IMC Hawks Blog

Tag: Branding

  • Losing It All After Winning Big

    Last week the U.S Anti-Doping Agency released a thousand page report on Lance Armstrong’s doping scandal.  The now retired cyclist hit headlines hard in late August when he was stripped of all seven of his Tour de France medals and was issued a lifetime ban from cycling. Since the story released, Armstrong’s four major lucrative sponsors have taken away their sponsorships one by one.

    Nike dropped Armstrong earlier this week due to his disgrace.  Nike released this statement “Due to the seemingly insurmountable evidence that Lance Armstrong participated in doping and misled Nike for more than a decade, it is with great sadness that we have terminated our contract with him.”

    Image

    The brewing company Anheuser-Busch also said it was ending its relationship with Armstrong when his contract expires at the end of this year.  Oakley Inc. and Radio Shack are waiting for the final decision from sport’s international authorities before conducting their final decision.  The other two sponsors that have immediately ended their relationships with Armstrong are Trek Bicycles and FRS, the energy drink maker.

    Lance Armstrong has stepped down as chairman of the Livestrong cancer support charity that he founded.  His foundation is widely known for the 70 million yellow wristbands that were distributed worldwide.  His charity raises money not for research but to help cancer survivors with employment, financial obligations, insurance problems, and access to care, especially in third world countries.

    Image

    So far, donations have increased despite the Armstrong’s scandal.  Lance Armstrong released a statement on Wednesday stating “To spare the foundation any negative effects as a result of controversy surrounding my cycling career, I will conclude my chairmanship.”

    The road for Armstrong seems far from over.  Currently, the Olympic Committee is considering taking away Armstrong’s 2000 Olympic bronze medal, which will surely endure more loss and humiliation for him.  Predictions say he will continue to lose more sponsorships and countless lawsuits will be released of breach of contract between the companies and Armstrong.

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

  • To Sponsor or Not to Sponsor: That is the Question.

    Currently, one of the biggest trends in music is the presence of music festivals. These festivals host a number of bands from all different genres, pulling large audiences of varied consumers in to enjoy the shows. Festivals are generally a couple of days long and promote a laid-back lifestyle complete with camping tents and hammocks. We can thank Woodstock for this specified musical platform. However, is it also a platform for something else? In recent years, music festivals have also hosted a number of sponsors, who market their brands by simply surrounding festival goers with advertisements and products.

    But what is the benefit for companies that sponsor these events? Since companies spend time and money to become an integral part of the festival atmosphere there must be some sort of profitable gain. The major draw for companies is the audience. Generally speaking, attendees are in their late teens to late 20’s. This generational demographic, once targeted, are often very loyal consumers to their favorite brands. Companies hope to capitalize on this while festival-goers are having a good time, enjoying the music, and are open-minded. This audience is also very important because they have a larger disposable income than most. The ability to spend upwards of $400 for a two day music festival, says to companies that this demographic is, for the most part, either affluent or avid consumers.

    However, there is also a downside to being a sponsor at one of these events. Companies have to be very aware that if the audience does not perceive their product as one that coincides with the overall experience and atmosphere of the festival then they will either be completely ignored or considered an annoyance. For instance, a brewing company will do a lot better and be viewed much more positively than a law firm or insurance agency. In order to be successful as a sponsor you have to ensure that your product will enhance the mood, environment and fit the audience profile.

    One of the best examples of sponsorships working harmoniously with the specific nature of music festivals is Firefly, which was held for the first time this summer in Delaware.  Firefly made all of their vendors and sponsors local companies who brought a higher class of food and drink to the campsites. Instead of bombarding attendees with big named company sponsors Firefly chose to keep the music festival experience more authentic. Dogfish Head, their beer sponsor, even unveiled a new brew named the “Firefly Brew.” The event also had a TOMS Shoes tent, where you could purchase a pair of canvas slip-ons to be painted on-site by a local artist.

    Firefly was successful because they accompanied their musical line-ups with relevant sponsors, which in the end created a newer, more evolved and authentic version of a music festival experience.

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

  • Has the Branding of Humans by Companies Gone Too Far?

    Marketers and advertisers have been getting more and more creative with how they choose to promote their brand and products. A recent trend has been the one of the “walking billboard.” Many people have been willing to brand almost any part of their body for the right price.


    In more recent years, tattoos have been seen as both as cultural icons as well as innovative methods to deliver a specific message. Web sites such as LeaseYourBody.com, TatAD.com, BodyBillboardz.com, HumanBanner.com, and LivingAdSpace.com connect brands and potential advertisers with individuals who are willing get “branded” for money.

    Many popular brands such as Volvo have used these creative tattoo advertisements to further promote their cars. Linda Gangeri, national advertising manager of Volvo Cars of North America, said their tattoo man was a way to get people to think differently about the Volvo brand.  Being a “walking billboard” is an extreme example of how people are being used to creatively advertise for brands in today’s society.

