IMC Hawks Blog

Tag: Marketing

  • So If I Make A YouTube Video Will I Get Famous Too?

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    Felix Kjellberg aka PewDiePie

    “Creativity out of necessity.” In 2005 the most successful free video streaming site was created by three college graduates who had a major dilemma…

    …They couldn’t find footage of the famous Janet Jackson “wardrobe malfunction” during the 2015 Super Bowl halftime show….

    And so YouTube was born.

    YouTube has evolved to so much more than a free and easy way to see inappropriate videos of celebrities. Now it’s so sophisticated that people can earn their livings video blogging, or vlogging, about anything they want. The site started with one unfortunate (or maybe fortunate, depends on how you look at it…) celebrity “wardrobe malfunction,” and now YouTube is making a whole new category of celebrities; self-made vloggers.

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    Jenna Mourey aka Jenna Marbles: YouTube personality, vlogger, comedian, and actress

    Just as YouTube has changed over the years, the vloggers that scramble to be the next big internet sensation have started to move from computer screens to larger ones. Jenna Mourey or Jenna Marbles as she is known on YouTube is the top female vlogger with well over 15 million subscribers which ranks her channel seventh overall. Mourey now can be seen in episodes of Epic Rap Battles in History, Fake n’ Bacon, and Ridiculousness. Hannah Hart who rose to fame with My Drunk Kitchen, and hosting cameos on Mental Floss sat down with People last week to promote her upcoming TV mini-series Electra Woman & Dyna Girl airing in 2016. Then there is PewDiePie, with 40 million subscribers and over 6 billion views Felix Kjellberg has raised YouTube vlogging to an art form. By basically inviting the world into his living room to watch him play video games, Kjellberg makes $12 million dollars a year and is helping to shape the indie gamer market. Like the Oprah effect, when Kjellberg mentions a game it sees a spike in sales.

    According to People.com, these YouTube blogger channels make the most money:

    1. Felix Kjellberg

    – $12 Million a Year

    Channel: PewDiePie

    Subscribers: 40 million

    Shtick: Playing video games and making jokes

    2. Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla

    – $8.5 Million a Year

    Channel: Smosh

    Subscribers: 21 million

    Shtick: Live-action comedy sketches

    3. Benny and Rafi Fine

    – $8.5 Million a Year

    Channel: Fine Brothers Entertainment

    Subscribers: 13 million

    Shtick: Reacting to things

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    2014 VidCon Youtuber Convention

    YouTube has become so popular that they have dedicated a whole convention, VidCon, to the videos and YouTube “stars”.  VidCon features workshops and speeches on how to launch your own YouTube career, video highlights, and YouTube celebrities waiting to meet their fans.  For a few hundred dollars fans can attend the three-day conference, with varying levels of entry to events.  Tickets range from general entry at only $100 for the “Super Early Birds”, to $750 for the Industry Standard Price.  For those interested in the online video industry beyond basic video production the industry ticket is the way to go.VIdCon offers a variety of events for industry professionals including: seminars, keynote speakers, and helpful tips on how to use online video to promote your company.

    There are many benefits for marketing your brand via YouTube:

    1. Capturing attention: Posting creative content on YouTube is an easy way to catch viewer’s attention.
    2. High Traffic Volumes: There are over 1 billion users on YouTube which is an excellent platform to reach people all over the world.
    3. Viral Marketing: YouTube videos are easily shared between friends and family members and can be shared with others, thus creating a ripple effect.
    4. Multiple Video Marketing Channels: Creating and posting videos to YouTube is a powerful and recognizable way for users to view your content.
    5. Search Engine Rankings: Google owns YouTube, which why it is so highly ranked when you search for videos on Google’s page.
    6. Social Media Marketing Integration: YouTube videos can be shared via email, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Reddit and other social media platforms.
    7. World-Wide Accessibility: Posting content on YouTube can be seen in 75 different countries, since YouTube is available in 61 languages. This is one the most effective marketing strategies since YouTube is available 24/7.

    Who are your favorite YouTube stars? Do you have your own YouTube channel? Share with us in the comments below!

    Aki Suzuki, Carey Poniewaz, Carey Shetterley, Lexie Trimnal, June Wilkinson

  • Halloween or ‘Howl’oween?

