IMC Hawks Blog

Tag: Students

  • PepsiCo Kickstart’s Spring Break 2014

    At the start of every year, the Collegiate Marketing Group publishes a Spring Break Guide for college students across the nation. The guide was first published in 1992 providing travel tips, destination news and information on everything about Spring Break.

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    The Collegiate Marketing Group specializes in the youth market and basically owns all territory related to Spring Break marketing. Their Spring Break Guide reaches an estimated one million students including the print and web publication as well as the students on social media.

    This year, Pepsi’s new Mountain Dew energy drink, Kickstart, is the featured annual sponsor, replacing Coca-Cola. The shift in sponsor seems to be due to PepsiCo’s efforts in supporting the Mountain Dew brand.

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    Kickstart was introduced in February 2013, and sales surged to more than 100 million in the first 6 months. PepsiCo is planning on supporting Kickstart even more in year two. Kickstart was given a 35% media spending boost compared to its first year on the market.

     

     

     

    This 35% can already be seen through the increased spring break advertising PepsiCo has been sponsoring. There are a number of things that PepsiCo reveals about themselves by choosing to spend their marketing budget on college spring break guides.  The first is that it identifies PepsiCo’s target audience for this campaign. A second thing is they are trying to associate this drink and its brand with the spring break scene (party, lights, sun, fun, etc).

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    While these 2 things stand out, there are many other things to examine in this campaign.  While you are on spring break, will you notice Kickstart and give it a try? We’ll see how PepsiCo and Kickstart do with their promotional campaign.

    – Rachel Gracy & Greg Rothman

  • Learn about Communication Studies at COM Studies Day

    When Communication Studies majors share their idea with others they are often met with a variety of  questions. These questions often range from “what is Communication Studies” to “what on earth are you going to do with that?!,” and can leave the student wondering just why exactly did they pick this major in the first place. Fortunately the UNCW Communication Studies department is hosting its annual Communication Studies Day this Friday and will answer many of these questions.

    The Communication Studies Day  will have panel presentations of UNCW graduates from the major discussing their careers and experiences since college. Students will be able to hear from individuals who are currently doing things with their Communication Studies degree that they are considering doing after graduating, such as marketing, graduate school, broadcasting, and public relations. Many of the panelists graduated recently and will be able to relate to the students attending the presentations as they only recently were in the same point of approaching graduation and having to decide what they wanted to do and how to go about it. There will also be networking sessions for students to speak with faculty, friends and alumni. Another aspect of Communication Studies Day is the Dress for Success fashion show, in which attendants will get to see outfits of business casual and business professional attire. Attire is an important component of a professional image and many students are unsure about how they are expected to dress for a successful career.

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    Communication Studies Day is not just an event that is simply put on by faculty and that students can show up to if they want to. The event is being  coordinated and marketed by UNCW Communication Studies students. Dr. Persuit’s IMC II class will be tweeting, posting photos, and sharing information about the event as it is occurring on this blog. Individuals can learn more about the event by following #DressForSuccess2012 and #COMStudiesDay on twitter.

    ~Molly Jacques, Josh Vester, Ashley Oliver and Hunter Wilson

  • What’s Your Unique Brand Style?

    UNCW’s Communication Studies Day includes an informative Dress for Success Fashion show for college students of all ages and levels. The fashion show will also include skits demonstrating the importance of an elevator speech, professional attire, portfolios, and how necessary it is to be prepared for interviews. This year the theme, “Will You Make the Cut?” is based upon the Food Network show “Chopped.”

    One idea about IMC manifested in this fashion show is that company image and brand management is very vital for growth and success. Individuals, as well as companies, have always had their own image and have to manage their own brand. It is sometimes hard for college students to transition from a student image that they have had for the past 13 years to a business professional image. The great part about the fashion show is that it shows students how to transition from their current image and brand to something more professional.

    Whether people realize it or not, we are branding ourselves every day through the types of clothes we choose to wear in professional or unprofessional settings. Your unique brand style can be a description of who you are in a job interview setting. It is very important to make interpersonal connections with job interviewers through your developed style and authenticity that will make you stand out from others. Branding yourself when looking for a job is very similar to branding a product. Basically, you are selling yourself as a product to your potential employer with the goal of standing out amongst the rest. Are you casual business, formal business, chick, trendy, preppy, classic, or a hybrid of several?

