IMC Hawks Blog

Blog

  • What is wrong with IMC?

    IMC seems to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Schools are teaching it and marketers are using it, but some experts are still reluctant to write about it in new media. I was curious as to why, so I chose to reference an article titled “Integrated Marketing Communication- from an instrumental to a customer-centric perspective” by Manfred Bruhn and Stefanie Schnebelen. The purpose is to inform readers about the role of Integrated Marketing Communication in new media. Brunn and Schnebelen attempted to do this through discussion of the changed conditions of the media markets since the development of Integrated Marketing Communication.

    This article is based on research done via a literature-based approach. The authors conducted this with consideration of the modern media market and customer behavior. The first step in researching was analyzing the challenges of Integrated Marketing Communication, followed by the principles of customer-centric Integrated Marketing Communication, and lastly the implementation issues in Integrated Marketing Communication. By analyzing these three steps, Brunn and Schnebelen were able to point out the gaps of Integrated Marketing Communication in new media and establish a media-based umbrella framework that searched for common gaps in new media and Integrated Marketing Communication. The authors analyzed various forms of literature that discussed Integrated Marketing Communication in efforts to see the prevalence of Integrated Marketing Communication on new media.

    Brunn and Schnebelen didn’t really END the conversation on why IMC isn’t being considered a part of new media yet, but the authors definitely opened the door for it and provided

    good insight into the issues of experts in marketing and new media not considering IMC a part of the currently used approach to media and marketing.

    As someone who is an avid consumer of things such as Nike shoes and also an IMC student, the marketing campaign they use to get me interested in purchasing their products practically revolves around IMC. First, they promote and share user-generated content all the time for their advertisements. Secondly, they integrate all kinds of different marketing and promotional tactics in order to reach the correct audience effectively. Personally, I do not know researchers and scholars can ignore IMC’s place in new media given the fact that it is in almost every advertisement and marketing campaign that we see in today’s world. The method of encompassing things such as influencer marketing, commercials, and targeted advertisements into one campaign is practically standard in marketing now, and it is time that literature catches up with the times.

    The results of the study by Brunn and Schnebelen were that the artifacts about Integrated Marketing Communication that the authors analyzed did not discuss social media as a part of Integrated Marketing Communication in new media to any great extent. The articles that were analyzed were vague and only regarded Integrated Marketing Communication as a new form of media, but did not get into specifics and more information. The literature that the authors analyzed fails to address the foundational change of social media and the impact it has on Integrated Marketing Communication as a whole. The article also discusses the loss of control over advertising content that corporations are currently experiencing. Today, someone can post a viral tweet about your brand and that becomes a part of your brand identity. The corporation has no control over that happening and as a result of the rise in user-generated content, corporations are now more interactive with users on social media and promote UGC, as opposed to strictly

    pushing their own content. The authors suggest changing the mindset of the corporate IMC world, rather than changing the process in which communication is done. The results of this study encourage corporations and IMC practitioners, in general, to remember that IMC is an adaptive concept and as new forms of media and communication emerge, IMC must be adapted, rather than made into a black and white, never-changing subject.

    One example of this that I see regularly is when Instagram users “tag” the brands they were wearing or using in their posts. Today, more marketing on social media is done by consumers to other potential consumers than ever before, and major corporations are putting more resources consumers to spread the word about their products in hopes that consumers create marketable content for them.

    This study has made a great impact on IMC. Firstly, this article forces those in the Integrated Marketing Communication research community to seek a deeper understanding of social media and its impacts on social media. As social media continues to become a mainstream of marketing, the literature not analyzing this information shows that the Integrated Marketing Communication industry is behind where it should be in terms of analyzation and application of Integrated Marketing Communication in new media, specifically the analysis of Integrated Marketing Communication in the customer-centric landscape.

    Bio:

    Adam Guttadauro is a student at UNCW, majoring in Communication Studies. He is originally from Boston, Massachusetts. While not in a class, he is working on his various business ventures

    or at home watching football. Adam is interested in IMC due to its prevalence in his ventures and hopes to bring an IMC-centered approach to all of those ventures

  • How Social Media Benefits Brand Attitude and Awareness Online

    Based on a research study by Daniela Langaro, Paulo Rita, and Maria de Fa ́tima Salgueiro

    It’s no secret that social media has moved mountains, and has created a plethora of new ideas in the world of branding. The correlation between using social media sites and branding has always been an integral factor in utilizing the different communication and marketing skills this generation has to offer. Something so normal and monotonous like scrolling through social media feeds now has more power and value than we as a society of communicators could ever imagine. Branding nowadays cannot be fostered within a company without some sort of media and online presence, and social media happens to be a somewhat “free” platform for building a brand. The article “Do social networking sites contribute for building brands?” clarified a lot of my assumptions as a Communication Studies student on how different areas of social media serve different organizations. While a lot of my discoveries and observations were not new, they have expanded the way I think about social media and branding as a whole, and as two equal parts that help one another in the world of communication.

    Before considering the advantages of social media, let’s discuss branding. Branding, by definition, is “the promotion of a particular product or company by means of advertising and distinctive design”, and a brand alone is defined as “a type of product manufactured by a particular company under a particular name”. So, we can conclude that while a brand is the product or idea being promoted, if the act of branding isn’t successful, the actual brand may not be of as much value as it could be. These two individual elements of branding and an actual brand depend on each other for quite a lot.

    From these ideas, companies build the image and vision of their “brand” and formulate ways to continue the branding process in different, creative ways. For example, almost anyone can identify the “target” emblem included in the retail store Target’s logo. People identify with the logo, and immediately think about what the logo means to them by associating it with a time or place they engaged with the Target brand, and then decide if they like it or not. From here, all of these interactions with branding can be broken down into subcategories including brand awareness and brand attitude.