    There are less permanent and drastic ways in which someone can brand themselves for a company. Clothing is a great example. Clothing will always be a great tool for human branding because it is one of the first things we notice about the appearance of others.  In recent years, there have been rumors circulating that Abercrombie and Fitch pays individuals to come into their store and shop whilst wearing their clothes.  Even more recent are the allegations that the company has done the exact opposite as well. In 2011, the company reportedly offered the cast members of MTV’s “Jersey Shore”, specifically Mike “The Situation”, to not wear their clothes while filming the popular TV series. They felt that the cast members wearing their clothes affected their brand negatively rather than positively and did not want to be affiliated with the show. Clothing is also largely used by brands that are not restricted to apparel to benefit both the clothing store, and their own brand. For instance, the clothing store “Hot Topic” sells a variety of different t-shirts from many different companies. One of the big examples is the “Twilight” series. By selling shirts that relate to the book or movies, the people who buy these shirts then become walking billboards for both “Twilight” as well as “Hot Topic”. Clothing has been and remains to be a great tool for human branding for the simple fact that in society, appearance really does seem to be everything. If someone is attractive and is wearing a t-shirt that promotes something, most people that see this person are likely to be influenced by what is being advertised on the shirt.  The “Legalize Gay” shirts from “American Apparel” are a great example. Not only does the shirt promote a cause, but some people even think it’s trendy. This caused the design to become a quick success for “American Apparel”.

    Along with self-branding through choice of apparel, companies use celebrities to promote their brand by paying them a great deal of money to wear their clothes, jewelry, hats, sunglasses, etc. In 2003, famous tennis player Serena Williams signed a sponsorship contract with Nike which agreed to pay her over 8 million dollars a year just to wear Nike’s logo on her uniforms and visors while playing. Not only is Serene getting paid; she does not even have to buy her clothes from Nike because they are given to her. The better and more popular the athlete, the more money companies choose to invest into that particular person or team. Tiger Woods is another athlete that has been ridiculous sums of money just to wear and boost certain brands. Before his sex scandal, Tiger allegedly made between 55-60 million dollars from endorsements.  After, the controversy, he makes about 20 million less, but still an incredible amount of money just to wear Nike apparel.  This marketing strategy applies to fashion and luxury brands as well. On the “red carpet”, interviewers are constantly asking who designed celebrities’ dresses or what brand of jewelry are they wearing. Throughout the past couple of years, the number of film stars that accept fees for wearing a brand’s designs or jewels at the Academy Awards and other red-carpet events has significantly increased. Lucie Greene, the author of many articles located in FT Magazine, stated that “last year US Weekly reported that Oscar host Anne Hathaway was paid $750,000 by Tiffany & Co to wear its jewels throughout the ceremony. The same story said that Gwyneth Paltrow was paid $500,000 to wear Louis Vuitton baubles during her live performance” that same night of the Oscars. Businesses are looking for every possible way they can find to market their brand and increase sales and participation. Phillip Bloch, a professional stylist who works with the popular celebrity Sandra Bullock, along with many other famous clients, views this pay-to-wear trend a smart branding strategy. “It’s a business more than ever now”, Bloch says.

    Over time, the ways in which people are used to promote and essentially brand a company have evolved.  While clothing has been around for quite some time, the creative ways in which it is used has been changing in recent years.  Celebrities have been used to wear a brand and increase revenue.  As notes, extremes such as being a “walking billboard” have become more and more prominent.  As is natural in a social setting, people are extremely influential upon one another.  Thus starts the argument that as technology develops over time, the ways in which humans are used to advertise will as well.

    –Sasha De Vecchi, Lindsay Gallagher, Jay Reilly, Cary Welborn

  • The Twilight Saga Continues

    There was once a time when the word “vampire” was associated with fear, scary movies, and evil. No one wanted to be a vampire; they wanted to hide from vampires. Over the past few years words associated with vampires have been more along the lines of “sexy,” “exciting” and “cool.”  Many people believe you can trace these changes back to Twilight, the book series that was turned into a movie in 2008. Stephenie Meyer, the author of the Twilight saga, completely altered the image of a typical vampire around. Vampires used to be portrayed as terrifying people who would only come out at night, slept in a coffin, and had skin that looked almost grey.  Meyer portrayed vampires as suave, fashionable, intelligent, and desirable. Instead of being harmed by sunlight, Twilight vampires simply sparkled when they were in the sun.  Young girls across the country swooned over Robert Pattinson when he became the star of the movie series. Many women even stated that they wanted to become a vampire.