    By: Laura Simmons, Mollie Berthold, Dorothy Conley, Christina Stevenson

  • Marketing for Vacationers

     

    Sun tans, sand between our toes and palm trees are images that come to our minds when thinking about spring break. For many college students, spring break is a chance to escape the monotony of the academic lifestyle. This escape often incorporates tropical beaches and fun times with friends. Spring break is about getting away for a little while before the stress associated with the end of the semester creeps up on us.

    Since so many students decide to travel during their spring break, travel agencies take notice of this huge resource of customers and tailor a variety of packages to students. These agencies are aware that students are traveling on a restricted budget, and therefore market cheap packages to them.  Popular packages include flights and rooms is hotels  for five nights (because spring break is usually Monday through Friday).

    One travel agency in particular is cashing in on the huge revenue associated with the student demographic, StudentUniverse. The agency’s website promotes the company as a resource for students to find travel deals catered to them. On the website students can search prices for flights going to their potential spring break travel destinations, activities to do while on vacation,  and cheap hotel rooms. StudentUniverse creates travel packages to popular spring break destinations, such as Panama City and Cancun.

    All though StudentUniverse markets itself as a travel agency for students, it also provides profitable advertising and marketing tactics for companies. The StudentUniverse website shares the benefits of marketing to students with companies. The website also tells companies how they can connect with students without the internet.

    It is apparent that StudentUniverse works with other companies when looking at the activities and events it suggests for its student customers.   The website promotes specific restaurants, parties and other things for travelers. Companies are aware that StudentUniverse can connect them with thousands of potential customers. These customers are looking to go on vacation, have fun and spend money.

    StudentUniverse is an excellent example of the ways companies are marketing to us, without us ever being aware of it. Maybe the next time you are planning your trip you will take a  minute to consider the locations and activities your travel agency is promoting and why.

    ~Hunter, Josh, Molly and Ashley

  • Get your Fuzzy on!

    Looking for something new and exciting in your life?  The Fuzzy Peach is a self-serve frozen yogurt bar that allows their customers to be as creative as they’d like. Located in Racine Commons, and in three other sections of Wilmington, The Fuzzy Peach offers eight different flavors of frozen yogurt each day. Also available are rows full of toppings including fresh fruit and candy to make each yogurt creation unique. The Fuzzy Peach is a healthy alternative to dessert, but still satisfies the sweet tooth that we all have. Customers pay by the ounce, so they’re in control. Add on ten toppings, or maybe just one, but in the end the customers will have exactly what they’ve been wanting. Rocco Quaranto, Wells Struble and Jason Nista graduated from the Cameron School of Business from the University of North Carolina Wilmington in 2008. The trio met their freshman year in the dorms and ran track together. They graduated and continued on to peruse employment in the corporate field, but it didn’t take long before they were bored with their jobs and wanted something new and fresh. The young entrepreneurs came back to Wilmington, NC two years after graduation and decided to start their own business named The Fuzzy Peach. They got the idea of a frozen yogurt dessert bar from California and thought it would be a business that would be successful in the Wilmington market.  Needless to say they found a niche and have struck gold in the Wilmington area.   Did these young entrepreneurs place their yogurt shop in Wilmington by chance, or was it a strategic planned marketing move?  Their knowledge of the Wilmington area and their locations for their stores leads us to believe it was a strategic move on their part.  Their placement of the first Fuzzy Peach store is conveniently located close to UNCW, and their probable target audience is college students.  Through word of mouth and advertising, this location became a popular spot for college students in Wilmington craving frozen yogurt.  Once that location became a hit, they opened up their second location in downtown Wilmington.  This location offers free frozen yogurt to a different company downtown and their employees on certain Fridays advertised by the store.  This second store’s target audience is businesses and professionals working in the downtown Wilmington area. However, they are also still open late for young students wandering downtown.  Their Monkey Junction location is their third, and attracts people from the surrounding areas much like their newest location in Porter’s Neck.  A Fuzzy Peach yogurt store will be coming soon to Carolina Beach, which will further expand their target market.  Each location offers specials, such as T-Shirt Tuesday where customers wearing a Fuzzy Peach shirt into the store will receive 10% off their frozen yogurt purchase.  The future seems very bright for the three entrepreneurs who have brought a frozen yogurt empire to the Wilmington area. -Kelsey Bendig, Brooke Keller, Andrea Blanton, Brian Burch

