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  • The Phenomenon of Dub Hockey

    hockey team pictureUNC Wilmington, a university that many students have characterized as “chill”, gets surprisingly heated when comes to ice hockey. When one thinks of college and ice hockey, they typically imagine it being played competitively in northern states. The same states where devoted hockey fans can be seen sporting the logos of their favorite hockey team on their snow-covered winter jackets. At UNC Wilmington, however, students can spend a Friday afternoon relaxing on the beach, sporting their Dub Hockey t-shirts, then spend the night getting rowdy at the local ice rink.

    Since its creation in 2004, UNC Wilmington’s club ice hockey team has become something of a phenomenon. Not only would it surprise an outsider to find a successful ice hockey team within the warm climate of the Carolina shoreline, but they would be in for an even bigger surprise when they showed up to the Wilmington Ice House. They would find it packed with a sold out crowd, a crowd consisting of excited and enthusiastic supporters loudly cheering on the their beloved team. After reaching the ACHA Division III national tournament in 2014, the unlikely ice hockey team has shown they are a force to be taken seriously.IMG_1338So where does all the energy surrounding the hockey team come from? Largely, it is generated by the team itself. It is hard for UNCW students not to notice the team when they lace up their skates to roll up and down the ever crowded Chancellor’s Walk, in uniform, carrying sirens and horns, while shouting about the upcoming game. The players display an enthusiasm that is, simply put, infectious. They broadcast the same high energy level they hope to receive from the fans. They actively create the brand of Dub Hockey. With the team’s outgoing advertising, as well as their social media presence on Twitter and Facebook, not only do they regularly reach max capacity at games, but those fans who manage to get inside are always full of spirit as they cheer, chant, and pound away at the glass separating them from the ice, demonstrating the level of their support.

    “It’s incredible how rowdy our fans are. We don’t see anything like it at any of the other rinks we go to,” remarked Kevin Mullaney, the team president during the successful 2014 season, in an interview with WRAL.

    The first game of the 2015 season was played last Friday against Elon University. They put on a show as they fought for a 6-4 win against the Phoenixes in front of a max capacity crowd. It would seem that this unlikely group of hockey players will continue to cause UNC Wilmington to lose their chill at the Wilmington Ice house for another season of Dub Hockey.

    Sold out game

    – Austin Moody, Griffin Weidele, Allen Wooten, Scott Uraro, Luci Keefer

  • The Super Bowl will never be the same

    The Super Bowl draws in more than 100 million viewers each year from around the world. Some watch for the game but many of these viewers only watch for the debut commercials. Companies spend upward of 4 million dollars for one 30-second spot during the four-hour broadcast.

    Although we will still see the classic Budweiser and Coke commercials, Doritos will be ending a 10 year tradition. Since 2006, Doritos has run their “Crash the Super Bowl” campaign, which allows consumers to submit a 30-second ad that could be aired during the Super Bowl. This has generated some of the top Super Bowl commercials of the last decade.

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    After 9 years, 8 installments, 32,000 entries and 7 million dollars in prizes Doritos is abandoning the project because of risks involved. The company feels the contest would no longer be profitable because of increasing prices for ad space.

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    On one side, Doritos now has the reins of their Super Bowl ads; however, ending the contest could upset participants and viewers that have followed the campaign. While we still have the 2016 “Crash the Super Bowl” ad, it remains to be seen how Doritos will position themselves for Super Bowl LI.

    Do you think Doritos’ decision to end the campaign will impact them positively or negatively?

    -Nick, Melanie, Mary & Patrick

  • Undefeated since 1947

    Hearing the roar of fans painted in teal, navy blue and gold on Saturday afternoons brings excitement to our bones. One can only wonder why UNCW lacks the school spirit that a collegiate football program can provide. If a single sport unifies the student body, then why not take immediate action?

    According to ESPN, more than 600 universities contain collegiate football, 32 teams are located in North Carolina. So, why doesn’t UNC Wilmington have a football program? Location, finances, and UNCW’s brand image can all contribute to that fact.

