IMC Hawks Blog

Tag: IMC

  • (A)Broadening Your Horizons

    10156134_880936395269873_65763143285790249_nThe study abroad program is one of the leading assets provided through majors at UNCW. Students and faculty/staff can take advantage of the chance to study in a foreign country. The university does a wonderful job promoting this opportunity given to all. Through the use of IMC with the Study Abroad Ambassadors, the program continues to grow each semester.

    According to the Institute of International Education 290,000 university students studied abroad for academic credit in 2012-2013. At UNCW, more than 500 programs in over 50 countries are offered, with many academic majors requiring students to gain credits abroad.

    Similar to other universities with enrichment programs, UNC Wilmington allows study abroad returnees, who are passionate about their experiences, to join the Study Abroad Ambassador program. Ambassadors assist the Office of International Programs with promoting and marketing their study abroad experiences through on-campus events and social media portals.

    Walking down Chancellors can be chaotic for most students and faculty members. Many ignore organizations passing out pamphlets and stickers to never noticing the chalk from Wag to Randall. The variety of outlets the Study Abroad Ambassadors utilize to promote opportunities helps reach a broader audience.

    • Study Abroad Fair
    • On-Campus Tabling
    • Banners
    • Intercultural Festival
    • Pre-Departure Organization
    • Classroom Presentations
    • Individual Meetings/Guest Speaker Events

    The Ambassadors at UNC Wilmington are passionate about study abroad programs and helping others gain access to any information, making dreams of studying abroad become a reality. The Study Abroad Fair and the Intercultural Festival are two prime examples of promotional events with on-campus marketing techniques. The Ambassadors who attend these events significantly contribute to the brand of the program. They generate content for various on-campus events and serve as a face for the organization. Through their donation of time, they add credibility to the organization, showing fellow students their passion for the program. Walk into Fisher Student Center or Randall and notice organizations tabling? Most student organizations at UNC Wilmington use that technique to market their purpose and mission. The study abroad program uses Ambassadors to promote the idea of traveling across the world, from freshman to seniors.

    Recently, the Office of International Programs released the Study Abroad Online Magazine– containing pictures and testimonies from Ambassadors and study abroad returnees. Offering easy access to information and keeping up-to-date with today’s marketing techniques. Similar to other on-campus organizations, the study abroad program has up-to-date social media accounts. On Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, students and faculty/staff are informed on informational sessions, scholarship opportunities, and photo contests.

    -Jonathan Callahan, Erin Fouhy, Julia George, Joseph Hines, and Sarah Suggs

  • A.C.E. – Your Source for Campus Entertainment

    Please nod your head if you have ever taken another route to class pretending to be on your cell phone or completely ignoring someone who was trying to give you an event flyer. If you give your computer screen a nod, we applaud you.  However, if you are like 99% of the student population at UNCW and nodded your head–we understand.

    There are over 250 student organizations vying for our attention, membership and time so how do we pick what to attend? Our choices depend on how, or if, we hear about the event and how creative the marketing is. The Association for Campus Entertainment is the university’s student programming board Did you enjoy Hoddie Allen last year? That was ACE. What about when Maci Bookout from Teen Mom was here in the spring? That was ACE too.

    In the midst of everything college kids have going on, ACE provides an outlet for free entrainment. But just like every other student organization, they have to compete for your time as well. Integrated Marketing Communication, IMC,  allows us to diversify the means by which we achieve our marketing goals. A public relations campaign? Check. Social media presence? Also check. Cool and engaging advertising? Also IMC.

    ACE does this through an array of promotional tools each year, the first being through giveaways what college student doesn’t like free things? This year ACE gave phone wallets, Croakies, car USB adapters and staplers. This may seem like a mishmash of items but each one served a purpose: to be seen and get the ACE name known. Whether it is letting a classmate use the ACE braded stapler, or paying for food in Wag as you pull your OneCard out of your ACE branded phone wallet, ACE is marketing their brand. The goal is to increase the number of times a student sees a brand and how they associate it—hopefully in a positive light.

    image1

    There is more to promotions than simply getting a name out; ACE must also promote their events. There are the standard campus marketing methods such as banner, chalking and flyers, but in order to infiltrate the calendars of college students, you must take efforts farther. ACE is a brand that thrives on creative promotions, whether this be acting out a scene from an upcoming movie in the campus theatre or handing out paint brushes across campus for a Cheerwine and Design event. There is always something being passed out.

