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With the Wells Fargo scandal being all over the news and media it brings to question how does the cultural of an organization affect a company’s image?

Federal Regulators have brought to light that Wells Fargo employees have created millions of fake bank and credit card accounts without the customers knowledge or approval since 2001. This has resulted in over 5,300 Wells Fargo employees being fired, a fine of $185 million, and their CEO retiring. Their reasoning? Wells Fargo had a high sales goal program for their employees to meet. Therefore, the employees decided to create fake accounts in order to meet these goals. By having these high demands set it place Wells Fargo did not set their team up for success, which in turn has given the company a bad image and led to many Wells Fargo customers moving their money and business to different banks.

For companies like Google who offer fun and relaxed work cultures we see employees are happy and loyal with working for their company. We also see that when employees are happy that transfers over the the customers, which correlates with a great image for that company. However, in the case of Wells Fargo we see that when companies have a high and stressful standards for their employees things can go really wrong really fast. In IMC we know that communication in the work place could make a world of difference to the culture in a workplace. With good communication techniques and knowledge CEOs like Wells Fargo can motivate employees without putting sticked guidelines that stress their employees out.

Share with us some ways companies could motivate employees without adding stress.

 

Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is not just one sector of the “working world.”  It takes on different shapes and forms throughout the business world and is constantly changing as the business world changes. Is IMC the best thing occurring in businesses or can it be too risky?

 

IMC always takes the customer into account, one way it does this is through the four C’s. IMC has taking the strategies of the four P’s, (product, place, price, and promotions) and turned them into the four C’s (customer value, convenience, cost, and communication). By putting themselves in the shoes of the customer, many businesses have gained knowledge and understanding for their customer base. This has made marketing a lot less risky and much more affluent. Chick fil a is a good example of how knowing your customer can help your business grow.

 

One of the best examples of IMC in the business world is through a popular business, especially at UNCW, known as Chick-fil-A. This restaurant chain’s popular slogan “Eat More Chicken” is to play toward the pathos of the consumers. The marketing in Chick-fil-A is centered around a cow as the mascot. The cows are telling consumers to eat more chicken because they don’t want to be eaten themselves! If you notice, Chick-fil-A never uses the image of a chicken in their marketing strategies. However, the image of a chicken is embedded into their logo, but it is so subtle that not a lot of people notice it. The IMC of Chick-fil-A is brilliant because they market to what people want to see. People want to see that they are not harming the cows and instead are eating chicken. Good chicken, I might add.

Every girl in the U.S knows exactly what show this question belongs to… Exactly, the Bachelorette! The show’s ratings is out the roof and definitely the most popular Monday’s No. 1 broadcast with 6.6 million viewers.

Beauty, brands, and love is promised in the show. The last Bachelorette, Jojo Fletcher, is probably one of the most popular ones yet because of her amazing style in clothing. She represents the ideal woman, wifey material, and most importantly: she is, hands down, the style icon itself! Ever since the first episode of the Bachelorette season 12, she has worn one better outfit after another. Of course, clothing brands recognize the love from fans and how they keep up with her latest love and engagement life. That is why she is the perfect fit for a brand ambassador.

Having a brand ambassador is great for the marketing strategies and way to communicate an ongoing message representing a brand. Jojo has worn over hundreds of outfits during the filming; from cozy sweaters, fitted dresses, and sleek shoes. During the day she kept is casual in Express shirts and leather jackets and then Elizabeth and James dresses for night dates. For the show’s cocktail parties and rose ceremonies, Jojo wore sparkly sequin and beaded dresses by Mac Duggal. All together she wore over 79 different brands that got their exposure through the show.

Not only does the world talk about these beautiful outfits and dresses Jojo wears but her style is talked about on various platforms. From Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and E!News to interviews, and more. Brands and companies want to have the bachelorette’s face representing their character and name. Jojo wears clothes from different designers, works in commercials, and is starting to get offers from different companies to represent them and commercialize their brand.

