IMC Hawks Blog

Tag: UNC Wilmington

  • All The Single Ladies

    Valentine’s Day is a holiday dreaded by a great deal of people, both male and female, for various reasons. There is pressure on both genders to perform, declare emotions, and out-do previous years or expectations. Those who fail at this task of grandstanding may in fact find themselves without a date for next year. Okay, so there’s a ton of pressure on people in relationships, but what about those of us who are single? While some take pride in their solitude, others wish they had someone to be their valentine, and a few twitch at the mere thought of being in a relationship.

    According to an article in the New York Times, being single is a prevalent occurrence these days with 59.9 million single women in America. This staggering rate may surprise some, but companies like Dove chocolate see these table-for-one ladies as a prime marketing demographic. They hope to strike a chord with this growing independent group by catering their advertising to the women who are without companions. That is why this year Dove has made a campaign to remind women Valentine’s Day isn’t just about romance.

    Dove is banking on the stereotype that single women will turn to chocolate this year on Valentine’s Day. Instead of the standard “Call me” or “I’m yours” found on the candy hearts we used to share with our playground crush, Dove has created a host of witty comments and placed them on the inside of their chocolate wrappers. Some of the best include, “You’re gorgeous,” “Sometimes I buy flowers for myself,” “My flaws are fabulous” and even the ever so uplifting, “Love yourself in a moment.” The new commercial features women sharing their Dove chocolates with everyone from their barista to their neighbor, and most importantly, themselves. Is this a message of independence for the strong woman? Or rather, a cheap ploy based upon the assumption that women alone on Valentine’s Day will inevitably console themselves with chocolate? Either way it’s hard to dislike chocolate, especially when it’s making single girls smile and promising not to judge if we have more than one.

    By: Alexis Kapczynski, Kacy Cox, Josh Bowman, and Sara Kaloudis

  • What’s the Real Show?

    During a regulation NFL game there is a 15 minute break between the 2nd and 3rd quarters. This halftime break was originally instituted so the participants of the game could catch their breath and re-energize. During the Super Bowl, halftime lasts for a minimum of 30 minutes. Not only is that plenty of time for a player to catch his breath, that could allow him an opportunity to take a nap and check some emails. The mid-game break is actually long enough that coaches usually alter practices leading up to the big game in order to prepare their players for dealing with the extended down time. Despite this, there has never been a serious motion to shorten the length of the break. On the contrary, every few years halftime will run a little long to better accommodate the length of more extravagant halftime shows.

    This presents an interesting phenomenon. The Super Bowl, the game that decides who the best team is in the highest level of the most popular sport in America, is consistently interrupted for at least 15 minutes more than is necessary so an assortment of washed up and unknown artists can perform for a crowd that has paid at least double the average monthly income for a ticket to the game. It is widely known that companies spend millions of dollars for a chance to slip a commercial in between the biggest football game of the year, but this event has become so large that the game itself is being postponed in order to make room for the event that surrounds it. That’s the kind of marketing that is normally reserved for religious holidays and national celebrations.

    So what makes the Super Bowl half-time show so special? It is the second most anticipated part of the event, besides of course, who wins the championship.  The hype of who is performing is always a boost for the performers publicity, but what if Madonna blows it like the Black Eyed Peas did last year?  What will that do to her brand as being Madonna, the Queen of pop? There is a lot at stake when involving yourself in the biggest event of the year.  Let’s just hope there are no wardrobe malfunctions or fumbled lyrics this year.

    Read more about the halftime show here!

  • Will JoePa Rest In Peace?

    Anyone who has been tuned into ESPN recently knows that Joe Paterno, “JoePa”, was the football coach at Penn State for 42 years, starting in 1966.  In the wake of a child abuse scandal centered around Jerry Sandusky, Penn State’s former assistant coach, Paterno was fired this past November. He was the face of Penn State and his brand was ultimately tarnished due to the scandal. Some are concerned that his tainted brand will overshadow his lifelong legacy. Sadly, Joe Paterno passed away on January 22nd due to his battle with lung cancer making it impossible to mend his stained brand.

    The media has been criticized for how they handled the situation regarding Joe Paterno; some even question if the media’s involvement aided in tarnishing his brand. The question is not whether the media has a legal right to report whatever they find newsworthy because the First Amendment guarantees that they do. The issue is how media managers should employ that freedom in their own decisions about what is ethical and professionally responsible. Some may view that the media took their interrogations too far by harassing Paterno at his home and accusing him of allegations before they even knew the whole story.

    “The media jumped to the conclusion that Paterno was trying to cover up the scandal when it broke out.  Because his name is so iconic, linking his name to the scandal would attract more viewers on their websites as opposed to Sandusky… more has been written about Joe Paterno’s involvement than Sandusky in the media.” – Chris Moore, Penn State University Senior  

    Is it ethical for the media to do whatever it takes to get the story out first even if it damages a man’s reputation beyond repair? On another note, people have a right to know what is going on in today’s world, so is doing whatever it takes to get the news as bad as it seems? Some argue that the media is just doing their job and presenting breaking news to the public. It was already too late for his reputation when the news came out that Paterno had told superiors about the issue in 2002. According to the Penn State Board of Trustees, their reasoning for terminating Paterno was partially based on his failing to uphold a moral responsibility to report allegations made in 2002 against Sandusky to authorities outside the university.

