IMC Hawks Blog

Tag: Gatorade

  • Reframing Our Reality

    This week the Department of Communication Studies was lucky enough to host Dr. Jacob Storch. Dr. Storch is the Senior Director of the consulting firm Attractor. His practices range from different areas such as organizational communication, coaching, leadership development, and organizational change. Within his lecture he focused on the application of communication theory to real world organizational practices.

    Dr. Storch brought some interesting ideas to the COM Department. He emphasized the impact the language we use can have on our reality. Language is a fluid, ever developing system. By consciously choosing the way we label the world around us, we can purposely affect the situations that are presented to us. Dr. Storch gave an example of a choice he was faced with when the economy began to look bleak. His company wanted him to address the “recession” and he chose to speak about “re-session.” Instead of focusing on the challenging times ahead, Dr. Storch challenged his colleagues to “re-session.” He explained re-sessioning as thinking of the market in a new, open mindset. As consultants, he said, they should begin to prepare for new questions that clients will have in the face of an unpredictable market and anticipate the changes that may arise in client needs.

    As we continued to listen to Dr. Storch’s lecture we began to notice his infectious realistic optimism. His example was just one demonstration of the impact our language can have on our world. By reframing the way we talk about our reality, we can positively impact the messages we send via language. Gatorade is a strong example of how positive language can impact a brand’s narrative. By promoting ad campaigns with headlines like, “Win from Within” and “Everything to Prove,” Gatorade is motivating their consumers to push their limits and give it their all with a positive and inspiring message. Their word choice intentionally gives their consumers a vision of motivation and success. From their commercials to the labels on the bottles, they are re-framing what most people may see as challenges as opportunities to improve.

    Dr. Storch also made us think about how we are conditioned as students. Our education system conditions us to seek out patterns and follow the instructions explicitly given to us. Often we are so concerned with following the map we are given that we forget how to take a minute and observe the world around us. The problem with this is that businesses do not need someone who can follow all the instructions. As Dr. Storch pointed out, “imagination is much more important than certainty.” Businesses need someone who can critically analyze the world around them and envision the future in a way no one else has. No pressure. Seriously, though, as Dr. Storch stated, “there is no place for average in our end of the business world.”

    Thank you, Dr. Storch and Dr. Cronen!

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

  • Anything you can do, I can do better… and cheaper!

    In the world of sports, it is never a surprise to see Gatorade as a major sponsor. Their product has been placed into events including NHL games, the MLB home run derby, and the Super Bowl. With that being said, not seeing Gatorade as one of the official sponsors of the 2012 Olympic games in London was a surprise. The reason for Gatorade’s absence in the 2012 London Games is because Powerade, a product of Coca-Cola, bought the sponsorship for over 100 million dollars and blocked Gatorade out. Gatorade did not fret when they were faced with this challenge. Instead of accepting defeat and letting Powerade run all of the sponsorships and advertising, Gatorade decided to respond with a commercial of their own.

    In this commercial, Gatorade not only openly states that they did not sponsor the 2012 Olympics, but also to spin it into an extremely effective advertising technique. They portrayed the overall message stating that they were not there on the billboards and buses, but instead they were there “for real” inside the best athletes in the world. Gatorade did an excellent job in embracing the fact that they could not officially sponsor the event, but still being present in the advertising and overall experience of the event

    In accordance, Powerade also plays an interesting role in their advertising by pointing out the fact that you may not know the athletes that they sponsor. This brings another aspect to the table that can be compared directly to Gatorade. Everyone knows the big time athletes like Derek Jeter, Tiger Woods, and Usain Bolt who are sponsored by Gatorade; but there are few people who are familiar with the athletes that Powerade sponsors. Powerade decided to base their commercial on the athletes that are not as famous, but the underdogs of the world.

    Coca-cola spent over 100 million dollars to sponsor the Olympics and Gatorade attempted to catch their audience’s attention with one commercial. The bigger the risk, the bigger the pay off, right? So what do you think… did Powerade come out ahead?

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