This past year, Wilmington was home to two exclusive One Tree Hill reunions, where the TV show once took place. Hundreds people came out to interact and reminisce with their favorite characters from the show. Commuters traveled from all over the nation and even overseas to Wilmington for the three-day event. Tickets started at $35 and increased up to $795 for a VIP experience. Fans who were willing to pay these high amounts obviously have a deep connection with the show or the characters.
Brands that cultivate a culture around their product and are able to build a lasting relationship with their consumers. The creators of One Tree Hill are able to continue the brand without producing a product. This benefits not only the show, but allows consumers to identify and participate with a culture that shares their common interests.
What other brands have cultivated their image to go beyond their product?
One of the hot topics recently hitting the media today has been the news surrounding Ray Rice and the Baltimore Ravens. This story has created turmoil and conflict when regarding the NFL’s image but more specifically Roger Goodell’s image. Back when the news first broke about Rice supposedly hitting his now wife, the NFL responded with little punishment due to the fact that there was no proof.
Recently, TMZ has released video footage of the incident, which resulted in Rice’s suspension. The biggest question that has came to surface was whether or not the NFL knew about the video before it was released to the public. Goodell and Baltimore Ravens coach, John Harbaugh, responded saying that they had no prior knowledge of this video.
Now the Associated Press has released a statement and a voicemail that proves the video was sent to the NFL back in April. So what does this mean for the NFL and the NFL commissioner? The image of Roger Goodell is quickly declining, due to his unresponsiveness to the issue.
In an organization as large as the NFL, the commissioner works as a sort of mouthpiece for the entire entity. He doesn’t just speak for himself; he also speaks as the NFL. This personification of the entire organization makes the choices of one man represent the image at large. This is why Goodell’s actions are so detrimental to the NFL’s entire brand image.
This topic perfectly blends together with Marshall McLuhan’s theory of Media Ecology. According to Griffin (2011) this surrounds the idea that technology not only influences our society as a whole, but that also how media and communication practices shape and affect human perceptions and understanding of human affairs. The video of Ray Rice that went viral into our social media world, shaped our insight and intuition of how the NFL and Roger Goodell handle its organization, and certainly affects out external interpretation of the NFL’s image.
-Hannah Zeskind, Connor Gold, Margaret Cafasso, Kierstin Geary, and Olivia Sadler
It’s one of the pillars of successful marketing, target your audience. Individualizing ads to particulars groups or regions of consumers ensure that messages have the most impact. But what happens when a company features a controversial scene in a spot, then removes it for some audiences and not others? Good marketing move or failure to take a stance?
In its newest global campaign, “Reasons to Believe” Coca-Cola set out to inspire consumers that no matter what happens in life, it’s those small happy moments that make life worth living.
Check out the commercial below.
In most European countries the ad contains a scene of two gay men holding hands in front of their wedding party. However, in the Irish version (the video below) the scene has been replaced to feature a bride and groom.
The Irish LGBT publication, EILE Magazine, brought attention to the issue, calling the removal an “inexplicable move”. In response to the criticism, Coca-Cola said that the advertisement had been tailored to individual markets so that the ad resonates with the people in each country where it is shown. The company defends the decisions saying that grooms were excluded from the Irish version because gay marriage is not legal in the country. EILE Magazine claims the Coca-Cola reasoning moot. The footage of the two grooms is known to be a video clip from a same-sex union ceremony in Australia – equivalent to a civil partnership in Ireland. Yet gay marriage is also illegal in Australia, but shown there. EILE claims the spot should have been suitable for Ireland as well.
Coca-Cola has unequivocally made public their supporting stance on same sex marriage. Since 2006, the Human Rights Campaign continues to award Coca-Cola with a 100 percent ranking of their company polices and practices regarding LGBT. The Coca-Cola Company notes on their website, “To achieve a perfect score, companies must have fully inclusive equal employment opportunity policies, provide equal employment benefits, demonstrate their commitment to equality publicly and exercise responsible citizenship”
Many are saying that Coca-Cola’s recent actions were hypocritical. Coca-Cola claims to support gay marriage, but their choice to remove a gay marriage scene from a commercial in Ireland, in which law does not prohibit such imagery, is misleading of the company’s values. Similarly, another beverage icon, Starbucks, has also gained attention for their hypocritical actions.
Bryant Simon discusses the company Starbucks in his book Everything But the Coffee. Through his research he comes to discover that Starbucks isn’t delivering what they are promising in their brand – good coffee with little environmental impact. Claiming to buy fair-trade coffee from Rwanda and Nicaragua farmers, Starbucks was actually buying from bigger farmers and only buying 5-6 percent of fair-trade out of all the total coffee purchases.
Much like Starbucks claiming to be environmentally friendly yet not taking the necessary steps in order to be green, Coca-Cola’s actions were just as misleading; claiming to support gay marriage yet removing a scene from one version of a commercial for the sole purpose of trying to please everyone.