    A successful marketing campaign goes beyond creating and implementing the campaign. The ultimate goal of IMC, is to not only change one’s beliefs, but to change his or her actions. Whether this be successfully convincing students to change their plans and attend an event or sign up for ACE, we want them to act on our suggestions. So how do you think ACE stacks up, do you hear about their events through traditional means of advertising or through creative promotions across campus? Furthermore – how do you prefer to be wooed into coming to an organization’s event or do you organically decide to attend? Let us hear your thoughts and comments blow!

    -Amanda, Daniel, Kendall, Meleah and Luke

  • Campus Dining: Fueling Your Education

    Students can be hard to please, but that doesn’t stop schools from trying. Universities cater to their students needs in many ways from providing tutoring services and career building seminars, to fulfilling the most basic and necessary task of feeding their students.

    Campus Dining
    facebook.com/uncwcampusdining

    UNCW Campus Dining has a large customer base that has a high turnover. With each new generation of Seahawks and the constant evolution of food trends in society, Campus Dining must stay updated on their consumer needs. An effective IMC plan begins and ends with research. Each semester Campus Dining sends out surveys asking students and faculty what changes they would like to see. Questions include asking for locations where students and faculty feel dining options are lacking and also what variety of food options they would like to see offered.

    Campus Dining stays relevant through a nearly constant evolution of dining locations. Anyone who has had a meal plan for more than a couple semesters has probably seen Dub’s remodeled multiple times. With redecorations, menu changes, dietary need additions, we don’t have time to get bored before it is new again. Currently Dubs has an emphasis on local and healthy options.

    Campus Dining brand also embraces sustainability efforts. You may have heard about the fish tank in Wag. This aquaponics system (a small ecosystem that raises plants and fish in a mutually beneficial environment) is just one of the most recent updates. This semester the cafeteria provides more fresh fruit and veggies (due to survey requests) and wag sushi on Fridays. These are just some examples of Campus Dining improvements.

    Aside from keeping up with the foods that students request, UNCW goes one step farther to keep their students happy by offering a variety of promotions. This semester, along with the updated meal plans, UNCW has a “VIP” option for students in Non-Traditional housing who purchase meal plans. By getting a meal plan between May 18th and August 24th, eligible students were enrolled in a rewards program that allows them free surprises every month.  Some of these specials include free coffee at Port City Java, a free bagel, a free sandwich at The Landing, a free Chick-fil-a sandwich, and other exciting surprises. This IMC strategy is an incentive for students who are not required to purchase a meal plan to do so, and a way for UNCW Campus Dining to retain more customers.

    All these initiatives show Campus Dining’s commitment to generating consumer enthusiasm and engagement to keep their brand relevant against off-campus dining competition. In addition to their guaranteed return on investment from students living on campus who are required to get meal plans, Campus Dining’s IMC plan draws in extra revenue by encouraging everyone to make them their choice for nutritional value.

    Want to learn more about campus dining? Follow them here:

    Twitter: @UNCWDining

    Instagram: @uncw_dining

    Facebook: www.facebook.com/uncwcampusdining

    -Carey Poniewaz, Aki Suzuki, Alexis Trimnal, Carey Shetterley and June Wilkinson

  • The Super Bowl will never be the same

    The Super Bowl draws in more than 100 million viewers each year from around the world. Some watch for the game but many of these viewers only watch for the debut commercials. Companies spend upward of 4 million dollars for one 30-second spot during the four-hour broadcast.

