IMC Hawks Blog

Tag: Authenticity

  • Spring Break Travel, Iceland, and Authentic Advertising

    Spring Break Travel, Iceland, and Authentic Advertising

    March begins the season of spring break for college students and faculty. It’s a necessary period to disconnect, reflect, and have some fun in the midst of midterms and difficult coursework, jobs, or internships.

    But just because we might be escaping our day-to-day lives for a week doesn’t mean we escape the myriad ways that advertising and integrated marketing communication impacts us and our decisions. One huge way IMC impacts us: how do we decide where to go?

    Travel agents, tourism bureaus, hotels, airlines, and other stakeholders create vibrant campaigns. Few have had to deal with a crisis as large as a volcanic eruption.

    Inspired by Iceland

    Eyjafjallajokull-fimmvorduhals-eruption-iceland11
    Eyjafjallajökull erupting. Via adventures.is

    In 2010, Eyjafjallajökull (an Icelandic volcano) erupted and caused historic disruptions, including ash fall that shut down flights across Europe for almost a week.

    Tourism to Iceland fell by 30%. Inspired by Iceland was a campaign that involved the whole country. The president of the country at the time, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, stopped the entire country in its tracks (schools, workplaces and more) to ask for citizens to submit positive stories–which they did.

    The campaign chronicled its success in this video:

    The huge catalogue of positive Iceland experiences included celebrity testimonials. Webcams provided live footage of some of the most tourist-attracting natural wonders. The results of the campaign included more than £137 million in extra tourism revenue and more than 22 million stories shared.

    That last part is pretty amazing, because Iceland’s population is fewer than 350,000 people.

    The Brooklyn Brothers, the campaign’s creators, shared a case study on their website with more details.

    What Other Travel Experiences Can Take from Inspired By Iceland

    The award-winning campaign was effective because the agency running it knew its target audience: socially conscious millennials wary of traditional advertising ploys. The Brooklyn Brothers successfully gathered authenticity and storytelling.

    What would be more likely to get you to travel to a destination: a generic, high-production-value slideshow of landscapes with a peppy but robotic disembodied narrator telling you to Visit XYZ? Or a series of pictures of black sand beaches and a story from Olaf, a real Icelander, telling you about his afternoon on Iceland’s south coast? What is more authentic–a curated video or a live webcam broadcast?

    If you picked the second answer for any of those, you’re part of the target audience for Inspired by Iceland.

    Authenticity in marketing is now more important than ever, Business.com writes. That’s counterintuitive for some brands, which strive to carefully curate a perfect facade. Consumers’ desire for authenticity also makes it difficult for brands that lack a clear contribution to “the greater good”–without that corporate social responsibility, authenticity just means admitting that a brand wants a profit.

    The travel and tourism industry has always been about selling experiences, not goods. The next time you start googling destinations, consider what experiences you’re being sold–and whether they’re true-to-life or inauthentic ones.

    –Nikki Kroushl

  • Can YouTube Define YOU?

    When you hear the name Tyler Oakley, what comes to mind? If it’s YouTube and over 7 million subscribers, then you’re on the right track! Tyler Oakley is a 26 year-old who became famous through YouTube. Oakley made his initial claim to fame in 2007 when he uploaded his first video as a freshman at Michigan State University. His videos have since gone viral. What is it that makes an ordinary Michigan State college student so popular? Could it be his open nature and willingness to speak about controversial issues? Is it due to others’ ability to relate to a normal college student? Although Tyler Oakley now receives money from sponsors as a result of his amount of subscribers, is he perceived as more authentic than other celebrities simply because he became famous through YouTube and is not actually a paid actor?

    Screen Shot 2015-11-09 at 10.27.09 AMIn his first video, titled “Why Gay Marriage is WRONG,” Oakley takes a satirical approach and provides ten irrational reasons why gay marriage has to be wrong. Despite the title of his first video, Oakley identifies as gay and has obtained a large following from the LGBT community.