    As Halloween approaches, children and adults have been preparing for the holiday by buying costumes, decorations, and candies. Halloween is known as a night for children to walk around dressed up and get candy. However, recently the holiday has expanded to include all family members, even the pets

    This year, PetSmart has taken to Halloween just as much as other retailers, such as Walmart and Party City, usually do. The pet retailer advertises everything from pet costumes and collars to Halloween themed treats and toys. They also offer Halloween events such as in-store trick-or-treating, pet photo contests, and even Halloween “pet camp” for those that don’t want to leave their pets at home that night.

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    https://www.petsmart.com/

    The home page for PetSmart’s website features everything a pet owner could need for their pet to be a part of the Halloween festivities. While the majority of their advertising is for their own products, the site also advertises at home do-it-yourself recipes and costume ideas. This form of advertising says to consumers that the retailer truly cares about the pets and wants them to be just as much a part of the holidays, therefore making pet owners trust their brand more.

    The communication design that PetSmart implements makes pet owners believe they need these Halloween items just as much as any other pet necessity. The company is making consumers buy into their narrative and purchase costumes for their pets. PetSmart holds a brand image that presents itself as a company for everything pet related. The company is seen as a go-to for food, toys, training, grooming, and in some stores, even veterinary services. By offering pet supplies and events for the holidays, even Halloween, PetSmart solidifies its image as still being the one-stop-shop for pet owners.
    One of the main aims of Integrated Marketing Communication is to affect behavior and not just attitudes. PetSmart has turned a once silly idea of dressing your family pet up for Halloween into a business opportunity to make a larger profit. The creation of not just products, but events too, draws customers in so that they feel they have a reason to buy character costumes for their pets and Halloween themed toys. For most pet owners, their animals are members of the family, and should be included in family fun. PetSmart allows that to happen with their holiday apparel and pet-oriented events.

    The pet Halloween industry has grown significantly to the point that CNN even offers the top 5 dog costumes of 2015 in their recent online article about Halloween Fast Facts, which can be found here: http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/13/us/halloween-fast-facts/  The top five costumes were as followed: pumpkin, hot dog, Batman, devil, and a bumblebee. Of those five, PetSmart offered every single one, some with multiple options, even for different sexes of dogs. Is it a coincidence that PetSmart sells the top five costumes? Probably not.

  • Scaring Up An Audience

    Halloween is a lucrative season. In 2013 the holiday generated around $7 billion in revenue. Most of this get split up between costumes, candy, and festivities, including haunted attractions. Haunted houses bring in over $300 million every year, and it’s no surprise that such a profitable market would invest in integrated marketing communication efforts.In order for haunted houses to stay competitive every year they have to push themselves to darker and scarier extremes, Blackout: Hell at the Armory is a prime example. “I personally found this to be one of Blackouts best shows…It is a relentless bombardment of images, notions, experiences, sounds, lights and sensations that is designed precisely to have a lasting effect on your psyche. Not a haunted house, but a haunting one (HorrorBuzz.com).” With a customer base that desensitizes themselves more every season, marketing efforts needs to be enticing without giving away the big scare.

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    Haunted Houses represent a niche segment of consumer goods yet are successful in generating a respectable amount of hype for being such a  specialized product. Haunted houses must keep up with products that are relevant year round, even when their product only appeals for less than two months to audiences whom acknowledge the Pagan tradition. Experienced haunted house brands and experts who have thrived in the industry have confirmed strategies that work to showcase haunted houses, taking advantage of the entertainment, and community gathering aspect of the industry. We have compiled a list of those tips that stood out as most effective.

    Tips for marketing a haunted house:

    1. Free stuff! People love free stuff and it is a fast way to grab the public’s attention because their is no risk involved. Stickers, buttons, t-shirts with the haunted house advertised on them are just a few ideas!
    2. Local advertising through as many mediums as possible, whether that be radio ads or local television promotions. This encourages the community to unite to support a local business rather than traveling hours to pay for one that has no ties to the community.
    3. Paper advertising can also be an effective way to promote your haunted house. Come up with a logo, a print ad or brochure to market yourself and hand it out everywhere you go. Become a walking advertisement for your haunted house.
    4. Save a tree and start a blog. Social media is an effective way to reach a large audience.Take charge of these opportunities! Make a youtube channel, a Twitter which constantly teases the attractions highlights, and facebook facebook facebook. Facebook in particular has proved especially useful for promoting haunted houses through creating event pages and inviting friends which leads to a domino effect of community hype.
    5. Attention to year round marketing! The attraction may be once a year but that doesn’t mean the marketing gets to go into hibernation along with the house itself. Make sure to keep your audience’s attention year round by asking for them to subscribe to emails or social media updates that  build anticipation for the upcoming haunted house. This can also be done by updating the website and social media with monthly clues for new themes or mini contests that reward participants with discounted entry!