    Although we will still see the classic Budweiser and Coke commercials, Doritos will be ending a 10 year tradition. Since 2006, Doritos has run their “Crash the Super Bowl” campaign, which allows consumers to submit a 30-second ad that could be aired during the Super Bowl. This has generated some of the top Super Bowl commercials of the last decade.

    Screen Shot 2015-09-10 at 2.55.19 PM

    After 9 years, 8 installments, 32,000 entries and 7 million dollars in prizes Doritos is abandoning the project because of risks involved. The company feels the contest would no longer be profitable because of increasing prices for ad space.

    Screen Shot 2015-09-10 at 3.00.28 PM

    On one side, Doritos now has the reins of their Super Bowl ads; however, ending the contest could upset participants and viewers that have followed the campaign. While we still have the 2016 “Crash the Super Bowl” ad, it remains to be seen how Doritos will position themselves for Super Bowl LI.

    Do you think Doritos’ decision to end the campaign will impact them positively or negatively?

    -Nick, Melanie, Mary & Patrick

  • Meant to be a Seahawk

    Today is my last day of classes here at UNCW. I did not actually think this day would ever come. For a while, I didn’t even know that I would be attending school at UNCW or in North Carolina at all. I transferred from Dallas, Texas as a Junior. When I mention that, almost everyone asks, “Why UNCW?” So I’ll go ahead and fill you in on how I got here.

    Right after High School, I wanted so badly to attend Baylor University, a more expensive, private school in Texas. Shortly after orientation at BU, they notified me that they had promised too much scholarship money and they were going to have to decrease my scholarship. This was the first crazy, unexpected event in my life after High School. The thought of getting into an extreme amount of debt my first year frightened me to death. My father pleaded with me to attend community college for one or two years, and then he would do his best to send me anywhere I chose.

    After a year or so at a community college outside of Dallas, my dad asked me, “You need to start thinking about where you’re going to transfer.” I was only joking and trying to ruffle his feathers when I replied, “What if I want to go to school all the way in North Carolina?” I did not know it then, but this sarcastic comment would change my life.

    I began looking into UNCW, but it still did not feel like a legitimate option for my future. I only knew of Wilmington because of the movie and television industry – and I thought it was pretty. My parents never said no to sending me there, but I think they honestly felt like it was a phase I would snap out of after a few weeks.

    One day in my mass communications course, we had a panel of women that work in the field of communication speak to us. Afterward, I went to thank them for coming. After speaking briefly with one woman, Keturi Beatty, I asked her where she received her undergraduate degree. She told me I had most likely never heard of it – it’s a school called UNC Wilmington. I could not believe it. That day she gave me her business card (she wrote “Go Seahawks!” on the back). I connected with her over the next few months, and she got me in contact with the one and only David Weber. Connecting with her was the next crazy turn my life took – because now UNCW felt like a real option.

    I was able to convince my mom to bring me out to Wilmington to visit UNCW, and we both fell in love with the campus. I learned a great deal about the Communication Studies Department from Dr. Weber, and the rest is history.

    UNCW and especially the COM Studies department means so much to me. I have learned to think, research, explore, work hard, and how to be a true team member. The COM department feels like one big giant family – that likes to talk a lot. My professors have given me the opportunities and the tools to succeed in my courses and in my experiences after graduation.  When friends ask if I have homework, I tell them no. I tell them I have things I need to get done, because I don’t see the work in my COM classes as homework or chores – they are opportunities to learn and create something I can be proud of.

    Why do I love to tell that story in such detail? Because UNCW has changed my life in so many ways, and this time two years ago – I didn’t even know I would be here. Life can take so many crazy turns when you least expect it, but each and every one of them happens for a reason. Before even I knew it, I was meant to be a Seahawk. I will never tire of telling that story, because it helps me appreciate and value my experiences from UNCW that might not have happened without one special conversation with a fellow Seahawk all the way in Dallas, Texas.