    Screen Shot 2015-11-09 at 10.27.49 AM

    Members of the LGBT community, along with many others, now view Oakley as a role model. Whether or not this was Oakley’s intention, he is largely in the public eye and has now has a profound influence on his audience. In a recent interview with TIME magazine, Oakley indicated it does not matter whether or not he intends to be a role model for others. If people are looking up to him, he has the potential to influence their lives in a positive or negative way, which is where authenticity comes to play. When Oakley uploaded his first video in 2007, he was not following a script. No one was telling him what to say or how to say it. Instead, he was simply sharing his own views. At that time, it likely would have been difficult for Oakley to imagine he would one day have over 7 million subscribers. Now that Oakley receives sponsorship via YouTube, does this make the content he produces less authentic? Or has he stayed true to the values and beliefs expressed prior to receiving money from sponsors?

    We live in a commodity culture, which means we define ourselves by the commodities we consume. Although Tyler Oakley’s YouTube videos are intangible, they can be viewed as commodities that help define his audience members. The messages Oakley conveys, whether intentional or unintentional, inevitably influence his viewers. Some may choose to watch Oakley’s videos because they identify with the LGBT community. Others may watch Oakley’s videos simply because they find him humorous or they enjoy his hipster image. Regardless of their reasoning, Oakley’s 7 million plus subscribers have found a way to connect with him and the brand narrative he has created for himself.

    Why do you think Tyler Oakley has become so popular? Are viewers more likely to buy in to what YouTubers say as opposed to paid actors? Are Oakley’s videos worthy of over 7 million subscribers? Do you agree that simply watching videos on YouTube help can define you as a person? If so, how? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

  • Authentic in Oktober

    With the turn of every fall season comes the anticipation of annual festivals, where locals can share in company, good food, and seasonal drinks. Arguably one of the most anticipated festivals every year is Oktoberfest. Oktoberfest was first held in Munich, Germany in the early 1800’s to celebrate the marriage of Louis I of Bavaria and Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. The royal family invited all the citizens of Munich to join in the festivities that have since been called Oktoberfest. Now every year there are hundreds of Oktoberfests nationwide, with one of the more popular ones in Cincinnati, Ohio

    .Adam_Pferderennen_Oktoberfest_1823

    Because Oktoberfest is so popularized in modern society, it is hard to figure out whether it still holds true to its German heritage, as it claims to. The meaning and purpose of the festival has been hidden behind all of  the craft beer and turkey legs and, ultimately, commodified. However, as explained in Andrew Potter’s The Authenticity Hoax, there is a distinction between something being “genuinely authentic” and “fake authentic.” Potter says that to be genuinely authentic, one must recognize itself as a replica (or in our case, a festival based on another festival) whereas the fake authentic becomes something new, in its own right, without any resemblance to the old.

    OfestCrowd

    Oktoberfests are examples of the genuine authentic in our culture. The festivals do not claim themselves as the true Oktoberfest, but a replica of the festival and celebration held in Munich every year.

    Knowing what you now know about the original Oktoberfest, would you argue Zincinnati’s Oktoberfest, and other festivalss like this, is genuine authentic or not?

    – Nick, Melanie, Mary & Patrick

  • The Transparency Angle

    What’s even real these days? It may or may not be a question that’s crossed your mind recently, but it is causing a stir in companies and ad agencies.  Transparency and authenticity are in, and flashy propaganda is on its way out.  It’s no surprise that businesses continue to refine the concept of authenticity for the purpose of marketing strategy.  What could be more lucrative than to convince consumers that a product can bridge the disconnect between modern civilization and reality, especially in a society constantly seeking meaning?

    Chick-fil-A is one company that is now taking the advertising approach of transparency, inviting customers for behind-the-counter tours at all of their locations.  This blazes the path for their upcoming menu improvements, such as salads with more nutrient-rich ingredients focused on harnessing the concept of authenticity in their food offerings.

    However, restaurant chains aren’t the only ones using this strategy.  Dove, a brand owned by Unilever, started the “real beauty” campaign in 2004 in the hopes of expanding the definition of beauty and promoting self-esteem in women of all shapes and sizes.  This week the company released a video to tell women “you’re more beautiful than you think” by comparing how women view their own beauty with how strangers view them.  This type of advertising goes beyond showing the consumer how authentic a product is; it makes the audience consider the authenticity behind their own self-image.