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    What are your Halloween plans? Feel free to check out the Museum of the Bizarre located in the heart of Downtown Wilmington. It is open all year round and offers a similar atmosphere to a Ripley’s Believe It or Not according to tripadvisor.com. Pick any spooky night in October to see the store transform into the Museum of Nightmares. Filled with special effects and actors, you will be sure to get your money’s worth for 20 dollars to visit this local attraction! Visit their Facebook page: Museum of Bizarre to find out more information!

    By Aki Suzuki, Carrie Poniewaz, Carey Shetterley, Lexie Trimnal, June Wilkinson

  • Story Telling or Story Selling?

    Screen Shot 2015-10-02 at 1.04.13 PMTake a moment to think about your home. What comes to mind? Think far beyond the floors, ceilings, and furniture. Whether it is a dorm room, an apartment, the structure forcing you to have a mortgage loan over the next thirty years, or simply the place you grew up with a white picket fence, each one harnesses specific memories and has its own unique story to share. The thoughts of an apartment could evoke memories of college life, living with roommates, throwing parties instead of studying for finals, and that insanely uncomfortable futon in the living room. On the other hand, a childhood home could conjure feelings of comfort and security when thinking about playing football with dad or mom’s fresh-baked apple pie.

    As an intern for a local real estate agent, Patrick Gahagan, who is a UNCW Communication Studies alum, I am learning narrative is at the core of selling homes. Each prospective buyer has his or her own story, which encompasses the place they currently live, the place they grew up, and thus influences their ideal home. One of the biggest challenges a real estate agent faces is gaining a solid understanding of each client’s needs for a new home and finding the perfect place for them. Are they yearning for a cozy place that reminds them of their childhood home? Would an apartment that reminds them of their college days when life was far less stressful be best? Or does the buyer want to keep his or her past homes out of mind and find something new? Buyers must be able to see themselves in a home before they can begin to consider taking out a loan that could keep them in debt for 30 years. Therefore, the real estate agent must craft a story to sell homes.

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    Given real estate agents work for commission, it is critical to master the art of story selling. Professional photos with the perfect lighting, and statistics regarding value and square footage, combine with the home tour to compose a narrative for each home on the market. In real estate, photos, stats, and the home’s structure are all rhetorical tools. A real estate agent’s job is to combine these rhetorical elements using the appropriate language to create a powerful story that will attract prospective buyers. The way in which a real estate agent uses rhetoric to frame a home essentially makes or breaks the sell. Sounds like marketing, doesn’t it? If the real estate agent composed an impactful narrative for the home, the buyers will likely proceed to make an offer and the agent is on their way to getting paid.

    In the world of real estate, stories are not simply told, but sold.

    By: Meleah, Amanda, Kendall, Luke, and Dan

  • Communication Studies At Work

    College students are told time and time again just how important it is to have an internship while in college. UNCW student Aki Suzuki, a senior Communication Studies major, offered to speak with us about her Marketing internship at Live Oak Bank, a Small Business Association lender  here in Wilmington, NC.

    liveoakbankInterviewer: What are your daily tasks?

    Aki: Videography: Helping set up shoots with lighting and camera equipment, taking photos, organizing footage, editing photos and videos, and creating simple title graphics.

    Interviewer: What do you want to gain from this experience?

    Aki: I hope to gain professional videography skills and the ability to thrive and adapt to an adult work environment. Finally I hope to gain the knowledge to competently function as part of an organization/ corporations marketing team to enhance a brand and use my creative resources to continue advancing it.

    Interviewer:  What coursework is relevant to your internship?

    Aki: As I am interning in the marketing department and helping create promotional materials for Live Oak, the IMC related classes are relevant to my experience. Integrated Marketing theories, as well as course projects and discussions have prepared me to understand how the bank approaches attracting borrowers to each of its verticals. The videography department is responsible for video and photography related products. Videography centered courses like COM 380 have also been instrumental to my understanding of cameras, the elements of lighting and also editing techniques.

    Internships are an excellent way for students to engage in applied learning but also a way to get their brand out into the real world. Aki has learned the importance of a consistent brand identity, especially when looking for jobs and internships. Aki demonstrated this during our interview.

    akisuzuki_000Interviewer: What can you offer to Live Oak Bank?