    Rachel Gracy

    UNCW Class of 2014

  • Wilmington: Just Brand It

    Beginning last summer, the City of Wilmington along with New Hanover County and the surrounding beach towns have attempted to develop a brand for Wilmington. Various groups within the community might have different perspectives on what this southeastern North Carolina town is all about, but officials involved believe there must be a common theme amongst the groups. They also have mentioned that the goal is not to “re-brand.” They have clearly stated that it is a first time effort to create an effective message of what Wilmington is to outsiders.

    Beth Schrader, strategy and policy manager for the county believes that branding the town gives you an initiative you can sell. Once there is an established brand, outsiders will know what exactly sets Wilmington apart from other southern historic towns.

    UNCW business and marketing students and professors have played a huge role in this process. They have aided in research and surveys, which has been an exciting opportunity for them to engage in applied learning.

    Recently, the Brand Identity Leadership Team met to continue the mission of branding the Wilmington area. Newer ideas include Wilmington being a place to “discover” as well as the idea to market Wilmington as a “hidden treasure.”

    Image
    Tom Porter, chairman of the marketing department at the UNCW Cameron School of Business, presents rough ideas for the mission to brand Wilmington. (Photo from PortCityDaily.com)

    The idea of attempting to brand an entire town might seem strange at first glance. But according to CEOs for Cities article, “Branding Your City,” cities have always been brands. When you think of our globalized world, every place has to compete with every other place for attention, which creates the need for a brand identity. Cities need to set themselves apart from other cities in order to attract the world to that city. Branding is a tool cities can use to define themselves, which is necessary to have a long-lasting impact. The brand will influence and shape the world’s perception of a town.

    Branding a city is an important and commonly used tool, but the question that remains is does Wilmington already have a brand? Will the initiative be able to successfully brand something that has already existed for so long?

    What is the Wilmington brand to you? Comment and let us know!

    – Rachel Gracy

  • Snapchat: A New Social Trend For Brands?

    Today, brands dominate social media. It is almost impossible to find a company without a Facebook or Twitter account. Even newer platforms like Instagram and Vine are being taken over, but there is one social network that has yet to be fully explored—Snapchat.

    snapchat

    Snapchat is a mobile app that allows one to share pictures and videos. The special component of this network is that the captioned picture is deleted after 10 seconds; this is much different from the “out for the world to see” social media we are used to.

    The majority of Snapchat users are between the ages of 13-25. This age, as James Twitchell reminds us in his book Lead Us Into Temptation, is the “number one focus of almost every marketer”. Why? Younger demographics are still choosing what brands to align themselves with. A survey sent out by Sumpto, a marketing group that works to gather information about the “most difficult to reach demographic”, found that 77% of college students use Snapchat once per day. Their findings also concluded that 70% of respondents wouldn’t mind adding a brand as a friend on Snapchat if they already followed them on another social network.

    So, why haven’t brands jumped onto this platform? Unlike other social media Snapchat is more intimate and personal— like a text message instead of a public wall. This very direct connection leaves brands with a problem. What type of content could they send via snap? Would people be interested in interacting with them this way?

    DoSomething.org, HBO’s TV show Girls and the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) have all been using Snapchat in a variety of ways. DoSomething.org described in an interview with Mashable that their strategy is to make interactive Snapchat stories that are ridiculous and fun. They see Snapchat as a tool for “opening up more options for brands”. The Girls Snapchat account has been used to remind fans of the upcoming season premiere date and give exclusive insider looks.  ASP says Snapchat is a way to “bring fans closer to the athletes and events”. They also point out there is “lots of room for experimentation and innovation”. Click on the image below to learn more about how Snapchat is being used by companies.

    Marketo_Snapchat

    Patrick deHahn from CNN Money stated that Snapchat “has more funding and a higher valuation than Instagram and YouTube when they were at Snapchat’s stage in their startup lifespan”. So it seems Snapchat itself is a viable platform and with a growing 350 million snaps per day, brands should consider its possible benefits.

    Would you follow brands on Snapchat? Do you think Snapchat is a worthy social media investment? How do you think brands will begin to use Snapchat?

    –Caroline Robinson