IMC Hawks Blog

Tag: American Idol

  • “How REAL Will American Idol Get This Season?”

    It’s that time of year again! All our favorite shows are returning, after a seemingly long-awaited hiatus. The longest running singing competition, American Idol, has returned for its thirteenth season. But this season, Idol has been forced to change things up. The show is taking on a fresh, new approach to increase the amount of viewers by revamping their marketing schemes.

    In previous seasons, the show directed promotions towards the judges, featured cities, and upcoming drama. The initial aspirations of the show to seek out raw talent has slipped within the past seasons and in return, turned away viewers. At the shows peak, American Idol attracted 30.4 million viewers in season eight. Since then, viewer ratings have only decreased and reached an all time low with 14.3 million viewers for season twelve. As a result, Fox has decided to rebrand the show by bringing in a new team of producers, less drama-filled judges, and a more heartwarming advertising campaign.

    Within the past seasons, focuses of promoting the show featured drama among the judging panel rather than the actual talent of the contestants. Producers recently have realized the show has drifted away from the heart and original purpose of the show–discovering real people with real talent around the country. In an effort to rebrand their image, season thirteen marketers began focusing on the background stories of the contestants in hopes to return Idol to its initial purpose.
    American-Idol-2014-spoilers-480x265

    American Idol

    One component of the new advertising campaign features eight contestants in their hometowns sharing their personal motivations as to why they sing. Producers felt this new type of advertisement would help viewers identify with the stories and be able to relate to the contestants. Viewers are invited to participate in the hopeful journey of the “average Joe’s” transformation into a superstar.

    American Idol’s new video promotion of the upcoming season also focuses on introducing new contestants and excluding any drama or glamour of the judges (hallelujah). In addition to highlighting real contestants, marketers have incorporated social media by producing a new tag line for the show, #ThisIsReal, to encourage audience conversations on Twitter. Producers hope that the incorporation of social media marketing will increase the show’s ratings and reputation. The advertising of real people and their real aspirations are designed to appeal to a variety of audiences on social media platforms, especially the younger demographics.

    By incorporating a variety of platforms such as television, print and social media, American Idol hopes to attract a wide array of audiences through this new and improved IMC campaign. Do you think this new campaign will be effective in increasing and engaging audiences? Or will American Idol continue its downward spiral?

    -Briana McWhirter, Emily Foulke, Hannah Turner

  • Wonka Vision

    Have you ever gone out and bought something simply for the
    fact that you saw your favorite celebrity or athlete endorsing it? Or, have you
    watched your favorite show or football team-play on TV and be mesmerized by a
    product?

    Many companies use product placement on television shows to
    advertise their brand. A lot of times, the company will sponsor a certain show,
    and in return their brand may be used in various ways throughout an episode; it
    may be used as a product in the episode or the company’s commercial will play
    during a break. For instance, have you ever wondered why all three judges on American Idol are always sitting behind
    large glasses of Coca-Cola? It is not because they cannot get enough
    daily-intake of Coke; it is because American Idol is sponsored by the Coca-Cola
    brand. Television shows are a major source of advertisement. The reality show The Kardashians is a show focused
    around the life of the Kardashian brand and family. They now have a clothing
    line through the Sears Company which is marketed on the show, a boutique
    clothing and accessory store Dash, and even market perfumes because who doesn’t
    want to smell just like a Kardashian!

    Product placement is a way for companies to inject their
    products to be endorsed by celebrities so the product will then be “cool” and
    acceptable for everyone else to buy. The show The Restaurant, on the Bravo network, starring the high-end
    restaurant chef Rocco, was paid by the show’s three main sponsors: American
    Express, Mitsubishi Motors and Coors Brewing. Bravo
    did not pay a single penny of
    license fee to have the show made. To justify its investment, each of the shows’
    sponsors has received a prominent place in the show: American Express provides
    the financing for the restaurant and the show.

    Of course, in the early days of television, such
    integration between advertiser and show was quite common. Such links persisted
    into the 1970s from the movie Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, which was entirely funded by Quaker Oats. The
    Quaker Oats brand used the movie to promote its new “Wonka” brand of
    candy and sweets. Beware and conscious of what you are buying.

    – Jordan Hill, Michela Noreski, Ashley Nelson