Doesn’t this sound like a great opportunity to become famous and rich? If you want to be
come the next Bachelor or Bachelorette, go to http://abc.go.com/casting

Good luck!

http://www.pradux.com/tv/the-bachelorette/jojo-fletcher/brands

http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/monday-ratings-bachelorette-premiere-dancing-with-the-stars-abc-1201781893/

Sammy the Seahawk has been an important aspect of school spirit at UNCW. The logo has changed four times since the opening which was in 1947. The Seahawk is part of the school’s brand, and is seen in multiple locations throughout the campus. We have a statue of it in front of Warwick and in front of Hoggard Hall. When students graduate, they typically take graduation pictures with the Seahawk in front of Hoggard Hall. It is an aspect of school spirit that is engraved into all of the students from day one.

Have you ever gone a day at UNCW and not seen someone wearing the school’s logo? The answer is that you probably have not. People here take pride in supporting the school and being proud to be a Seahawk. Over time, the logo has changed, and that is a great thing to do because everything is constantly evolving. As time changes, people change, and it is important for an organization to see that and incorporate it into their marketing strategy. The pictures below show the four sports logos UNCW has created.

1977-1985                                                              1986-1991

 

 

1992-2014                                                         2015-Present

It is important for a brand to engage their community. UNCW as a brand does this by creating a logo that connects to the students. When the logo changed in 2015, there was a split in who liked it and who did not. Students were use to the previous logo and felt a connection with it which is why they might have felt uneasy about the new logo. Freshman who started school this year only know this logo; therefore, they feel a connection with it because to them, it is the only representation of UNCW they have known.

While logos change over time, the image should not matter. What’s more important is what it represents. If UNCW continues to be a strong community of students, then the logo will continue to make a connection no matter the changes.

 

 

 

Pictures: sportslogos.net

Groom, S. A. (2008). Integrated Marketing Communication: Anticipating the ‘Age of Engage’ Communication Research and Trends, 27(4), 14-15.

 

-Jenny Anguisaca

Over the past few decades, Integrated Marketing Communication has rapidly transformed into any and all aspects of communication from an organization. How do businesses measure the success of their communication? Engagement.

Engagement is in every comment, like, share, reply, and retweet out there. Consumers are voicing their opinions about products. Brands are looking for approval of new lines. There is a constant flow of communication and immediate reactions to an organization’s decisions. Smart businesses listen to their consumers, what they want and what they don’t. Glamour Magazine, YouTube, and Old Spice are three brands that have all redesigned themselves after engagement identified the desires of their consumers.

One of the most popular magazines, Glamour Magazine, has been around for many years. Naturally, after a period of time they knew it was time for something new and fresh to keep attracting readers to their product. They wanted to make sure that their print product was being fresh, new, and intriguing to read. This is what initially sparked the idea to redesign their brand. They wanted to also make sure that they were as modern as possible in order to stay up to date with other competing magazines, and also to create a consistent identity throughout all of the magazines channels they use. With the recent boom of technology and social media platforms, they knew that they would have to make their online content completely up to date and as appealing to the eye as possible since majority of its readers are via mobile phones.  While they are posting and keeping up to date with all of their different platforms now, it makes the content that much more important to always hold good value in the content they are sharing more frequently. They knew it was imperative to actively change as the world around us does, and it ended up being a great change to the magazine and allowed for even more success!

The largest video sharing website on the Internet, YouTube, has gotten a whole lot simpler. Redesigning its brand, YouTube is making everything more user friendly. With a flatter web design featuring less text and more images, YouTube’s redesign not only uses more negative space, but also gives each channel a nice splash of color. Another redesign feature is a new interactive homepage that gives users the ability to create their own YouTube experience. An exciting new logo that uses brackets, bearing a similar resemblance to that of a camera frame, also makes the user feel as if they are the director of their very own videos! YouTube now allows users to easily share their favorite videos with others through social media or email. With a new ‘My Channel Page,’ YouTube gives users an intriguing new experience, allowing them to customize their own personal YouTube channel equipped with dynamic backgrounds. Reaching as many as a billion users, YouTube has successfully redesigned its brand through the process of engagement. By listening to the demands of its customers, YouTube’s redesign fits the needs of its users and continues to attract more and more YouTube-goers.

