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(Photo from TIME Magazine)

This ad created all the buzz in the Super Bowl of 2011. If you are not familiar, this is an ad for the Volkswagen Passat featuring a child who dreams of having ‘The Force.’ A Star Wars spin off, this ad created a marketing campaign controversial to the original stigmatism of other Super Bowl ads. Tim Ellis, the head of marketing at Volkswagen North America at the time, fought to pre-release this ad four days before the game. The original commercial is 60 seconds while VW only had a 30 second spot during the Super Bowl.

The longer ad was released four days before show time, and it was a hit. It is personal, and that is what good marketing is all about, making it personal. People can see themselves in it. It has an antagonist, protagonist, and conflict, and resolution packed in both commercials. By the time the game aired, people already knew about it and could attest to its greatness.

Now a model for other ads to pre-release their commercials, “The Force” will forever be globally remembered.

Kristan Cottle

Here are the links to both ads:

60 seconds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrBTxqNjM6M

30 seconds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhzwmYRXPp4

For years, Budweiser has been not only giving us commercials, but giving us the feels.

Since 2011, Budweiser has released Super Bowl commercials that feature a story.  With the exception of 2016, a more brand-charged campaign year, Budweiser has consistently given us a story that pulled audiences in.  Many don’t even have to openly advertise Budweiser for us to be involved and know who is advertising.  Remember this one:

With millions of Youtube views on advertisements, Budweiser specializes in making us track the company without blatantly announcing the brand name up front.   Using story and characters that we care about, the company is able to hook our interest, but the use of the Clydesdale and red-color schemes make our minds associate the commercial with the Anheuser-Busch brand name.

Actually, in every Super Bowl ad for the last 7 years Budweiser has featured a Clydesdale, making it a more permanent than the Budweiser beer logo* which has changed more in that time.

Source: Brandingsource.blogspot.com

Everyone loves a good narrative and Budweiser has continuously put itself out as a brand with passion.  From the tear-jerking puppies to the powerful horses and even to the people of Budweiser, the company has developed its advertisement campaigns to reach people in short films that provide a break from the standard, this-is-why-we’re-great commercial.

This year Budweiser may not bring out the Clydesdales, but they are definitely continuing the trend with a powerful narrative:

While we do miss the iconic animals, we’re glad Budweiser has kept the heart-wrenching stories.

-Sean Owens

Wilmington, a beautiful coastal town that receives a big portion of its annual revenue from tourism. During the hot summer months, the city is full of vacationers from all over the country hoping to soak up the sun in this southern beach town. It’s safe to say that tourism is a big piece in Wilmington’s economy. 

Some of the largest employers in the town are the New Hanover Health Network, New Hanover County Schools and the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Wilmington is a city that balances both big business and a laid-back lifestyle, including many locally owned businesses.

In a coastal city with a large amount of tourism, small businesses often thrive during the summer months. Still, for many of Wilmington’s local businesses it is important to give back to their community year-round. 

Island Passage, a local clothing boutique located in Lumina Station, Downtown and on Bald Head Island, prides themselves on giving back to local organizations whenever there is an opportunity to do so.

Not only do they participate in small business Saturday during the holiday shopping season, they also donate to local charities all year round. For example, during the month of December Island Passage is collecting food items for Nourish NC, a local 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose mission is to “Provide healthy food to hungry children, empowering them to succeed in the classroom and in their community.”

Island Passage has dedicated the month of December to collecting dry-food items for Nourish NC. The boutique invite its customers to kindly bring in four items for Nourish NC, and in return receive 15% of a clothing item. 

The idea is for local to support local, since small businesses are an important part of every community, including ours. Small locally owned business are not only vital for the economy of the country but for many individuals as well.

In these small businesses, employees usually work closely with consumers and learn firsthand about their needs and wants. Personal connections are often established and people find their favorite local spots to shop at. Residents of the community often pride themselves on supporting local businesses. 

In the end, everything comes together full circle. Local business such as Island Passage who donate to local charities such as Nourish NC, and also give local and loyal customers a discount for their contribution. It’s a win win for everyone! 

If you want to learn more about local charities in Wilmington please visit, greatnonprofits.org and search for Wilmington, NC.

– Olivia Nilsson

1. Get your Required Sleep in

While studying is important, so is getting in your eight hours of sleep every night. As much as we want to stay up all night studying, it’s actually better for us to get in our sleep. So study hard, and then rest up for your final!

2. Stay Active

Many people don’t know, but excersising actually boosts blood flow to the brain, and sitting in one place for too long can lead to a tired, ill-minded brain. Staying active is important for your brain power, so go workout or even take a quick walk in between study sessions.

