Marketing Commons^™

Beyond The Exit: Moma Design Store & The Extended Museum Experience, Anna C. Wershbale

Undergraduate Honors Theses

American art museum attendance soared following World War II as museums became popular education and entertainment destinations for the growing middle class. Shaped by the influence of 1980s Reaganomics and the effects of neoliberal funding policies, museum shops developed from small information desk ventures into a vital source of public relevance and financial sustainability. When given creative liberty and economic attention, the now standardized amenity presented the opportunity to sell institutional ethos. In light of neoliberal capitalism’s tendency to construe value primarily in economic terms, shops reveal how the art museum strategically assigns new meaning to its collection, mission, and …

Making Then Meaning, Ben Denzer

Masters Theses

This is an artist talk contained within a book. It is 816 pages and 49 minutes long. Closed captions run across the spreads. A video of this talk can be watched on bendenzer.com/making-then-meaning

At RISD, I’ve been prompted to expand the scope and tools of my practice and to reflect on questions of meaning in my work.

I spend my days making things, but I’ve never really had good answers to questions of why I make the things I make, or what their meaning is. I don’t think there are simple answers to these questions.

I think meaning comes from …

Battaglini Winery: Marketing Collateral Development & Rebranding, Lexi L. Battaglini

Graphic Communication

The Battaglini Winery is a small family-run winery located in Sonoma County. The winery has no existing brand guidelines and any marketing collateral in current use has outdated information and design elements. The purpose of this project is to provide the winery with cohesive and refreshed brand guidelines while using these guidelines to generate relevant marketing materials for consumers.

Moondoggie's Ad, Mia Horvath

Graphic Communication

I created a 2 minute ad for Moondoggies that defines the brands “attitude” as well as establishes its demographic, highlights the products they sell, and showcases the natural beauty of the region Moondoggies was founded in.

Understanding The Persuasive Attributes Of Twitch Advertisements: A Study On The Effects Of Current Advertisements And Sponsorships, Colleen Sharkey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The research in this study aims to investigate the effectiveness of Twitch’s current advertising option, which includes mid-roll, pre-roll, and sponsored streams. It will focus on usefulness of content, brand credibility, purchase intent, and streamer credibility. Twitch has seen a surge in growth and attention in recent years, with an average of 31 million daily visitors and 1.3 trillion minutes watched globally in 2021 alone (Twitch Sales, 2022). However, despite Twitch’s growing popularity as an entertainment and entrepreneurship platform, little research has been conducted on the impact of its advertising options on brand perception. This study seeks to address this …

Catholicism Online: How The Church Is Communicating In The Visual Field, Alexandra Barfield

Honors Theses

ABSTRACT

Given the rise and importance of social media in the last two decades, religious institutions, especially the Roman Catholic Church, have an important place online to fulfill their mission and belief of spreading the Gospel message. Communicating this message on social media and with contemporary marketing practices is an opportunity and a challenge for churches, Catholics, and apostolates alike. In this study, I analyze a variety of Catholic-related Instagram accounts and interview individuals involved in Church management and content creation. This primary research is prefaced with secondary research exploring the status of the Catholic Church in the United States, …

The Impact Of Instagram Usage On Body-Esteem In Young Women In College, Kirsten Etzinger

Honors Projects

Instagram as a platform is increasing in popularity, especially among young women. Young women may use Instagram to keep up with their peers, follow trends, or as a way to express themselves. However, it is evident that young women can be negatively affected by the content they are exposed to on Instagram. This study examines the impact that increased Instagram usage can have on body-esteem in young women in college by evaluating their degree of Instagram usage, motivation to use social media for body comparison, and feelings of body-esteem. An online survey was conducted with BGSU college-age female students and …

Best Practices For Social Media Branding, Allison Myers

Honors College Theses

Social media is a fast growing marketplace for businesses to advertise themselves to established and potential consumers. Each platform has different algorithms, demographics, and ways for users to interact and connect. Even with a constantly growing research field and course options around the subject, understanding the behaviors of viewers on each app can still be a tough guessing game. Therefore, I have used both research studies and online courses, to present a strategy with which to efficiently and effectively market one’s business for Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. I then present ways to understand the success of this and personal marketing …

The High Tide Inn Rebrand, Caroline Turnbull

Graphic Communication

For my Senior Project, I found a small Inn in Maine that was just purchased by a new owner. The previous owner of The High Tide Inn was very old and had owned the Inn for a long time, running on word of mouth and the quaint charm of the location. Their website was not a priority and had not been updated in decades. It was not mobile friendly, up to date, or easy to navigate. The logo reflects a charming sign on the property, but does not translate well digitally. In addition to this, there is no vector file …

Dunites Wine Company: Digital Redesign, Alexandra Messner

Graphic Communication

This project is a digital redesign for Dunites Wine Company, a small San Luis Obispo wine brand. By improving their website usability and consistency, Dunites Wine Co. can generate excitement and awareness about their brand. The end deliverables will include photography, refreshed branding, and an updated website.

