IMC Hawks Blog

Tag: IMC

  • Symbols: The Real Creeper

    When we thought of Halloween, many things came to mind: witches, bats, pumpkins, ghosts, and anything black and orange. These things together do not make Halloween, but they certainly reflect and symbolize the holiday. If you came out of hibernation and had no idea what time of the year it was and entered the nearest grocery store to find aisle after aisle of candy, costumes, and spooky decorations, you might get the hint that Halloween is here. Characters, Candy, costumes, and scary décor are some of Halloween’s most notorious symbols. Symbols serve as great resources for allowing the public to recognize a brand, whether it’s a holiday or simply a pair of shoes. Symbols stick in customers’ minds. Think about all of the symbols that most Americans would recognize in a heartbeat; the infamous golden arches (McDonalds), a the check mark on the side of a tennis shoe (Nike), an apple with a bite taken out of it (Apple).  These aren’t just pictures, and they are certainly not chosen at random.  These logos and symbols are not the product itself, but a representation of the brand. So why the overload of spooky sound effects and Dracula fonts around stores and on TV? Because everyone knows it’s almost Halloween, and these symbols are reinforcing this fact and preparing you for tricks and treats whether you realize it or not. Creepy, huh?

    -Claire Dillard & LaPuasa

  • The 31 days of Hallomedia

    On a scale of one to fun — Halloween is by far the most-fun holiday of all holidays. Christmas is great, Easter is swell, and Hanukkah has the tendency to get crazy, but Halloween tops them all in terms of an all-around good time. It is such a good time that there is an entire month, “Monstober,” dedicated to it on the Disney Channel! On ABC Family, 13 solid-packed nights of Halloween are sure to get you in the spooky-spirit!

    And how could we ever forget the infamous annual hour-long special of “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”, which airs tonight at 8pm on ABC.  Other holidays are also heavily recognized in the media, such as Christmas and Valentine’s Day, however, they do not compare to the hype of Halloween and the month of October.

    If you think about it, although Christmas is considered a Christian holiday, it is celebrated by a large number of non-Christians as well. The only thing is, Christmas is surrounded by other holidays that “steal its thunder,” if you will. Hanukkah and Kwanza, with New Years’ celebrations shortly after, withdraw some of the attention to Christmas. On the other hand, Halloween has October’s attention-span all to its self!

    Every morning in the month of October talk shows across network television showcase all that Halloween has to offer in terms of recipes, decorating, and entertaining. The Today Show with Kathy Lee and Hoda provide you with the tasty treats and monstrous-mixed drinks. LIVE with Regis and Kelly share ideas for how to dress the snazziest at your Halloween event, while The Martha Stewart Show gets you ready to decorate your house in a ghoulish, yet glamorous way.

    When else can you convert a fruit or vegetable into a bird! Our own blogger, Jordan, made these adorable Angry Bird-inspired pumpkins.

    Later on in the day, while you are prepping your plans for the holiday with all of your newfound knowledge, holiday favorites are featured on T.V. Who doesn’t love seeing the Disney Channel’s Halloweentown and its three other entries, Halloweentown II, III, and IV. Hocus Pocus, Beetlejuice, Nightmare Before Christmas, and Casper round out some of the classics featured on television during the month of October. It’s amazing, if you think about it — all of these great movies and shows that are featured each year were filmed many years ago; yet, they continue to market to us and we keep tuning in!

    With Hallomedia, we can enjoy the entire month of October with all it has to offer, not just the last day!

    — Michela Noreski, Jordan Hill, Ashley Nelson

  • The Spooky Branding Reality of Halloween

    What is the most important thing about Halloween?  Your costume!  When we were younger, we thought running around the neighborhood for a few hours trick or treating was the essence of Halloween.  But as college students, we start pondering our costumes weeks or even months in advance, while candy and parties are afterthoughts.  A Halloween costume allows you to express yourself more freely than you can in everyday clothes, and for many college students it is the most important outfit of the year.  Some people spend hundreds of dollars putting together the perfect costume, complete with make-up, wigs and props.  Last year, the costume most searched on Google was Lady Gaga.  This year, the two top searches appear to be Nicki Minaj and Charlie Sheen.  Among other popular searches are Pan Am, Amy Winehouse, Rihanna and Katy Perry.

    When we were children, we dressed up as witches, robots, zombies and the occasional super hero.  Today, we dress up like celebrities.  Maybe this indicates that during college, our behaviors are influenced by ethos more than when we were younger.  The fact that many college students transform themselves into their favorite stars for Halloween may correlate with the general spending habits of people ages 18-24.  If many people are buying things to look like celebrities for Halloween, it is safe to assume that they are buying things related to celebrities for everyday items as well.