    The Seahawk, UNCW’s newspaper states, a university requires roughly $50 million dollars to start a collegiate football program. Raising the tuition at UNCW would be one option if a collegiate football program were desired. A charity fund needs to be set up, but the amount donated is only 1/6th of the money UNCW receives annually. 

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    http://uncw.edu/fll/latin/

    Size is a factor on whether a university contains a collegiate football program; Coastal Carolina located in Conway, South Carolina recently added a collegiate football program and revamped their stadium in 2003. Compared to UNCW, Coastal Carolina has similar faculty/staff to student ratio, location (distance to local beaches and cities), and similar student enrollment. Bottom line, the main difference between UNCW and CCU- school spirit. Does a university with a collegiate football program contain greater school spirit? According to USA Today, school spirit within the student body is greater at a university that contains collegiate football. This sport helps to unify the student body unlike any other collegiate programs at universities.

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    http://www.coastal.edu/athletics/form/

    But, does a football program align with UNCW’s brand image? We believe the answer to that question would be no. UNCW encompasses a laid-back, chill, and relaxed atmosphere. Our image is centered around the hype of Wrightsville Beach, rather than tailgating football games. UNCW’s image is reflected to its audiences as a stress-free university and town, and the idea of joining a mellow student body attracts prospective students. Part of what facilitates UNCW’s relaxed and personable image, is the small class sizes and opportunities for hands-on applied learning. If the university shifted its focus from academics to athletics, the financial strain would likely cause a greater faculty/staff to student ratio. This would affect UNCW’s brand image, as the key ingredient that helps build the brand would not be as strong. Are we willing to give up one of the aspects that differentiates UNCW from its competitors? A part of UNCW that provides an academic advantage to our students for the addition of a collegiate football program, making UNCW similar to other North Carolina universities?

    All factors aside, the real question lies with whether students desire a collegiate football program. A good researcher does their homework and we spoke to 10 students to get to the bottom of this matter. A large chunk of the student body opposed having a football team, citing it changed UNCW’s brand image. Of the students surveyed, 65% supported a team, 25% opposed, and 10% was neutral. We did find those who supported a UNCW football program were very passionate. Those students felt football would bring the student populace together. The main sticking points are location and money. However, all obstacles can be reduced if the student population united their efforts. As a UNCW student, is a collegiate football program worth the money? Are you willing to change UNCW’s brand image, evolving UNCW into something more?

    -Jonathan Callahan, Erin Fouhy, Julia George, Joseph Hines, and Sarah Suggs

  • Tailgating Musts or Bust

    Football season starting up and so are the advertisements. Target, Dicks Sporting Goods, and Best Buy are some retailers advertising “essentials” for game day and football season in their print ads and online.

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    http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/home/index.jsp

    By defining particular items as necessities for football season and tailgating, retailers are creating their own definitions of tailgating and narratives of what the tailgating experience should be like for consumers.

    Target’s ad includes food items such as pre-made pizza and Coca-Cola, but also advertises TVs, grills, and fan gear. Dicks Sporting Goods’ ad includes pop-up tents and chairs, fan gear, coolers, and tailgating games such as corn hole. With Best Buy, all of their “necessities” are electronic – including cameras, speakers, televisions, and cell phone cases.

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    http://weeklyad.target.com/site/#/wilmington-nc-28405/page/Target-150906

    By showing consumers products that are considered “game day essentials,” retailers are building their own narratives about the tailgating experience. Each retailer’s idea of what commodities that experience requires may be different based on the products sold at each business and their target audiences. Those that want the full experience are more likely to buy into a store’s ad and purchase the products retailers suggest.

    It’s not necessarily about what the consumer realistically needs for a tailgate. These ads for “must have” items are more about creating an idea that makes a consumer feel that without those items, they aren’t getting the best game day experience.