    Brand awareness, as defined in the article “Do social networking sites contribute for building brands?” captures the potential availability of a brand in the mind of the consumer (Langaro, Rita, and Salgueiro, 2018). In the same article, brand attitude is defined as the evaluative dimension of brand image. Customers, potential or current, develop their own evaluation and judgements towards a brand by what they see and interact with. Having a presence on social media heavily affects this interaction and can provide a leg up for companies looking to engage more with different audiences. This can make a company or organization more competitive as well. The more a brand image or brand in general is shown in an appropriate way, the more association, knowledge, and popularity the brand will attract. This is why an online or social media presence is so vital today. Because social media is so relevant, why not utilize free promotion and improve the image of a company by establishing an online presence on a social media website?

    When it comes to branding, organizations want their personal image to be immediately identified and simple enough for people to remember. This is most often achieved by visuals and resonating cognitively with the organization’s potential or desired audiences. Brand association, brand quality, and brand knowledge are all benefits of using social media to boost any image or brand online (Langaro, Rita, and Salgueiro, 2018). When a company posts regularly on popular social media platforms, it now has individuals associated with and educated in it’s brand based off of the brand’s online presence, which is an essentially free outlet to promote or improve branding. Organizations now see the value and necessity in posting daily on social media sites and looking into analytics because it can show an organization exactly how people are interacting with their brand.

    One can realize quickly that branding is a very broad element in the promotion of a company, business, or organization. Branding is not just simply “branding”. Branding is developing a certain image within a brand, connecting other people and things to the brand, showcasing the brand in a way that will connect with others and display the right idea to customers, and the list goes on. When one analyzes the purpose of branding, so many layers can be found within it and its purpose is ever-changing. One thing that isn’t going anywhere, though, is the constant yet rapid growth of the internet and social media. Companies should continue to use social media outlets for brand communication. They should stay current on evolving social media trends, and how the company can adjust and grow with a technologically-charged society. Taking advantage of the online community can work wonders in the world of branding.

    Written by Natalie Oldani

  • The Elusive Gen Z

    Generation Z is classified as people born between 1995 and 2015 with ages ranging from 4-24. These people are typically high school or college students. What sets this demographic apart from the rest of the age classifications? They have all grown up entirely in the digital age. It may sound strange when you first hear it since most of us have adapted to the ever-present technological devices that consume our everyday life. Although we may use them now, non-Gen Zs remember a day without it. For instance, I am 26 years-old and did not receive my first phone until I was a freshman in high school. No, it was not a brand-new iPhone that you can connect your email to, surf the web, and tweet at all hours of the day. It was a Nokia flip phone that only made calls since my parents thought that text messaging was of the devil. It is unreal to think that my neighbor, upon entering the fifth grade, received an iPhone 6 so that he could communicate with his parents to pick him up from various sporting practices.

    This is the generation that the current market must penetrate. They are our next consumer base and some of them have already entered the workforce using their dollars in our economy. These consumers do not remember a day when they were at an age to make informed decisions, that they did not have the world’s information inside of a front pocket. So, what do these people like? How do we get them to by our stuff? I will tell you that most research can attest to this fact, they do not like advertisements. According to Alex Gallagher in his article 4 QSR marketing tactics to take on the Gen Z challenge, 69% of Gen Z said the best ads are ones they can skip. This generation has been tagged as elusive and unmarketable due to their natural filter to advertisements. That is a huge problem for marketing agents and advertisers. How do we reach these people?

    Gallagher attempts to tackle this conundrum through a trial survey of 1,800 Gen Z students in the U.S. Gallagher based his study on advertisements in the food items and services industry. His hypothesis to cracking the code to Gen Z’s is very interesting. His first tactic for catching the elusive Gen Z is to make it social (Gallagher 2018). This demographic tends to rely on family and friends for recommendations of foods and services. Gen Zs are more likely to trust the opinions of friends and family than an advertisement seen in passing. They are so bombarded with information across all media that they rely on people they trust to sift through choices.

    Gen Z is also very non-traditional when it comes to advertising. As mentioned previously, the best ad to them is one that can be skipped. With advances in ad-blocking applications in browsers and alternative media options for users to toggle between, the odds are stacked against advertising. Gallagher suggests making it non-traditional. Use campaigns on social media creating user-interactive content that drives traffic to your pages. If the content is shared, the youngsters will come. Use actual pictures of your food and create content generated campaigns and contests that get Gen Z’s into the door (Gallagher 2018).

    Another tip to take into consideration, make your advertising spontaneous. Gen Zs as a whole are on the lookout to try new restaurants almost monthly. This is incredible when only 5% plan their meals on a daily basis (Gallagher 2018). Their lack of planning creates a big opportunity for advertisers to be spontaneous considering almost every Gen Z-er carries a smart phone with them every day. Targeted advertising through social media is an incredible tool. You can also send banners and alert messages through application software for your business. This generates an interest in your restaurant during meal hours when Gen Zs begin weighing their food options.

    Lastly, and probably most importantly, Gallagher says to make it quick (2018). Gen Zs on average have the shortest attention span of all current generations. Advertisers have an incredibly small window of opportunity, around 8 seconds, to make an impression on this demographic. Be sure to make it fast and make it enticing to get the Gen Zs in the door!

    Jennings Johnson is a last semester senior at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington pursuing a degree in Communication Studies with a concentration in integrated marketing communication and organizational communication. Johnson also completed a business minor.

    Reference

    Gallagher, A. (2018, Mar 07). 4 QSR marketing tactics to take on the gen Z challenge. QSR Web.News Features Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.liblink.uncw.edu/docview/2011401835?accountid=14606

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

    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

    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?

    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

    Seizing: Personal Stories of Living with Seizures

    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.