Playing To Win: The Effects Of Implementing Gamification Strategies In Product Marketing, Sabrina Stone

CMC Senior Theses

Let’s play a game. What effect do you think video games have on twenty-first-century marketing? In this age defined by its nature of digitality, capturing the attention of consumers is an arduous competition. Through market segmentation, research, and the observable variables of consumer behavior, product marketing has turned to video games as a solution to appeal to younger demographics. Gamification is an increasingly applied product marketing strategy employed to increase favorable metrics. Of those key performance indicators (KPIs), boosted measures such as click-through rates, impressions, and engagement rates suggest that gamification is a strategic opportunity to persuade consumers to take …

Paid Advertising: Understanding How Ad Format And Visuals Impact Ad Link Clicks And Conversions, Samantha Ensinger

Honors Projects

Limited research exists that effectively describes what format of ads (photos, videos, graphics, or GIFs), receive the most link clicks, the most adds-to-cart, and the most conversions. There is even less research available that describes the extent to which the visual structure of advertisements, such as chosen colors, imagery, text, and duration impacts ad performance. This study sets out to address and help close this research gap by creating and testing multiple advertisements on Facebook and Instagram.

Converting Horizontal Media For Vertical Platforms, Eric A. Hernandez

Graphic Communication

Today, most media is viewed on mobile phones and seen on a vertical screen. There are very few methods for converting horizontal media into vertical media for vertical platforms. This manual shows new ways to redesign horizontal content so that it looks better on vertical displays; I imagine watching things like the Super Bowl or the The Grammys on TikTok or Instagram with a new broadcast design that is more attractive.

Visionaire Branding Company, Toni Joy Forsythe

Graphic Communication

It has been a goal of mine to one day launch my own branding and marketing agency, therefore this opportunity has allowed me to ideate what the agency would look like in terms of branding and business. I developed Visionaire Branding Company, a branding and marketing agency located in Central California. Creativity has always been at the forefront of my ambitions and Visionaire is a reflection of my passion for taking businesses to the next level and doing it with a vision.

Branding The Cal Poly Transfer Center, Ryann Joy Swift

Graphic Communication

The Cal Poly Transfer Center was established in 2020 in the midst of an ongoing pandemic; naturally, this led to the challenge of building recognition and engaging Transfer students with the center. As the first and only graphic designer, I saw an opportunity in creating the visual foundation for this organization, one that could be well understood and built upon by future designers. This is important as the Transfer Center is quite unique in its specific demographic of transfer students; they fall under an older age group and I want to create said foundation that reflects this; mature, professional, modern. …

Take Flight Music Festival Branding, Maxwell Bo Chen, Jake Oxenham

Graphic Communication

We created a branding and design campaign for the Take Flight music festival on campus. The project covered many aspects of event creation and marketing such as name, logo, content creation, social media, printed media, vendor outreach, and administration outreach. All these pieces had to work together to create a strong and cohesive brand image for this event which would help ensure a successful turnout and event overall.

Ramble: Travel Journal Application Concept, Christine Elizabeth Curulla

Graphic Communication

The purpose of this project is to provide an easier and more engaging way for study abroad students to document their experiences. I wanted to collect data on the effectiveness of student journaling while abroad, and identify ways to improve the process through a mobile application.

Ramble is a social app I designed that provides a new question or prompt each day to encourage more frequent, fun journaling while traveling, and connection with others at home and abroad. Ramble solves problems that accompany traditional journaling by making the journaling process more accessible and requiring less time from the user.

E-Commerce Brand Design And Website Prototyping, Ashley J. Tuliau

Graphic Communication

MJ Swim is an e-commerce brand and website concept with a focus on customizable products and individualized sizing. Most online swimwear companies follow a fast-fashion business model which prioritizes mass production and offers affordable prices. However, aside from the many environmental consequences of this, fast fashion leaves large disparities in clothing quality, sizing accuracy, and product uniqueness. My primary goal was to create a dynamic website that would be flexible across a variety of devices and allow for optimal product customization. My secondary goal was to create a strong and inclusive brand identity that would thrive in a solely online …

Branding In Motion: How Animation And Branding Intersect To Support Nonprofits In Need, Shannon M. Steed

University Honors Theses

Nonprofits often don’t receive the kind of attention needed to garner a wide audience. Especially during the pandemic when the world has largely gone online, it can be a challenge for many of these organizations to adapt to the fast-paced digital landscape. This is largely due to a lack of access to resources and modern design practices to create more community visibility. This thesis is an exploration of how thoughtful design can bring these nonprofit events a new life. I created design systems for two nonprofit events, each with a digitally-focused approach and a focus on deeply considering the audience. …

For The Kingdom, Jack Conway

Marketing Undergraduate Honors Theses

For The Kingdom is a tabletop board game that I have developed for my thesis. In my thesis, I would like to cover three areas that have been crucial to the development of the game- the guidebook created to support and facilitate the board game, the changes made due to player feedback and testing, and the potential paths to getting the game to the market. Before Talking about those three areas, however, I will first describe the games genre and a bit about my approach to developing it.

