-bodied may take for granted. 

The individual stories are striking not only because of the emotion and empathy put into the characters but also how “normal” some of their struggles are. You have women discussing their concerns for having children and the risks associated with their medication and their access to healthcare, a man who just wants to keep his dog that he’s cared for and loved for years, a group of people who want to be seen, to be understood. 

Speaking with the performers, they describe the work it took to portray these individuals solely on a transcript of their interviews with Dr. Scott-Pollock. Cast member, Moses Eshiet described the experience and work behind developing his role as “challenging and fun because you have to give justice to them using empathy.”

Dr. Scott-Pollock’s work sheds light on an invisible illness that those who do not have may never stop to give it conscious thought. The performance was concluded by Dr. Scott-Pollock addressing the audience with the idea of trying to understand and empathize with those who are different from us. Of the performance, she said, “I’m grateful that each piece was performed with skill, empathy, and commitment.”

If you couldn’t attend the performance, check out Dr. Scott-Pollock’s youtube for the video coming soon. 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCN12sXxedx4bb4qGiS6jizA

Carol Friday 

In the meantime, take a look at some photos from Seizing.

 

 

Carol Friday is a Communication Studies senior at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and is the creative director for the community group managing the Communication department’s Twitter page, the IMC Hawks blog, and its respective Twitter and Facebook page.

THIS IS FAKE NEWS! NOPE… IT’S REAL

November 12, 2019

Would you know fake news if you saw it? How often have you come across fake news during your time on social media? I’m betting more than once. Believe it or not, in the past few years, platforms created algorithms to reduce the amount of fake news flooding your stream. But how well has that worked?

Hunt Allcott and others found specific trends in the diffusion of misinformation in social media. They gathered thousands of pieces of content and stories from over 100 fake news websites and their level of engagement with Facebook and Twitter and reviewed the trends of their diffusion from 2015 to 2018. Using various web trafficking methods such as BuzzSumo and Alexa, they reviewed the volume of user interactions and recorded browsing data. Yeah, they can do that.

Allcott’s research also measured the outcomes for not only major sites, but small business and culture sites, and small news sites not identified as producing misinformation (Allcott, 2019). But those sites followed a stable trend in comparison to Facebook. Even so, some of the fake news sites also contain true news and clickbait to misleading content. Because of that reason, the researchers also compiled a list from Snopes.com that fact checked the content they deemed false. That gave them still a whopping 9,540 false stories! Later described in the article, the data could be misconstrued because of the sites these programs don’t account for.

The amount of misinformation leading up to the 2016 election is alarming and fake news on social media is argued to play a major role in the results. Because of the increased volume of fake news, Facebook and other platforms created an algorithm to flag false content in order to prevent the spread of misinformation and improve its quality. The amount of decline within the past 2 years has suggested that Facebook’s algorithm may have something to do with it (Allcott, 2019). But, it’s nearly impossible to control the amount of misinformation people put out into the world.

The results suggest that since the end of 2016, Facebook has had a decline in fake news since its peak while Twitter is still rising (Allcott, 2019). This change in the continuous rise after the election could have something to do with the President’s recent engagements on Twitter. The results from Facebook show relationship to major news and fake news sites engagement through the same periods of time. While Twitter engagements are on a continuous rise through the entire study due to the president’s active account and rising millenial use.

This study seeks out to share the importance of knowing the decline is visible but the amount of misinformation still being consumed by viewers is large and alarming (Allcott, 2019). That’s mainly referring to Twitter and Facebook. Though Facebook’s fake news has declined from 160 million to 60 million engagements per month, the number is still high. And that’s just from one social media platform! Imagine the generations who get their news from major news sites that also carry false content not in this study. That just adds to the number of people exposed to things that can persuade one’s decisions.

As communicators in the IMC world, it is our job to persuade and influence, however, in an ethical and approachable manner. Seeing this research has only solidified the fact that people are aware of the content put on social media. What is said online is shared and impacts society more than it seems. Allcott (2019) concludes that the diffusion of misinformation through social media is a potential threat to democracy and broader society. As a young generation of communication students, it is our responsibility to create content that is honest and thought-provoking in an ethical way.

We remember the social media chaos that surrounded the 2016 Trump election but it makes you wonder about the effect a continuous amount of misinformation would have on a society and future elections. The research suggests there was a decline, however, there is still a problem. We, as marketers, need to keep in mind ethical values and the content we create and post- whether it be personal or business related. The fact is, on the internet, the information you share will be seen by someone out there, so don’t be fake, be real.

Allcott, H., Gentzkow, M., & Yu, C. (2019). Trends in the diffusion of misinformation on

social media. Research & Politics, 6(2), 205316801984855. doi: 10.1177/2053168019848554

-Annie Cline

Annie is happy to bring her creative writing skills into her studies with IMC. She has a passion for communication and cannot wait for graduation to put her skills into action in the real world.

 

Does Your Brand Name Generate the Engagement You Think It Does? 