    Aki: I can offer Live Oak Bank a willing and open mind. Although I do not possess any outstanding skills, as a young and determined student I am engaged in learning and committed to contributing in any way that I can. My youth allows me to maintain a fresh perspective and enthusiastic attitude for any opportunities they allow me.

    Interviewer: How does your brand as a Communication Studies major compare with other interns at Live Oak?

    Aki: I find that I fit well into my niche in the marketing department because Communication Studies deals overwhelmingly with how to effectively incorporate messages being sent  through various channels which is precisely what any company’s marketing department hopes to cover.  I do find myself at a slight disadvantage when it comes to understanding the financial ins and outs of the bank; but like any communication studies major I am well versed in being an assertive researcher and curious verbal investigator to understand anything I do not immediately understand.

    Aside from some unnecessary modesty, Aki has aligned the stories she communicates about herself, the way she sees herself and reality so closely that there are minimal discrepancies. If you have the opportunity to work with Aki, you would find this statement proves true. Branding is not just for businesses anymore. Every communication you put out into the world will contribute to your personal brand and when your band is as consistent as Aki’s it becomes a holophrasm, expressing your brand in a single nucleus. Aki has achieved such a level of brand coherence that her name now acts as a holophrasm.

    What strategies do you use when defining your personal brand?

    What are some examples you can share about personal brand coherence?

    – Alexis Trimnal, Carey Shetterley, June Wilkinson, and Carey Poniewaz

    -Interviewee: Aki Suzuki

  • 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.

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    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

  • Are you ready for some football? Tom Brady is!

    With the NFL’s first regular season game on Thursday, sports fan across the nation anticipate returning to their fantasy football leagues, their favorite team’s bar, or even just their living room couches every Sunday to watch professional football. The NFL will dominate the American sports and entertainment industry for the next seven months, especially the TV ratings, and will continue to rake in a massive financial profit. As the NFL and its fans prepare for the new season, they continue to deal with incidents from last season and question if the commissioner of the NFL, Roger Goodell, will be able to retain his position much longer.

    The NFL has been involved with a plethora of negative PR instances in recent years and the organization does not always handle these situations appropriately, which only leads to backlash from the various publics and football community. Commissioner Roger Goodell’s decision to suspend New England Patriot’s quarterback, Tom Brady, for four games at the start of this season was overturned last Thursday by Judge Richard Berman. Tom Brady’s suspension was over the highly publicized “Deflategate” scandal, concerning his potential involvement in the incident that occurred before the Patriots win over the Seahawks earlier this year in Super Bowl XLIX. After the federal judge’s decision to overturn the suspension, the NFL is once again in a terrible position as the season is about to get under way and as reporter Bob Kravitz put it, “leaves the NFL with ‘egg on their face’”.

    It is clear that Commissioner Goodell picked the wrong fight with NFL poster-boy, four-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady and there are few actions the current commissioner can take to rebuild his image. He has already lost the trust of players, has a dreadful win-loss record in court, has displayed awful values of the NFL, and lost his credibility. For example, Ray Rice was initially only suspended two games for punching a woman, a charge much more serious than a couple footballs being slightly deflated. However, the NFL ultimately suspended him indefinitely, which was eventually overturned in court through an appeal by Rice.

    In addition to Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, Greg Hardy, CJ Spillman, Ray McDonald, and even Jameis Winston are no longer just incidents dealing with violence or domestic abuse. These negative occurrences are all actively shaping the NFL community and the image that the NFL portrays. It tends to show that the NFL does not maintain outstanding values and they prioritize morals a bit differently from the American public. All of the players previously mentioned are all still eligible to play in the NFL at this current moment, yet Tom Brady was nearly suspended for four games for his knowledge of footballs being deflated, making one question the values of the NFL even more intently.

    Following the Ray Rice incident last year, polls showed that the American public was already calling for his resignation. If Goodell is to maintain his role as commissioner and face of the organization for the foreseeable future, he needs to try to recreate his image since it is viewed so negatively. He needs to speak openly about the instance, consider relinquishing his disciplinary rule, hold a press conference, or use the NFL’s PR department to the best of their ability. As the rest of American society prepares for what is the highly coveted and entertaining NFL season, the NFL organization will attempt to wipe some of the ‘egg off their face’ that the Deflategate deliberation left on.

    – Griffin Weidele, Austin Moody, Luci Keefer, Allen Wooten, Scott Uraro