    These advertisements are an example of how today’s market is controlled by commodity culture – we define ourselves by the stuff that we buy. Typically, big businesses are able to sell higher ticket items based on a consumer’s need to feel like they fit in. Both the beginning of football season and the end are big opportunities for retailers to convince consumers that these products are what they need for the perfect football celebration. Football fans define themselves by having the best game day items for the season; new TVs, new grills, new gear, new everything. Retailers are ready for football season, and now the fans will be too.

    -Amanda Kluttz, Kendall Catterton, Meleah Lewis, Luke Matheney, and Dan Dawson

  • Brands – The Biggest Fans in the Game.

    According to ESPN.com, 49 percent of Americans are football fans…but just in case you’re not among them, football season can also mean a whole new ball game in the world of advertising.

    Companies will capitalize on anything they can and football season is no exception. Brands launch new campaigns both in preparation for, and during the season, in order to take advantage of the huge draw from football audiences. By gearing their products and services towards this huge target market, companies can add a new segment to their customer base regardless of whether they are directly related to football or not.  Advertisement strategies will range from direct involvement through sponsoring the NFL to simply trying to profit off the hype.  Football fans who are considering the Bojangles 20 piece jumbo tailgate special now have extra incentive to make Bojangles their game day choice. Bojangles is embracing football season with their second year of offering up football shaped Bojangles biscuits. These tasty bites are available for a limited time until September 26th.

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    While food and football go hand in hand, make-up is a less traditional, yet still relevant way to show your team spirit.

    CoverGirl’s 2014 campaign featured a series of makeup and nail designs that represented each of the NFL teams colors and mascots. Inviting women to “Get your Gameface on” CoverGirl found an effective way to include their target audience, possibly otherwise ignored, in the team spirit so many Americans feel during the pro football season. This campaign is a prime example of the diversity of brands using football as a marketing technique, proving even CoverGirl is more than just a pretty face.

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    ezebel.com/covergirl-on-nfl-sponsporship-we-support-female-empowe-1635251344

    Brands are not just incorporating football into their advertising campaigns but turning to social media for game day participation. During the 2013 Super Bowl, the power went out in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome while the Saints played against the Ravens. Minutes after the power outage, Oreo took to Twitter and posted “Power out? No problem. You can still dunk in the dark.” The tweet generated more than 15,000 retweets and according to www.mashable.com won respect for making the most out of the blackout situation. Other companies that took to Twitter during the power outage were Tide with their ad, “We can’t get your blackout. But we can get your stains out.” Jim Bean also got in on the hype via Facebook with their ad, “In case you missed the memo… tonight’s big game ‘power outage’ was brought to you by Jim Beam Black.”

    Dunk-in-the-dark

    http://wemedia.com/2013/02/05/lights-out-oreos-super-bowl-dunk-in-the-dark/

    Some people welcome football season in for the games, while others may find creative brand efforts to be the real source of entertainment. What’s your favorite football related campaign?

    -Carey Poniewaz, June Wilkinson, Aki Suzuki, Carey Shetterley, Alexis Trimnal

  • Are you ready for some football? Tom Brady is!

    With the NFL’s first regular season game on Thursday, sports fan across the nation anticipate returning to their fantasy football leagues, their favorite team’s bar, or even just their living room couches every Sunday to watch professional football. The NFL will dominate the American sports and entertainment industry for the next seven months, especially the TV ratings, and will continue to rake in a massive financial profit. As the NFL and its fans prepare for the new season, they continue to deal with incidents from last season and question if the commissioner of the NFL, Roger Goodell, will be able to retain his position much longer.