    The Authenticity Hoax, a book by Andrew Potter, takes apart the ideal of the “authenticity” that we’re all striving for.  He looks at the areas of our lives where we feel connected to experiences, the world, and nature, and how society has lost the true meaning of authenticity in the process of seeking it out.  In his conclusion he says, “we are trying to find at least one sliver of the world, one fragment of experience, that is innocent, spontaneous, genuine, and creative, and not tainted by commercialization, calculation, and self-interest.”

    The minute authenticity became a brand in and of itself, people wanted to have it, and companies are more than happy to sell it.  Dove may highlight the reality of the average woman versus the size zero models in many other ads, but that doesn’t mean they’re not capitalizing on some other ideal.  Authenticity is the new thing to have.  The problem is, just as Potter points out, authenticity is pretty much a false goal.  Chick-fil-A can show its customers where they make the food, but that doesn’t mean anyone’s life is more real because they ate a chicken sandwich that wasn’t frozen.

    – Ally Walton

  • Tumblr: The New Frontier of Advertising?

    When you hear the words ‘social networking’ images of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest will most likely flash through your mind.

    But have you ever heard of tumblr? If you haven’t, it’s because tumblr thrives on an almost underground vibe, where users can post original content or reblog posts they relate to.  If you have then you are most likely a tumblr user, who prides themselves on the individualized, and therefore authentic, blogging experience. As a precursor to Pinterest, tumblr pioneered the use #’s and reblogging as a way to drive traffic to blogs.

    While Twitter and tumblr are very similar -in the sense that you can follow other users and use #’s – tumblr attracts a different kind of blogger. These bloggers are generally highly creative, or artistic and do not hesitate to post their own artwork or current thoughts about the world around them. There is almost a prestige to tumblr that is not present on other social media platforms, which is generated by the genuine self-reflexivity of its users.

    With this said, you may think that the presence of advertisements are minimal on tumblr, due to it’s user generated content. In fact, most tumblr users falsely believed the same thing not too long ago. While advertisements aren’t quite as visible as they are on other platforms (i.e. Facebook and Twitter), they are still very present and becoming a more popular way to reach new audiences. Companies are allowed to make as many tumblr accounts as they wish. This leads to the repeated reblogging of their product’s photos, consequently inundating user’s dashboards to promote their brand.

    Users have begun to feel cheated or taken advantage of by the advertisements that target them on tumblr. The belief that this platform was an untapped and authentic society diminishes daily with the growing presence of advertisements. The question is now: will users accept the fact that advertisements are present on every media platform or will they find a way to keep tumblr the way it has always been, advertisement free?

    – Ally Walton, Lauren Habig, Erin Kiffmeyer, Hannah Eure, Gene Lee

  • I Am.. Authentic?

    What makes an advertisement authentic?  Is it the product, or the ways in which marketers try to make the product seem appealing to you, the consumer?  In today’s society, companies are constantly trying to discover the next great idea that can sell a product.  Whether it is a new logo on the product or a new commercial you see on TV, they are all aiming towards the trend of being considered “authentic.”

     

    Let’s take this Dr. Pepper commercial for example.  An uplifting ad telling you to embrace your “inner you” by breaking out of your everyday routine and go with the crowd of people that are all doing the same.  What is this commercial really trying to say, that the product is authentic, or the consumer is authentic?  Do people who want to express themselves drink Dr. Pepper?  This is authentic right?  You are going against the norm by showing off your “inner you” and storming the streets in joy.  But in actuality this ad is the furthest thing from authentic.  The entire commercial is just a clever new way that a corporation spent millions of dollars on to get you to buy their product.  They want to appear authentic to consumers because that notion of scarcity and realism is what is driving the consumer market today.

    This is a common misconception among today’s society; the secure feeling of knowing the product you are buying is authentic.  Companies are trying to persuade you into buying their product because of how exclusive and different it is from all the rest; when in actuality, most of them are comparable to one another and the methods they take to explain that to you are exactly the same.

    Dr. Pepper is not the only product employing this notion of authenticity.  It seems that this effort must be working because these products are still thriving.  Are the products you buy and consume daily producing authentic advertisements?  Are these advertisements the reason you choose their brand, their product?  And are these products authentic or are you, the consumer authentic?

    – Jessie Butner, Meaghan Beam, Zach Abramo, Jack Lane