IMC Hawks Blog

Tag: Elections

  • A Good Slogan Can Go a Long Way

    A key ingredient to any election is marketing and campaigning, and election campaigns are in a league of their own. From an IMC point of view, candidates are just another brand.  The goal of the campaign is to inform and persuade voters to vote for them.  And although there are many different marketing methods and tools that are used in a presidential campaign, there is one strategy that seems to never leave a voter’s mind:  a slogan.

    Slogans are created to summarize the candidate’s purpose and goals in a few words.  Selecting the best campaign slogan is a pretty significant factor. This phenomenon does not only apply to political campaigns, but to any marketing campaign. Slogans should typically be short, effective, and to the point. If the slogan is effective, the public will be able to know what brand, or candidate, is associated with it. Examples of effective slogans include “Just Do It,” “Where’s the Beef?,” and “Got Milk?,” just to name a few, and of course there is our most recent example of Obama’s “Change” campaign.

    So what are some ground rules that one must consider before deciding on a slogan specifically for an election candidate? For one, it has to be relevant to what the candidate truly stands for. An example of this is the slogan for Mike Huckabee that states, “Faith. Family. Freedom.”What seems to be an equally important factor is to match the slogan with the current times. This means that the slogan should not just address what is important to you as a candidate, but what is important to the citizens at the time of the election. There seems to be no greater example of this than the slogan Ronald Reagan used in 1980 that read, “Let’s Make America Great Again.”

    Slogans may be short, but they are powerful and meant to represent the brand and what it stands for. When considering everything that goes into preparing a political campaign, something as small as a slogan may not seem very important, but selecting the right one is just another way to take advantage of improving your brand awareness and recognition.

    An Oldie But Goodie: Here’s one of our favorite examples of a slogan! It may seem silly, but you’ll probably find yourself humming the tune after you hear it.  Would a song like this have swayed your decision in the election?

    -Claire Dillard & Liz LaPuasa

  • IMC Rocks the Vote!

    Here at UNCW, SGA elections are in full swing. It seems everywhere you look around campus there are countless banners, flyers, bed sheet banners, and of course…CHALK. Everywhere you look you can see the candidates’ names written big in just about every color of the rainbow! I think just about every UNCW student would agree with me when I say that every student organization and the SGA utilize the abundance of sidewalk space to literally advertise for their organization, or in this case their candidates.

    If you want to advertise on this campus that means chalking, or painting the spirit rock. I myself have painted that rock and chalked this campus more times than…well, a lot. It is a method that everyone can’t help but notice as all you have to do is take a stroll down chancellors walk and especially around the center of campus and you will inevitably see some form of non-technological promotion and advertising. And when it comes to voting on the next student President, chalking up campus along with a Facebook fan page/group or event just might be the perfect combination. After all, basically everyone has access to the internet and everyone walks this campus on a weekly basis so these advertising techniques are without a doubt very effective in reaching out to students.

    Also coming up tomorrow however is Communication Studies Day and that means the fashion  show. Throughout the week, the popular social media outlet Twitter has been home base to creating buzz about the event and the models themselves. The audience will be able to vote on their favorite model via Twitter or in person. So just the fact that they are taking voting for model favorites and putting it online is very interesting and perhaps more intriguing for students. It also presents a way to have fun with the event and spark friendly rivalries. So come on out tomorrow and check out the 9th Annual Dress for Success Fashion Show, then pull up your Twitter and let everyone know who YOU thought was the best model!

    -Maxann Keller, Ryan Kelley, Eric Holtzman, Chad Graves, Katelyn Truss