As future and current brand ambassadors we have to remember that every decision we make, including company policy decisions, become an integral part of brand, and when decisions are made that contradicts that it hurts the brand.
On the other side of things, as consumers (and as Simon states in his book) we have to remember pursuing “solutions to highly complex social problems through buying and buying alone” doesn’t fix the problem or change the ideology. We have to stop relying and believing that buying certain brands is going to change a social issue.
So, does Coke’s decision to take out the gay marriage scene hurt its brand identity? Should companies take stances on social issues? What practices do you follow to make sure this brand conflict doesn’t occur in your company or with your clients?
When preparing for the aggressive, less-than-thriving job market, it is important to be confident in your abilities to “sell yourself”. The cover letter, resume, and interview process that stands between you and the job of your dreams can all be enhanced based on how you understand your unique skill set and experience. By feeling comfortable with what you have to offer a potential employer, you can have an unmatched advantage over the competition. In order to reach this level of comfort and self-confidence, it is critical to understand the “brand” that you are trying to “sell”.
Looking for a career can be intimidating at any time in life; however, it can be successful if you can apply the characteristics of marketing as it relates to promoting a brand image. By branding yourself as a diligent, experienced, positive worker throughout the employee recruitment process, the employer is likely to feel confident in the decision to hire you. However, if you are tardy to interviews, send unprofessional emails, and lack the ability to converse with the interviewer, it may be hard to stand out from the competition. By taking advantage of leadership opportunities, working well with others, and being serious about school work, it will be easy to create confidence for what you have to offer a company. The more experience you gain throughout life, and the more consistent you are with your habitual work habits, the more reliable your “brand” will seem to employers.
Every year 60-70,000 people go to the small town of Benson, North Carolina. Why would this many people go to a town of only 3,569? For nothing other than Benson Mule Days! The event takes place at the end of September every year and includes rodeos, a mule pulling contest, arts and crafts, vendors, music, a parade that attracts 20,000 on its own, and more! Festival goers can be seen around Benson on their horses, and people from as far as Wilmington travel on horse back to celebrate the event.
It may seem like such a festival wouldn’t draw the crowds that it does, but Benson’s Mule Days has become one of the largest festivals in North Carolina. Travelers from Alaska, Germany, and California make their way to Johnston County in order to experience the small town, southern feel of this festival. Benson is the perfect place to hold a festival like this because it is so small and has a historical downtown area. When visitors walk through the aisles of arts and crafts and street vendors while hearing bluegrass music play in the background, they feel just as they should while in a small North Carolinian town. There is plenty for people of all ages to enjoy while experiencing southern hospitality.
North Carolina’s image is perfectly illustrated by Benson’s Mule Days. Those not from the south trying to get the experience of all that it has to offer need to look no further than Mule Days.
-Brie Golden, Micaela Fouhy, Will Cosden, Lindsey Baggett, Andrew Mayer
Corporate Communication is present in almost every industry, whether we recognize it or not. One industry that many people would not typically associate corporate communication with is the music industry. Musicians and artists create their own identity and brand themselves in a way that is different from others in the industry. Beyonce is one artist who has been extremely successful at creating her own identity, which has helped her create a large fan base and expand her success into other industries. Beyonce’s musical talent has earned her several Grammys and many of her albums have gone on to be multi-platinum selling albums. Beyonce states that her newest album “is the fun, more sensual, more aggressive, more outspoken side and more glamorous side that comes out when I’m working and when I’m on the stage. The double album allows me to take more risks and really step out of myself, or shall I say, step more into myself, and reveal a side of me that people only know me see.”
When people hear Beyonce’s name, several things come to mind. Jay-Z, Single Ladies, her dancing abilities, Destiny’s Child, her clothing line, and much more. Jody Rosen of Entertainment Weekly writes, “Beyonce Knowles is a storm system disguised as a singer.” She even has her own YouTube station. Beyonce is not only a musical sensation, she is a corporate powerhouse.
Her clever strategies to success have gotten her where she is at today. Beyonce’s musical career has evolved into a huge corporation. She uses music to form her identity, image, and brand her corporation, which has opened up many other doors for her in the entertainment industry. She has acted in films, created her own fashion line, and been on countless magazine covers.
She was recently featured in a 60 minutes news brief talking about her success as an entertainer. Take a look.
House of Dereon is Beyonce and her mother Tina Knowles’ clothing line that they began in 2004. Expanding the brand, Beyoncé and her sister Solange Knowles launched the junior line Deréon that is geared towards younger consumers and is more reasonably priced. Deréon was introduced in 2006. The tag line for Deréon is “Where the sidewalk and catwalk meet”. Beyoncé also mentions the clothing line in the song Get Me Bodied, from the album B’Day, and in her hit single Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).