    There is no question that Paterno let the victims, their families, and the university down by not pressing the issue with the police after he approached his superiors. In our opinion, Joe Paterno deserves to be remembered for who he was as a coach and as an individual; not as a man who was in over his head dealing with the worst scandal in his university’s history.

    Kelsey Bendig, Brian Burch, Brooke Keller, Andrea Blanton

  • Talk of the town? More like talk of the nation: When Local News Goes National

    As we all know, the phrase “gunman on campus,” is nothing to take lightly.  Since the 2007 shooting at Virginia Tech, colleges across the country have made it a priority to ensure the safety of their campus.

    UNC Wilmington students were alerted late last night of a gunman on campus, fleeing from the nearby Hardees. The University continued to update students through email, phone calls and text messages in order to ensure all students were aware of the situation and safe.
    It seems as though UNCW took all the proper precautions; what they didn’t take into consideration was how the students were going to react to it. Within a matter of no time, students with Facebook and Twitter accounts were posting: “everyone on campus be safe!” or writing terms of endearment on loved one’s walls. According to Clay Shirky, author of Here Comes Everybody, the ability of people to share, cooperate, and act together is being improved dramatically by our social tools.With access to these social networking sites, students were able to publicly announce that there was a gunman on campus, which instigated a major concern.  News of the gunman on UNCW’s campus even reached popular media outlets, such as the New York Times and CBS.

    Using these social networking sites has united people all over the country.  Looking again at Shirky’s book, he exclaims, “a story can go from local to global in a heartbeat.” Without today’s social media sites, many news outlets would not have heard about the gunman. From an IMC perspective, we must look at how powerful these sites are and use them with much caution.

    -Stephanie Bakolia, Claire Outlaw, David Glaubach

  • Communication Studies Next Top Model

    Did you know that you can employ Integrated Marketing Communication in any organization? It’s an easy way to reach your target publics and increase membership and participation in your organization. However, few people actually know how to use it properly. Communication Studies Society (CSS) has been heavily utilizing IMC in the past few weeks to increase attendance at the Com Studies Day events, which is this Friday, April 1st. CSS and the entire Communication Studies Department have been utilizing social media outlets, such as Facebook and Twitter, to build anticipation for Friday! There is even a friendly competition between the professors to see who can get the greatest participation from their students to attend the events.  Our Advanced IMC class will be live blogging and tweeting from all of the events, with voting on who is the audiences favorite model at the Dress for Success Fashion Show. To follow the days events or participate on Twitter, type in #COMStudiesDay in your tweets or follow @IMCClass.

    The use of social media during Com Studies Day creates social capital within the community by allowing everyone to get a front row seat in the action and alumni to see how successful the Communication Studies Department has become.

    Other than using social media, CSS has been posting flyers and taking advantage of the Communication Studies Department newsletter that gets distributed to every Communication Studies major, which is the target audience.

    So be sure to come to all the Com Studies Day events, and if you can’t make it, follow us on twitter. More importantly, be sure to vote for Scott Burgess (@scottrburgess) and Allison Day (@Allisonday32) as your favorite models and send your votes to @CStudiesSociety.

    Happy tweeting!

    -Allison Day, Jessica Berinson, Megan Canny, Melissa Gagliardi, Scott Burgess

  • Fraternities and Sororities at UNC-Wilmington…a Greek Corporation

    When thinking about a school 5 miles from the beach that doesn’t have a football team, the last thing that comes to mind might be fraternities and sororities.  Greek life however consumes roughly 9.5% of the student population and there are 26 Greek organizations on campus (8 Pan-Hellenic sororities, 11 IFC fraternities, 5 NPHC sororities and 2 NPHC fraternities). Most sororities and fraternities have an executive council, which make the decisions and determine the overall feel of the organization

    The President of the fraternity or sorority can be considered the boss and  make the final decisions in the chapter .  There are also a variety of different positions that are held by the members of the sorority/fraternity ranging from Public relations to social chair to a treasurer.  Those who hold these positions are in charge of certain aspects of the organization to assure the organization is accomplishing their goals and take charge of those activities.

    There is a different decision making process with the various organizations much like that of different corporations. There is a huge importance of the fraternities and sororities identity as well that distinguish them from one another.  For instance Chi Omega wears white dresses on bid day and Alpha Phi wears long dresses.  Pi Kappa Alpha always has very bright shirts for rush and Phi Mu is associated with anything pink.  These are all just clothing examples of things that give identity to the organization, but anything  from personal actions to parties to philanthropy events give these fraternity and sororities there “corporate identity.”

    At UNC-Wilmington, Greek life runs like a business. There are the different roles that are played in the organization which help maintain reputation, scholarship, identity, brand, etc also striving for Greeks to follow the strategic plan which can be seen at: http://uncw.edu/Stuaff/fratlife/plan.html


    Ari Nateman

    Fran Greene

    Lacey Inman

    Megan Regele