Old Spice reengineered its marketing strategy in 2010. The 75-year-old company introduced the now-famous “Old Spice Guy” in an online commercial during the Super Bowl. The video itself was a clever, polished, 30-second spot perfect for sharing, as the one-take video made viewers do a double-take. Old Spice’s ad went viral, but the brand’s strategy didn’t end there. When its next ad generated a similar number of shares and retweets, the company’s YouTube channel uploaded over one hundred video responses to tweets about the ad. These didn’t just interact with celebrities that talked about the ad; the average consumer also got a personalized response from Isaiah Mustafa, shirtless and in character as the debonair “Old Spice Guy.” The personalized responses sent a message to consumers: Old Spice cares about your thoughts. Taking the time to craft individual clips that addressed the commenter with witty dialogue proved the brand’s commitment to developing a relationship with consumers and giving them fun, interactive content. This was the first step in a campaign that redefined Old Spice’s image and engaged consumers in an unprecedented way, giving them an experience to remember.

The redesign of three well-known brands shows us that it is crucial companies use this era of engagement to hear what their customers really want. As your audience evolves and expands, so must your brand. Integrated Marketing Communication is a diverse and fluid field, one where introducing new ideas and tactics is always a necessity. Sometimes going back to the drawing board, really is the best move you can make.

-Morgan, Emily, Aris, & Addison

The four years you spend in college will be some of the best and worst times of your life. Throughout the four years, you grow as a person, create friendships, and are forced to figure out your next step in life. I’m not saying you have to have your whole life planned out by the time you graduate, but wouldn’t it be nice to know how to get ahead in the real world?

IMC is a growing discipline that encompasses strategic planning in Public Relations, Advertising, and Marketing to establish a relationship between an organization and its consumers. So if you’re planning to go into IMC, I have some advice that will benefit you.

With all new disciplines it is common to encounter some obstacles. However, having some knowledge and applying it to overcome the challenges present in the field of IMC will give you an advantage over others competing for the same job.

1. Aligning internal and external marketing communication.

What does this mean? : Make sure all modes of communication are on the same page.

2. Moving to a behavioral base for marketing communication outcomes.

What does this mean? : Think of how a person would interact with the brand.

3. Reversing the flow of marketing communication programs.

What does this mean? : Focus your attention on the consumers’ perspective.

4. Making the brand the key element in the marketing effort.

What does this mean? : Focus on the brand when you are communicating a message to the public. Unnecessary elements take away the attention from the brand.

5. Developing a global perspective.

What does this mean? : Technology has made it easier for everyone to communicate with one another over long distances. Think about how to communicate to consumers globally.

6. Developing forward-looking systems of forecasting, measurement, and evaluation.

What does this mean? : Take advantages of the technology we have and create new ways to predict, measure, and analyze data.

7. Developing new organizational structures and compensation methods.

What does this mean? : Help be part of the change that pushes IMC to be more commonly used with businesses and corporations.

 

 

 

Images provided by: 225AM

Groom, S. A. (2008). Integrated Marketing Communication: Anticipating the ‘Age of Engage’ Communication Research and Trends, 27(4), 14-15.

-Kayla Castro

“Money doesn’t grow on trees” is something you probably heard as you were growing up. Well that statement really sinks in when you are walking on Chancellors or in Hawks, and you see an organization asking for donations. As soon as you make eye contact with them, you just get sucked into listening to the spiel and it is easily one of the most awkward conversations you can have. By the end of the conversation, you have given them the money they were wanting and you become more poor than you already were. So how do we as students get past this awkward encounter?

There are many ways to encounter engagement with student organizations on campus. One way is by completely avoiding the people when they try to communicate with you. Students can do this by completely avoiding eye contact by looking at your phone, putting your headphones in, or turning your back to them. Do you really want to be one of these students?

ENGAGE with your fellow student body and help support their causes!

We should support our fellow colleagues for many reasons. One reason is that on campus we are a united community #wingsup.  As students, we rely on other organizations to help support us and we should try to support them back. Every organization on campus engages with the community of Wilmington, which is considered civic engagement. The connections we could make with one another could help us in the future. We should take advantage of these opportunities to help our community as much as possible!