November 7, 2019

Picture1When we consider corporate names, like Starbucks or Royal Caribbean, do we automatically think of the products and services they supply or the brand’s image and the identity we have with that company? Will we be more inclined to like a post of a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte or just a regular, black cup of coffee? The latte, right? Our identity with Starbucks as reliable corporate brand should make us more likely to engage with a picture of a pretty coffee and their familiar logo. The specification of a corporate name is critical to the differentiation of products when it comes to brand identity and association. A corporate brand name is the company’s name that results from the branding and the marketing of the particular business endeavor. That particular product becomes identified by that brand name. So, when shopping for running shoes you would probably say that you were shopping for a pair of Nikes because that is the brand you associate with good running shoes. A product name is simply the generic name of the product, such as “shoe.” Companies use specific product names and then create more unique names to differentiate them from competitors. Why is this important you might ask? Well, if we were to go around calling all shoes by their product name, how would we determine our preferences? How would we label trustworthy products? How would we share the products we love with others?  

The need for branding is critical in marketing communication, especially in social media. A 2019 study in the Journal of Business Research evaluated the use of corporate brand names in social media posts. Titled “Social media services branding: The use of corporate brand names,” the study of focus looks at how the use of brand names (company vs. product) can impact social media posts when trying to engage customers so that they will purchase items. As we are taught in Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC), effective branding creates awareness, loyalty and relationships with the audience. The brand name becomes the one word that represents the face of the company. We associate all products with the name of the corporate brand. The task of marketers or social media specialists is to effectively use the name to engage audiences and promote purchases, whether it is a good or service.  

The study focuses on the use of corporate brand names versus product brand names in the context of social media. The assumption is that the use of corporate brand names, like Starbucks, will increase likes on messages and generate purchases. The researchers predicted that a customer’s brand identification with the corporate name will increase and motivate these effects. To test this hypothesis, the research team conducted both field and experimental research to obtain enough telling data. The field study used Facebook posts and compares the activity of corporate brand name posts and product brand name posts. Follow-up experiments to the field study duplicated the results they obtained that, spoiler alert, confirm our beliefs in branding and IMC. 

The data for the field study consisted of approximately 1,500 Facebook posts that were unique to certain profiles of brands of Fortune 500’s that were maintaining active engagement with consumers. The companies spread across all industries, including product and service industries with over 200 brands that maintained consistent activity. They performed a content analysis of the Facebook brand posts, coding for message appeals, vividness, calls to buy, etc. After performing specific coding, they took the data and used the statistical analysis of mean and standard deviation to determine the engagement in the various posts. Results showed that the use of corporate brand names received more interaction and engagement. This proved their belief in the importance of corporate branding, showing high familiar brand recognition with popular corporate brand names. Corporate brand names received more engagement and interaction on Facebook posts emphasizing the need to for businesses to use corporate branding on their social media accounts.  

Even though this study was completed in the Journal of Business Research, this research provides critical evidence of the importance of Integrated Marketing Communication within business marketing strategy. Marketers on both sides of the respective disciplines must effectively execute a brand identity to perform better than the competition. However, as the study showed, there is a major difference in the use of corporate brand names over product brand names. The biggest takeaway from this study is that creating a reputable corporate brand name will establish recognition, engagement and loyalty to a company’s product or service. There is no business without this communication, and it is important to realize that the studies of each are not separate. Without IMC in the business setting, messages might not translate as effectively to consumers. A brand name is proven to work! 

 

Miller, E. G., Milne, G. R., & Swani, K. (2019). Social media service branding: The use of corporate brand names. Journal of Business Research. Retrieved from https://pdf.sciencedirectassets.com. 

 

By: M’Lynn Dease 

M’Lynn Dease is a senior at the University of North Carolina Wilmington majoring in Communication Studies with a focus in Integrated Marketing Communication and a minor in Business. M’Lynn is interested in pursuing a career in business communication to engage corporate branding.

#CreativeCOMtent   IMG_2587

Tarana Burke Visits UNCW

October 8, 2019

On Tuesday, September 24th, two years after the beginning of the #MeToo movement, Tarana Burke kicked off the UNCW Leadership Lecture Series about the evolution of the movement and the impact it has had on modern society. The event was completely sold out as Tarana discussed the rapid popularity of the movement, the empowerment it instilled in sexual assault victims, and also called on students to understand their worth and that they deserve “protection and safety” from sexual assault.  

The UNCW COM department was also very involved in the production of this event, as Maya Ebrahimnejad, a UNCW COM student was tasked with introducing Tarana Burke. 

tbphoto.jpg

This lecture was made possible by the College of Arts and Sciences, the Campus Life Arts and Programs, and the Mimi Cunningham Endowment fund. Mimi Cunningham worked at UNCW in a variety of roles from 1982 to 2008, and continues to show support for the university, having supervised over 80 student interns in her professional career.

The next event in the Leadership Lecture Series features Vivian Howard on October 30th. Get information for that event here.