3. Eat Well

Everyone needs brain food. Good food can lead to more energy for your body, and a clear mind. So during finals week, pass on the fast food and pick up some power bars and fruits and veggies!

4. Don’t Procrastinate

No one enjoys studying, but in order to do well on our finals it is vital. Don’t push it off, for Netflix or going out with your friends. Just do it! You will thank yourself later.

5. Stay off Social Media

We millennial have a bad habit of checking our social media every few minutes. During final week though, try staying off of it for a bit and spending that time studying instead. Grab a textbook or notes, instead of checking your news feeds. It will be difficult, but it will be well worth it.

The Saturday after Black Friday, after all the big corporate stores are picked over, small shops across the country open their doors for Small Business Saturday. In 2010 American Express launched Small Business Saturday to promote locally owned and operated shops. This yearlocal shops all around Wilmington opened their doors in hopes of drawing in customers who are less focused on getting the best deal possible, and more focused on getting quality Christmas presents and supporting local small businesses. Many stores in the Wilmington area called it, “Shopping with your Hearts”. Bigger stores are taking over, and it is important to also contribute to the growth of local smaller businesses because they are the ones who give back to the community, and the economy. Help bring a little more Christmas spirit to Wilmington, by shopping small!

This exam week, two things are in short supply – sleep and coffee. After you down your triple-shot vanilla iced cappuccino, you eventually have to go back to the barista to get a fill-up. Where do you go? Bespoke? PCJ? Grinders? Bitty & Beau’s? No matter what shop you name, I can guarantee that shop was influenced by the one and only coffee juggernaut – Starbucks.

Starbucks is a champion in all things IMC. From branding to messaging, everyone’s favorite barista bistro has built itself on the backs of everything we study in IMC. Starbucks has transformed itself, its coffee, and even its industry in order to work effectively in IMC.

1: The Coffee Industry

Starbucks has less branded itself and more branded the entirety of its marketplace. Coffee shops before Starbucks weren’t necessarily the places of social progress and revolution that we see in today’s coffee shops. During the 60’s and 70’s, the coffee industry realized that its young buyers weren’t resonating with their work-focused “buy to caffeinate” message. In order to win the demographic back, Starbucks and other chains focused on the social justice and environmental trends in the late 60’s and early 70’s, and promised that buying their coffee would (somehow) help the environment, or help veterans and homeless people find jobs. It worked, and business soared to peak levels, and influencing coffeeshops forever. Now, it’s hard to go to a coffeeshop that doesn’t have some sort of socially progressive message, from single-sourced, organic grounds, to events that promise to donate 50% of the profits to non-profits.

2: The Unicorn Frappuccino

Let’s take the infamous Unicorn Frappuccino as our example. Starbucks announced this wacky looking drink earlier this year, garnering a massive amount of attention. Its uniqueness caused quite a stir. Consumers flocked to their nearby Starbucks to try this once-in-a-lifetime drink for themselves to immense disappointment: it tasted terrible. This only worked in Starbucks’ favor though, as sales continued to skyrocket due to people telling their friends how absolutely terrible the drink is, only solidifying everyone’s need to try it for themselves. “There’s no way it’s THAT bad”, and “I wanna try it, maybe I’ll like it!” were some of the thoughts on people’s minds that day, only to lead to bitter disappointment. The fleeting nature of the event was perfect for something like this, where the drink doesn’t affect Starbucks’ brand too much, and the messaging and virality can bring in more customers than any flavored latte ever could.

3: Viral Beverages

Besides the Unicorn Frappuccino, Starbucks comes up with other, better, beverages and products. Pumpkin Spice Lattes and Puppuccinos are some of these. Pumpkin Spice Latte season is something that coffee lovers celebrate every year. The first day of Pumpkin Spice Latte is a veritable holiday, with customers rushing in to welcome the flavor back. For precision, this year’s Facebook post on the return of pumpkin spice got 78 thousand likes, 11 thousand comments, and 7.4 thousand shares, compared to their post on the Holiday Spice Flat White, which received 33 thousand likes, 1.5 thousand comments, and 1.3 thousand shares.

Besides that, Starbucks Puppuccinos (a FREE small cup filled with whipped cream offered to dogs) are a successful marketing tool for the company. The much loved treat for our four-legged friends have been a smash hit for Starbucks ever since their inception. Starbucks’ Puppuccinos generate adorable (and often viral) snapchats, videos, and gifs, like this one:

Starbucks has built itself on its brand and IMC principles, allowing it to soar and claim its place at the top of the coffeeshop heap. Only time will tell if it stays there, but as long as Starbucks stays true to IMC and its base, I believe Starbucks will be around for good.

-Eli Jenkins