    Since the first Twilight book hit bookstores back in 2005, this romanticized idea of vampires escalated into quite the fad in the entertainment industry. TV stations began to make their own spin offs of the vampire stories. Two of the most notable vampire shows are HBO’s “True Blood” and The CW’s “The Vampire Diaries.” Both of these shows took hold of the idea of vampires having a vast amount of sex appeal. The casts are made up of attractive young men and women who spend a lot of time in romantic relationships with one another. Men and women alike are attracted to the vampires depicted on their television screens. These shows market vampires and their lives as being sexy, as you can see in the commercial for season 2 of The Vampire Diaries.

    TV producers saw the craze that the Twilight book and movie series created and took Myers’s idea and ran with it.  True Blood and Vampire Dairies have also created a strong audience that is keeping the Vampire trend alive.  These shows have not altered the image of vampires quite as much as Twilight did, rather they have definitely brought more attention to the vampire trend in the United States. Will these blood-suckers continue to be sexy and desired by all, or will vampires go crawling back to their coffins and return to their more spooky origins?

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

  • “The Evil Empire”

    When we were growing up, Cinderella taught us how important faith can be, Snow White taught us how important friends are, and Sleeping Beauty taught us how important following our dreams can be. However, the upcoming generation is growing up with extremely different Disney princesses than we knew. What began as the princess trifecta of Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty, has turned into nine princess movies all representing different images and values to the next generation of children. There is a question raised by many of whether or not the Disney princesses are teaching children the right lessons. Some have even ventured to ask: Is Disney really the evil empire?

    As a brand, Disney has faced harsh criticism from the feminist movement due to the way they have portrayed women in the past. A recent meme surfacing all over the internet that de-glorifies the Disney movies from fairy tales to poor life lessons. For example, Belle is described as just a pretty face and the meme insinuates that the Beast only fell for her because of her looks. This is an oversimplification of Belle’s character as the Beast falls for her not for her looks but her intelligence, caring nature, and personality. However, the meme is not entirely wrong as not all of the early princesses are portrayed in such a dynamic manner as Belle. Cinderella and the prince barely shared a dance before they fell madly in love and Ariel ditched her entire family to marry her prince.

    In order to help manage their image, or perhaps in attempt to keep up with the times, Disney took on the challenge of making their newer princesses more dynamic and stronger female leads. Disney also released an African-American princess after receiving criticism for not having enough diversity in their fairy tale stars. An idea they really try to communicate with their new princesses is that princesses do not have to be damsels in distress. In Tangled, Rapunzel takes charge of her own life by disobeying her “mother’s” wishes. In the process, she discovers her real family and her true love. This could be seen as Disney’s ode to following your heart with more action than Cinderella took. However, the movie openly references alcohol blackouts, violence, and criminal behavior. Is this Disney trying to appeal to an older generation or avoid seeming old fashioned and out of date? Either way it wasn’t entirely in line with the identity of their prior princesses. Is this a new kind of Disney Princess we are seeing? Or a fluke straying from what Disney really represents?

    – Alexandra Huss, Caroline Merrill, Alyssa Morrello, Lauren Van Trigt, Dann Williams

  • Are You Checked In?

    Social media has created a new obsession with knowing what everyone else is doing and where they are at all times. Foursquare takes this obsession to a whole new level. Users of Foursquare check in to various places, comment on their service or products with tips for other users, post pictures, and gather points to become the “mayor” of their favorite restaurants or stores. There are currently over 25,000,000 people who use Foursquare to connect to places and over 1,000,000 businesses.

    ImageBusinesses take advantage of this social media site in order to brand themselves and attract new customers. Foursquare offers several free methods to improve the buzz about a brand. A business can create updates to local users by uploading pictures of specials or events that are taking place at their location. They can also offer discounts specifically to users. For example, Chick-fil-a offers free chicken minis the first time you check in. Some local businesses offer 10% discounts on the first purchase. Sports, non-profits, entertainment, and music can also utilize Foursquare to get their name out to potential fans. The television network Bravo has a page to share tips from individual Bravolebrity’s about locations they frequent.

    Image

    Although many businesses benefit from using Foursquare, there is also a risk of costumer’s damaging your reputation. Users can leave tips for their friends or strangers about whether or not the product is good. This uncontrolled form of advertising can be very dangerous. On Best Buy’s page, tips range from “make sure the people who work there know what they’re talking about. The TV department there lacks in this area” to “Dig the environment!!” Tips left by customers can be read by anyone looking at your page and have the ability to either damage or build your reputation. Businesses are unable to defend themselves or respond to these tips.

    Businesses considering joining the Foursquare network must weigh the pros and cons and consider the risk of bad tips. With over 25,000,000 users and growing, businesses can get their brand spread to new and potential customers and create hype about exclusive Foursquare discounts. Do you think it is worthwhile for businesses to jump on the Foursquare band wagon?

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

  • 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