  • Year of Adele

    The Annual Grammy Awards are one of the biggest nights in the music industry where artists are recognized for their exceptional achievements. Last week the Grammy awards ceremony celebrated its 54th anniversary at the Las Angeles Convention Center with host, LL Cool J. With live performances by Bruce Springsteen, Katy Perry, and Adele, America was eager for this year’s Grammy Awards. The 54th Grammys brought in 39.9 million viewers which was the second highest rating since the 1984 Grammys. America, along with the artists, held their breath with anticipation to hear the winners for the 78 awards.

    It’s hard to go even a day without hearing the name “Adele” in the music industry. She hit the music scene in 2006, but it wasn’t until 2010 that she seemed to gain fame overnight with her single “Rolling in the Deep.” The young British singer has encountered many obstacles in the past year, from canceling her tour to undergoing vocal surgery in late 2011.  “Adele underwent vocal cord microsurgery by Dr. Steven Zeitels to stop recurrent vocal cord hemorrhage (bleeding) from a benign polyp,” said a source at the hospital where her surgery took place.   She gave her first post-surgery performance at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards last week, and solidified that she’s still got it. Her worldwide fame reached new levels this year with an amazing 6 Grammy nominations; Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, Song of the Year, Best Short Form Music Video, and Best Pop Solo Performance. She won every category in which she was nominated and left the awards ceremony with her arms full of Grammys.

    At 23, Adele has more confidence than most females her age. She focuses on her passion for music instead of trying to look like the “ideal” celebrity.  She is happy with how she looks and is not pressured to be skinny like her competitors.  Despite criticisms of her weight rolling in from the media, Adele prides herself with being a role model for the average woman. Her fame and success prove that talent can overcome looks in today’s society.  “I’ve never wanted to look like models on the cover of magazines. I represent the majority of women and I’m very proud of that.” –Adele

     

    -Kelsey Bendig, Andrea Blanton, Brian Burch, Brooke Keller

  • Have a Sexy Valentine’s Day, Gorgeous!

    A week from today, one of the most commercialized and superficial holidays will occur: Valentine’s Day. For those of you who are one half of a couple, Valentine’s Day is all about making your significant other happy, whether it involves showering him/her with gifts, making dinner reservations, or planning exuberant and normally unnecessarily expensive dates.

    The beginning of February marks the time when store fronts become clad with hearts, cupid cutouts, and pink and red streamers.  Around this same time, we begin to see an increasing number of men lurking around lingerie stores, especially Victoria’s Secret – and for good reason.  Victoria’s Secret has a dramatic increase in sales during the season of romance. With their sexy print ads in magazines, their silky almost-obscene commercials, and their free “Lacie Pantie” giveaway, what man in their right mind would avoid giving their girlfriend/wife the gift of sexiness?

    In their 2012 Valentine’s Day campaign, Victoria’s Secret Angels clad in pink and red barely-there bras and panties have advertised to their customers that with the gift of anything from their line of lingerie, their Valentine’s Day celebrations will be fabulous. In their sneak peek to their photo shoot, the Angels prance around in their under garments, smiling, laughing, and selling the ideas of sex and playfulness. In interviews, the girls claim that any man could win their hearts on Valentine’s Day by picking out something from the Victoria’s Secret shelves. One even says that if a man chooses something that he likes, it will give plenty of hints to his significant other.

    Not only does this campaign appeal to male shoppers, but it also appeals to women. The Victoria’s Secret Angels encourage their customers to feel sexy, and by offering specials, free panties, and coupons during this season, women will certainly be able to feel like Angels.

    So whether you are shopping for a significant other or are planning on spoiling yourself with brand new sexy lingerie, Victoria’s Secret will certainly be the place to shop this romantic season.  And don’t forget to have a sexy Valentine’s Day, Gorgeous!

    Love always, Christina Stevenson, Mollie Berthold, Dorothy Conley, & Laura Simmons