Below are a collection of assignments and projects that I have completed at UNC at Chapel Hill.
Advertising Media
The Assignment: Pick a 2024 Super Bowl ad and conduct research via MRI Simmons and other online databases to develop a client background and persona for the target of the commercial. Then evaluate the effectiveness of the ad’s usage of the “5 rights” (target audience, media mix, exposure level, timing, and cost), the overall campaign, and the agency that created the ad.
My Approach: I picked Popeyes’ commercial created by McKinney because of personal interest in McKinney and their work. I conducted research on typical consumers of Popeyes via MRI Simmons to create a audience persona and background. I then used online sources to find information related to the commercial’s usage of the 5 rights.
The Work:
Account Planning
The Assignment: Choose any advertisement of your choice and create a “Get Who To By” brief that may have been the strategy behind the creative.
My Approach: I chose a commercial for North Carolina Education Lottery that I saw by chance. I had a suspicion that it was targeting young adults based on creative choices within the ad. I then did some quick research and found that there is actually a dip in lottery participation in younger generations. I then theorized that many young adults are unhappy with corporate grinds and crave a way out to financial freedom. This was based on social listening and social media content that I have consumed. I saw how this insight may have been addressed within the spot based on the creative choices. I then tinkered with word phrases and action words to try and create an inspiring brief for the hypothetical creatives.
The Work:
Get: Young adults
Who: Feel trapped in the 9-5 grind and long for a simpler life
To: Jump at the opportunity to play the lottery because it’s the golden ticket to the life of their dreams
By: Showing that winners never lose the joy and status they gained from the best decision of their lives
What I Learned: I really enjoyed this assignment and I have done similar thought practices on advertisements since this one for fun. My professor brought up another valid possible insight that young adults love to be a part of an elite club. I can also see this in the spot, and it shows the importance of keeping an open mind, there can always be more than one “good” or “right” answer. If you were involved in the creation of this ad, please reach out. I’d love to know if I was on track.
Advertising and Public Relations Research
The Assignment: Work with a group to gather primary and secondary research on consumer attitudes towards a specific industry. Write a report on your findings and detail how this can be used by a company within the business to guide their future business decisions.
Our Approach: We focused on the grocery store industry and looked at Gen Z’s attitude towards grocery stores. This included researching this segment’s brand loyalty, important qualities they value in their preferred stores, factors that influence where they shop, likes and dislikes of certain stores, etc. We evaluated secondary data from online databases to gain a broad understanding of the answers to these questions for the segment as a whole. We then created surveys and led a focus group consisting of our Gen Z peers to gain qualitative data. We analyzed all of this data to find an insight to help grocery stores reach Gen Z and keep their business moving forward.
What I Learned: I learned the importance of in-depth research free of confirmation bias to appropriately understand consumer behavior and attitudes. I really enjoyed analyzing the quantitative and qualitative data to find actionable and insightful forces behind why people shop where they shop, and how a store could use this to accomplish their business goals.
Advertising Creative
The Assignment: Work with a group to mock up an advertising campaign for Circular, a smart ring product.
Our Approach: We decided to launch a social campaign to maximize awareness, through creating comedic controversy. A key benefit for customers of smart rings is accurate sleep data to help you get better sleep. We created a fictional intern who would post ads that are clear rip offs of famous ads on the company’s socials. This would hypothetically create buzz as people notice the similarities and interact with the ads online. The company would then post a public apology, saying that their intern was sleep deprived but they have since given them their own smart ring. The result? The intern would then post original ads that shows the power of the smart ring’s ability to aid your sleep and maximize your potential.
The Work:
What I Learned: Although this campaign would be risky and there would need to be significant market and legal research to justify its launch, choosing a boldly creative strategy made this a very fun project to work on. Our boldness was appreciated by our classmates and professor, who all appreciated how unique and interesting it was. I learned that thinking outside of the box and being bold can help separate your work from the rest.
Introduction to Digital Storytelling
The Assignment: Interview a person of interest, film b-roll, and put together a short video to tell a compelling story.
My Approach: I have a friend who has done extraordinary work as an entrepreneur and started a popular restaurant near campus. I decided to first interview him to learn more about his experiences and then pick out an underlying theme to tell with b-roll and quotes. I ended with a story about a local entrepreneur who persevered through multiple challenges by focusing on his passion for business and connecting with his community.
The Work: