Ciara Hawley, Class of 2012-2013

IMC at SLC has been a great experience for me so far in many ways. Coming into this program I would have never thought I’d get anything more than an experience out of it. But slowly I’m realizing there is much more than that. Whether it’s why things are advertised a certain way or how to create a commercial, each day there’s something new to learn.  This I would have to thank the Profs for. I come home most days sharing with my mom interesting things I learned from my classes.

But not only am I learning from this program but I’m starting to enjoy it also. Thursday’s would have to be my favourite day of the week though and something I look forward to. Jim has a way of keeping everyone interested with his humorous comments or his odd jokes. Personally, I think a teacher’s attitude can affect how a student’s respond to their class or work they give. I’m also looking forward to some future things like the Greg awards and the class trip to Toronto. For a few years now I’ve been watching Much Music’s station and have always wanted to be on one of their live shows or even meet the talk hosts. I know they aren’t famous or anything but they still are seen across Canada which in my eyes is quite amazing.

This all being said, IMC at SLC isn’t what you call easy. You need to be on the ball and have things done on time. It’s not like high school where there are exceptions and extensions. The workload is also difficult at times when trying to balance work and family. But somehow I seem to be pulling it off, for now.

Resume Code Blog

This is how I will be able to help Mr. Chamberlain for my Co op.

Toronto Class Trip 2013, Prezi

The Day Has Finally Come!

Five, four, three, two, one… It’s finally come! The final class trip of the year, the one we’ve all been waiting for! Nothing is better than a free trip to Toronto to go shopping and be on a national TV show seen by teens across the country. But also to learn about marketing, advertisement and many more things! So overall, a learning experience I’d say.

Friday morning was when it all started. All arriving before 7am to catch the bus or else we’d be waving everyone goodbye, or so we were told. With a 3 hour bus ride ahead of us and what did everyone wanna do at 7am? Apparently not sleep….cause thats what I had in mind. Everyone was quite awake I’d say. But I can’t really complain because I myself, was having good time with everyone, joking around in the back and whatnot. On our way to Toronto we made a quick pit stop at one of the on routes because really, you can’t have a roadie without Tim Hortons! Hitting the highway again, we continued our way to downtown Toronto.

Finally making it to the famous Dundas Square, we boarded off and parted our ways to start a scavenger hunt. But before most did so, we stood there in awe of all the ads that were presented in this square. This was advertising at its finest and nothing like what most of us would see in a city like Kingston. Prior to this, I had remembered that to have an ad put up in Dundas, it would cost a corporation/business over a million dollars. So standing there, I kinda thought to myself, is it worth the million? Will people pay attention to these ads that are shown? because if you think about it, who walks through the square daily? The answer would be people who live in Toronto. So if you walk in the square everyday, are you really gonna pay attention to what these ads are saying? So this made me continue to think and then a thought came to me. The ads could be targeted to not those who live in the heart of toronto but to those to tour and come from out of the city ? These were just some questions running through my mind that day.

The next thing on our agenda was to visit FUSE Marketing Group. This group/team of people helps businesses around the marketing/adervtising world.

FUSE – http://www.fusemg.com ||  MuchMusic http://www.muchmusic.com/tv/

Yikes, It’s Time To Present

Public speaking is something we’ve all had to do in life at some point or another. But did you know it is the second, most common fear in the world? Your heart starts to beat faster and faster, your body grows tense as the moment goes on, and your hands start to shake. Yep, it’s that time, its presentation day, “yikes”! Not for me, thankfully, or my fellow classmates, but second year students in the IMC course at St. Lawrence. Today, for the first time I get to cretic someone (groups) and voice my opinion to students who are more highly educated then myself, in a specific field.

Before I start talking about the presentations I saw today I would like to point out that I thought everyone did outstanding. It’s not easy speaking in front of crowds and its especially not easy talking to a CEO of a business. You want your pitch to be the best and when you mess up, it can be scary. That being said, every presentation will have its strong and weak points and you’ll find you just have to carry on and do your best.

Starting off with my favourite and in my opinion, personal best; #INSTASTYLE.  Today is your day to have a chance to win a $40 gift card to the fabulous, Three Boutique. To enter this contest you must hold a heart and take a picture, post it on Instagram, then hashtag #Threeboutique or  #Instastyle. To win though, it is up to you. Get as many people to like your photo/outfit on Instagram and you win. I thought this was a great idea on their behalf and well organized. I also thought they pointed out their target market pretty clear. Overall this was a great group, but the only thing I would suggest is to speak a little slow. That being said, I can understand why they were talking so fast due to having 6mins to present. Also to not exclude anyone from the contest and make it open for all.

March Break Marketing

It’s that time of year to kick back, relax and enjoy the warmth of your home or the beautiful topics. Whether it’s with family, friends or both, you’re guaranteed a good time. But have you ever wondered who their target market is? It could be the kids, parents or even students. Everyone has a perfect getaway in mind.

When I think of March break or spring break I automatically think of the movies. A time to party, go on vacation, drink, relax, and all around have a good time. Spring break is something you grow up hearing about or seeing on TV. It’s considered the best time of the year (apart from summer break). You don’t have to look hard to find these sites or to find deals. But if you don’t feel like doing so or don’t have the time, just contact a local travel agent and they do the work for you. After all, if you’re a student or parent you have other things to worry about, why not have someone take off the load?

Not only do movies and commercials market spring break though, but friends and family do also. Coming back from a trip to the tropics people tell you the fun things they did, how beautiful it was and show you photos. Unintentionally they are selling you wherever they’ve been.

One last thing is targeting kids and parents. Disney being a perfect example. They want your kids to see the commercials ads because they know that they’ll ask their parents to take them there. It’s a family oriented place and parents know its safe. So why not go? It’s easy to target these groups because parents want to make their kids happy and kids just want to have fun.

As you can see there are different ways to market things instead of the classic commercials or ads you see walking down the street.

IMC at SLC

Free college education, 7 credits, recording studios, Mac labs? These are just a few things that IMC at SLC offers in their program.

IMC at SLC has been a great experience for me so far in many ways. Coming into this program I would have never thought I’d get anything more than an experience out of it. But slowly I’m realizing there is much more than that. Whether it’s why things are advertised a certain way or how to create a commercial, each day there’s something new to learn.  This I would have to thank the Profs for. I come home most days sharing with my mom interesting things I learned from my classes.

But not only am I learning from this program but I’m starting to enjoy it also. Thursday’s would have to be my favourite day of the week though and something I look forward to. Jim has a way of keeping everyone interested with his humorous comments or his odd jokes. Personally, I think a teacher’s attitude can affect how a student’s respond to their class or work they give. I’m also looking forward to some future things like the Greg awards and the class trip to Toronto. For a few years now I’ve been watching Much Music’s station and have always wanted to be on one of their live shows or even meet the talk hosts. I know they aren’t famous or anything but they still are seen across Canada which in my eyes is quite amazing.

This all being said, IMC at SLC isn’t what you call easy. You need to be on the ball and have things done on time. It’s not like high school where there are exceptions and extensions. The workload is also difficult at times when trying to balance work and family. But somehow I seem to be pulling it off, for now.

What a day

Field trips are a time to learn but also a time to have fun and enjoy yourself. Earlier on this month the IMC@SLC class decided to partake in a trip to Amherst Island Radio Station and Corus Studios in Kingston. What I thought would be a dull trip turned into something more than I expected.

Starting off our day with a ferry ride to the Amherst Island radio station, we learned many things from such small place. I learned you don’t have to be in the “big wig” to make an impact on people’s lives. Based in an old Milkhouse since 2006, this station has created a whole different atmosphere for radio. One where there is no fancy gadgets or bright lights, just the feeling of being welcome and having some good music to listen along to. This wouldn’t be accomplished though without the help of an all-volunteer-crew/staff. Sometimes money doesn’t matter, just as long as you’re happy with what you’re doing. After all, it’s your life, live it how you want and live it to its fullest.

Once done at AIRS we continued our adventure to the Corus Studios in downtown Kingston. This is where I found things started to get exciting. Making our way to where the radio stations upstairs, you could tell immediately that it was nothing like the first station we saw. Vibrant colours were everywhere making the place come to life. Not only did the colours do so, but so did the people. Meeting the spokes people for the radio stations was pretty exciting I’d have to say. The energy and positive attitudes they bring on air are also how they really are in person. Continuing on with our tour we made our way to where commercials are made, more so an editing/recording room. What I found interesting was how fast they can edit a voice script and make it sound professional, even if there are mistakes.

Finally, heading downstairs to the news room where CKWS broadcasts, we saw where it all happens. This was my favorite part of the trip because ever since I was little I watched CKWS with my parents on week nights. I always wondered what it looked like in an actual news room and going on the trip made that happen. Being able to see myself on TV and green screen was what I thought was pretty amazing, but also very distracting. It was a perfect way to end the day in my eyes. Everyone had a smile on their face and I could tell that I wasn’t the only one who enjoyed themselves.

The Good, Bad, and Ugly

Advertisements, they’re everywhere we look and hear. Good, bad, or ugly society has made it impossible to get away from them. We hear and see them on the radio, television, online, billboards, bus stops, everywhere we look. When looking at an ad, in a matter of seconds your mind creates an opinion. Positive or negative this can determine if you want to consume the product or not. Therefore as a marketer you want to know what appeals to the target market.

Pleasing to the eye is what can be considered good advertising. That meaning, when looking at an ad, it grabs your attention and makes you create generally, a positive opinion. But that doesn’t always have to be the case. The purpose of some ads can be to create a feeling. For example, MADD ads: they want to get a message across and in order to do that they have to get your attention. Usually using graphic pictures.

Advertisers like to use words called “weasel words” when trying present their ads as the best. Weasel words are what make give you give the impression that the product being advertised is somehow significant or meaningful in some way. For example, “Everything up to 50% off”. The point of this is to mislead the target market, to make them believe there will be items for half off to draw customers to their store. Another technique is “selling happiness”, not literally selling happiness though. Consumers today like to buy what makes them happy and what is convenient for their own personal being. So therefore advertisers say, “If you buy this, it will make you happy”. Generally, not saying those exact words, but following along the lines of making the consumers believe is what at hand, will do so.

Ads we walk by, choose to ignore, or don’t grab are attention are prime examples of “bad ads” or even “ugly ads”. We see them constantly but tend to ignore them, simply because they don’t catch our eye. As an advertiser this isn’t considered good, it means they failed their job.

 

Portraying an image

Society/media

Do you have perfect skin? Are you skinny or considered smart? Stating at a young age, society portrays an image for girls and guys to live up to. If you don’t look, think, or act a certain way, your not smart, attractive, or normal. You can no longer be yourself without the judgment of others. We’ve all been told as children what we should look like and what our futures should hold. Yet people wonder why teens have such poor self esteems.

Appearance

“We are never happy with what we look like, we’ll always want what we can’t have” – Michele Hawley. This is because everywhere we look in media, we see perfection. For example, in magazines, tv, and even places as simple as grocery stores. When you think of beautiful, what comes to mind? For me, media has painted an image of what beautiful is considered. Starting off with one of the biggest problems in todays society, weight. We are constantly being told to lose weight because if we do so, our lives we significantly be better in some way. You rarely see being curvy or thick as “beautiful” in media. The next thing is how you present yourself. The way you dress automatically reflects who you are as a person or so media wants you to think. If you don’t dress a certain way, as in band names, your different. Unique is no longer special.

Not only does media affect girls but also guys. Boy/men from ages 13-25 (roughly), are suppose to be physically fit, and tall, dark and handsome. “Media has portrayed an image for men to look perfect, almost as if we were from a magazine. And if we look like that way, then we will get the perfect girl” – anonymous. It’s sad to say this is what the world has come and hopefully one day this will change. “What you do, the way you think, makes you beautiful.” – Scott Westerfeld, Uglies