    The NFL has been involved with a plethora of negative PR instances in recent years and the organization does not always handle these situations appropriately, which only leads to backlash from the various publics and football community. Commissioner Roger Goodell’s decision to suspend New England Patriot’s quarterback, Tom Brady, for four games at the start of this season was overturned last Thursday by Judge Richard Berman. Tom Brady’s suspension was over the highly publicized “Deflategate” scandal, concerning his potential involvement in the incident that occurred before the Patriots win over the Seahawks earlier this year in Super Bowl XLIX. After the federal judge’s decision to overturn the suspension, the NFL is once again in a terrible position as the season is about to get under way and as reporter Bob Kravitz put it, “leaves the NFL with ‘egg on their face’”.

    It is clear that Commissioner Goodell picked the wrong fight with NFL poster-boy, four-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady and there are few actions the current commissioner can take to rebuild his image. He has already lost the trust of players, has a dreadful win-loss record in court, has displayed awful values of the NFL, and lost his credibility. For example, Ray Rice was initially only suspended two games for punching a woman, a charge much more serious than a couple footballs being slightly deflated. However, the NFL ultimately suspended him indefinitely, which was eventually overturned in court through an appeal by Rice.

    In addition to Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, Greg Hardy, CJ Spillman, Ray McDonald, and even Jameis Winston are no longer just incidents dealing with violence or domestic abuse. These negative occurrences are all actively shaping the NFL community and the image that the NFL portrays. It tends to show that the NFL does not maintain outstanding values and they prioritize morals a bit differently from the American public. All of the players previously mentioned are all still eligible to play in the NFL at this current moment, yet Tom Brady was nearly suspended for four games for his knowledge of footballs being deflated, making one question the values of the NFL even more intently.

    Following the Ray Rice incident last year, polls showed that the American public was already calling for his resignation. If Goodell is to maintain his role as commissioner and face of the organization for the foreseeable future, he needs to try to recreate his image since it is viewed so negatively. He needs to speak openly about the instance, consider relinquishing his disciplinary rule, hold a press conference, or use the NFL’s PR department to the best of their ability. As the rest of American society prepares for what is the highly coveted and entertaining NFL season, the NFL organization will attempt to wipe some of the ‘egg off their face’ that the Deflategate deliberation left on.

    – Griffin Weidele, Austin Moody, Luci Keefer, Allen Wooten, Scott Uraro

  • Moving On, But Never Forgetting.

    Well UNCW, its been a long journey. One filled with ups and downs and everything in-between. I remember the horror of learning that I would be living in Galloway my freshman year and on the sixth floor no less! I remember having to walk up six flights of stairs every week when the elevator would break, and yet only in a place like Galloway could I have made such awesome life-long friends.

    Aside from my freshman year dorm debacles, there were so many nights of beach volleyball with complete strangers. The club tennis practices, walking two miles to cook-out at 2am for no reason, and countless near death experiences with bikes and long-boards on Chancellors Walk. I remember living in the Suites when the Rec Center was being built and being woken up every morning by construction… fun times.

    It seems like just yesterday I was grabbing a sandwich in the Landing for lunch and now I’m graduating. Time has a funny way of accelerating with each passing year, and you don’t realize the ride is over until it’s time to hop off and move on to the next one.

    I would like to personally thank Dr. Allison Taylor who was my academic adviser and mentor when I was a Biology major. My junior year I was at a cross-roads in my life, not only academically but personally as well. Without her help and guidance I would not have transitioned to the Communication Studies department and I would have most likely been graduating from a different university a week from Saturday. I would also like to give a shout out to Dr. Persuit who has really given me real world experience in her Advertisement and IMC classes. I think it’s called something like “applied learning” hmm that sounds familiar. She is really good at pushing her students to achieve and is the first one to call them out on their crap when she knows they can do so much better. I would also like to thank Dr. LaPierre who also pushed me to give it my all in his classes and really show what I was capable off.

    Its been real UNCW, this chapter in my life has closed and a new one awaits, but I’m glad I’ve spent my undergrad career at UNCW. I look forward to the future and the many potential job prospects back home in Charlotte!

    -On a side note, all I have to say to the city of Wilmington and of its crazy drivers, traffic, and weird weather is “Bye Felicia”

    -Spencer Brenes