    Being in the headlines helps celebrities promote their brand whether it’s intentional or not.  Halloween gives celebrities the greatest opportunity for celebrities to increase their brand awareness.  Those featured in the news and by other media outlets are getting their brand out there.  The people dressing up as these celebrities for Halloween are ultimately walking advertisements for the celebrity they are trying to imitate.

    -Stephanie Bakolia, Claire Outlaw, David Glaubach

  • Trick or treat..Smell my feet..IMC

    To many people, Halloween strictly means candy, tricks, costumes, and monsters. However, Halloween actually has a history rooted in religious conquests and power struggles; a characteristic that most people are unaware of. This national holiday dates back to Celtic pagan festivals that celebrated the end of the harvest season.Druid ceremony They believed that on this day the spirits would come back to earth and roam free; causing mischief and looking for living souls to possess. The people would dress up in frightening costumes, make blood sacrifices and leave food outside of their front doors in an attempt to ward off the evil spirits and appease their appetites. Halloween only fundamentally changed when the Romans took the Celtic lands and forced Christianity among its people. The Romans adopted the Celtic celebrations, infusing their religious beliefs into the concepts, and named it “All Saints Day” in order to honor the saints that did not have a day of their own.  By the 1500s, “All Saint’s Day” had become “All Hallows’ Day”, and the Celtic festival had begun to be known as All Hallows’ Evening, Hallow Evening, and eventually… Halloween. 
    This holiday fell somewhat dormant until 1921 when the first citywide celebration of Halloween began in Anoka, Minnesota; followed by New York and L.A. Only about 5% of the American population celebrated this holiday until now, as it has become one of the most celebrated holidays in the US. With this mainstream evolution in mind, many businesses are in debt to the creators of such a day. From candy to costumes, this day turns out to be one of the most profitable of the year, making the importance of marketing efforts vitally important. The goal of the holiday is no longer to ward off evil spirits; but rather to have the best costume and best collection of candy. For one day every year, people feel it necessary to build a costume based on their perception of a person, product, or trend; driving attention to some of the biggest “hits” of the year. Since everyone is now participating in the tradition, the role of marketers is to offer these costumes and candies to every main audience of Halloween: children, parents, teenagers, and young adults, in hope that their variety will be selected as the “hot item” this year.

    Jared Sales, Sally Shupe, Oliver Evans

  • Potato — Po-ta-to : Sweet Potato vs. Yam

    North Carolina is known for celebrating many odd and obscure things. For instance, our great state has festivals glorifying everything from pickles to blueberries, from crabs to mules, and in this case: both sweet potatoes and yams. Are you following along – sweet potatoes and yams are two separate entities!

    yams

    In the United States, yams are really just another name for a sweet potato. However, a true yam is usually imported to America from the Caribbean. When cooked, yams are a soft, sweet, orange concoction. I know what you’re thinking – this sounds just like a sweet potato! The US Department of Agriculture requires that the label “yam” always be accompanied by “sweet potato” to avoid the confusion because they are generally used interchangeably.

    North Carolina is known for specializing in this crop of ‘related-vegetables’. The sweet potato is a native crop in North Carolina and is primarily grown in the coastal plain area of the state.  We are also recognized for our crops in tobacco, cotton, blueberries, and peanuts.

    But, why should we celebrate a vegetable? The answer is, why not! October 22nd and 23rd, in Tabor City, N.C., the NC Yam Festival celebrates its agricultural heritage by saluting the yam. From 1947 until 1961, the little border town of Tabor City played host to one of North Carolina’s largest festivals.  Since 1947 the Carolina Yam Festival has been attracting as many as 15,000 visitors each year, to this tiny community of less and 2,000. The following weekend, in Snow Hill, N.C., Greene County will be celebrating the vegetable at the 4th annual N.C. Sweet Potato Festival.

    Each event is sure to be a good time, with the Sweet Potato festival having entertainment such as Jason Michael Carroll at this years’ event.  But, if you look at it like these North Carolina growers do, more is always better – so check out both festivals!

    If you are not craving a sweet potato/yam after all of this, hopefully this will at least ease your mind: the main difference in these two vegetables is that their individual festivals are held on different weekends in October and are about 2.5 hours away from each other! These festivals combined don’t need any marketing, they rely on word of mouth to promote these fantastic events for people of all ages to have a yam good time!

    – Michela Noreski, Jordan Hill, Ashley Nelson

  • Have a “Love a Fair” at the N.C. State Fair

    It is that time of the year again where folks from all over North Carolina will flock to our state’s capital for some food, fun, and rides—the N.C. State Fair has finally arrived.  The fair is managed and produced by the N.C. Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services and has been ranked among the top 25 fairs in North America.  As the largest 11-day event in North Carolina, the N.C. State Fair draws in crowds of more than 800,000 attendees each year.  It hosts many diverse musical acts and has numerous food vendors, game booths, carnival rides, and commercial/agricultural exhibits.

    This year’s N.C. State Fair is being held at the Raleigh State Fairgrounds from October 13-23.  Each year, the fair has a theme and this year’s theme is “Love a Fair!”  N.C. State Fair officials explain that the theme refers to the celebration of new and old attractions that keep people coming back year after year.  2011’s N.C. State Fair opening weekend brought in over 200,000 people.  So, what is making all these people want to attend (whether they are newcomers or returnees)?

    There are many reasons why people from all across North Carolina make an annual trip to the N.C. State Fair—there is so much to do and see.  The fair offers something for everyone and can be enjoyed at any age.  Each year fair officials are always trying to spice stuff up by adding new and exciting rides, games, concerts, exhibits, and food vendors.   In addition to the rides, games, and concerts, a person can watch and cheer on during one of the squealing pig races, attend the petting zoo, and enjoy a nice display of fireworks, which take place every night.  Of course, we cannot forget about the food (most of which is deep-fried).  The food options at the fair are unlimited and hundreds of vendors offer a wide range of choices, from turkey legs to chicken gyros, from fried snickers to fried pickles, from funnel cakes to blooming onions—the list goes on.  Last year, the fair introduced the Krispie Kreme burger, and this year, the fair is offering some new, fun choices: fried Kool-Aid, fried bubble gum, and fried brownies.

    Beyond the bright lights of the ferris wheel and all of the fried food, however, the N.C. State Fair’s primary focus is on celebrating our state’s agricultural heritage.  In 1853, the State Agricultural Society held the first State Fair which took place as a four day event.  Although the first N.C. State Fair happened 158 years ago, the 2011 fair will only be the 144th staging of the event because of hiatuses that occurred during the time of the Civil War and World War II.

    Today, the State Fair has become a traditional fall-time event that aims to educate all North Carolinians about the importance of agriculture to our heritage and our economy.  By incorporating rides, games, food, and events into the mix, the fair makes for an unforgettable experience and one that people will continue to keep coming back for.

    North Carolina State Fair

    -Stephanie Bakolia, Claire Outlaw, David Glaubach

  • Career as a volunteer

    Job hunting can be a full-time job. With the current state of our economy, it has the potential to be the hardest and most frustrating experience we will ever be exposed to. One issue with the hunt for the perfect job is that the companies we dream of working for never seem to have any openings or we “just-miss” the deadline. It makes you wonder, “How can I get my foot-in to a company that may not have a job posting?” That’s easy — just volunteer! Participating in the simplest form and act of kindness can help you land that dream job (or at least get you in the door to the company) which you have been fantasizing about. Volunteering in your community can be rewarding for many reasons such as: you get to help others and also you are giving back to your community. While experiencing this personal growth gained by helping others, volunteering will also help with professional growth by gaining new experiences and meeting new people.

    College students and recent graduates know the importance of having an aspect of volunteering on their resume. This simple addition can be beneficial for anyone building a resume. For fresh job-seekers, volunteering can help round out your experience and show that you not only have built professional skills but interpersonal ones as well. It can also help fill a gap in your résumé if you’ve been out of a job for a while. This extra-added perspective will allow you leverage to market yourself as a committed citizen who took advantage of their time away from the professional-world to help others in your community.

    What can it do for you? Simple; it allows you to develop new skills or nurture existing ones.  When volunteering in your community you are forced to talk to others in that organization. This interaction shows others the skills you have or ones you wish to develop or improve upon.  Even if the skills you learn do not exactly transfer over to a potential job opportunity, it will show prospective employers that you took the time when you were in need to help others.  Anyone who is interested in taking charge of their career, whether currently employed or not, should volunteer.  It is the best-kept career development secret.  Not only is it a great way to network, it is a wonderful chance to learn how to motivate others in a positive way, become a leader, and to maintain job skills.

    The unemployment rate continues to grow and for those who of us awaiting a job offer, it can be quite unsettling. While waiting for your future , rather than pacing around your apartment, you can make the most of your time by helping others in your community There are numerous websites which can help you join forces with a group who needs your time to assist. Volunteermatch.com should be your first place to search for volunteer opportunities in your local community. You can type in your city or zip code and a generated list and map gives you details on current volunteer opportunities and how to get involved.  This website allows you free reign in picking and choosing your destiny while matching your skills with an organization.

    While volunteering, strike up conversations with others. If appropriate, give out your contact information or ask for theirs. Sure, it might take you out of your comfort zone, but you never know where it might lead. Volunteering will empower you and empower others. You get what you put in, so don’t give up hope if you are jobless — pick yourself and others up and volunteer!

    – Michela Noreski, Jordan Hill, Ashley Nelson