Small Town To The World Wide Web: Designing A Website For A Local Business, Madison Cozzens

Honors Projects

The Raspberry and The Rose is a small business in Medina, OH, and had a multitude of visual communication issues that needed to be solved. But what's an online presence without a website? "Small Town to the World Wide Web: Designing a Website for a Local Business" focuses on fulfilling a local business's need for a strong online presence. It dives into how a user's experience on the website can impact brand loyalty, foot traffic, and overall perception of a business. The ultimate goal of this project is to provide insight into how a non-e-commerce website can impact a business.

Tech-Sheet Infographics Designed For Tolosa Winery, Jennifer A. Craddock

Graphic Communication

Wineries produce thousands of wines that are individually altered by each growing season and conditions that Mother Nature presents, which vary year-by-year. From increased rainfall and fog conditions, to soil composition and vineyard proximity to the ocean, there are countless factors that go into each bottle’s unique taste and aroma. In order for consumers to understand the details of their wine they must know what aromas, growing conditions, and notes go into each bottle, hence the importance of having readily accessible “tech-sheets.”

For my senior project, I chose to revamp the informational tech sheets at Tolosa Winery during an 8-month …

Fashioning The Flapper: Clothing As A Catalyst For Social Change In 1920s America, Julia Wolffe

Honors Program Theses

Fashion has been a catalyst for social change throughout human history. Fashion in 1920s America in particular reflects society's rapidly evolving attitudes towards gender and race. Beginning with how corsetry heavily restricted women for nearly four hundred years up until the twentieth century, this thesis explores how clothing has acted as a tool for societal progression following World War I and Women's Suffrage and during the Jazz Age and The Harlem Renaissance. Specifically, this thesis examines how the influence of jazz music and dance that originated from Black American communities led to the creation of the flapper evening dress. The …

What Interactive Web Features Are Most Used, Travis Tyler

Experiential Learning Projects

The use of interactive features in websites has become common place on the internet. People use these tools to help navigate and understand the content related to that website. However, due the large variety of websites it can be tricky to understand what features are best to utilize based on the topic of your site. This paper seeks to address this issue by researching how users interact and utilized different features on different websites. Research is gathered via scholarly articles and direct data gathered from volunteers. This data shows users tend to favor more interactive tools to help with navigation, …

Fast Fashion From A Buddhist Perspective, Elizabeth Mclaughlin

HON499 projects

The connection between Buddhism and fast fashion is not immediately apparent, nor is it a particularly well-researched area. However, the topic of consumption underlies both topics, relating to each in markedly different ways. Buddhist precepts outline practices of mindful and sustainable consumption within limited means; fast fashion fosters consumption on a massive, global scale. The work of Ernst Friedrich Schumacher, a man with a career in economics that was aided by great concern for the survival and success of humankind, offers clarity to the conversation about Buddhism and fast fashion. He pioneered the field of Buddhist economics, which seeks to …

Artisan Tea Project Re-Brand, Alyssa J. Tong

Graphic Communication

Artisan Tea Project, a local cold brew tea pop-up in San Luis Obispo, aims to communicate the brand’s quality, simplicity, and creativity. The company is in need of design collateral that can best market the nuances of their product to target audiences, especially through digital means. The end result of the project is a fully re-branded company with a cohesive brand image that supports the company’s products, mission, and vision.

Digital Brand Identity Design From A User Experience Perspective, Isaiah Harwood

Undergraduate Honors Theses

As a graphic designer and as a creative in general, my interest has always been in the conceptualization and execution of brand identities. I am most comfortable as a designer when I am working in the realm of art direction, and most of my design heroes and inspirations are legendary art directors and designers like Paula Scher, Paul Rand, and Michael Bierut. Logo and wordmark design in particular are among my favorite aspects of design, and finding ways to creatively apply these foundational aspects of a brand to each stage of the user experience is exciting to me. The stages …

Beauty And Lifestyle Subscription Services: A Modern Retailing Format For The Vigilante Collaborative Consumption Consumer, Melisa Spilinek

Department of Textiles, Merchandising, and Fashion Design: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Advancements in technology and ease of use of online shopping via phone applications (apps) and subscription services have fundamentally changed how consumers shop. Now more than ever, consumers are turning to time-saving technological tools that are subscription services. Subscription services provide a multitude of benefits to consumers and contribute to collaborative consumption in nearly every product and service category from coffee to apparel. To investigate beauty and lifestyle subscription services and collaborative consumption this study will utilize a mixed methods convergent design to analyze user experience including price sensitivity, subscription service apps and ease of use. Anticipated contributions to the …

Influence Of Convenience, Time-Savings, Price, And Product Variety On Amazon Prime Members And Non-Prime Shoppers’ Online Apparel Purchase Intention, Md Rashaduzzaman

Department of Textiles, Merchandising, and Fashion Design: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The number of internet users and online shoppers in the United States has grown at an incredible rate over the past few decades. Greater convenience and availability of a wide assortment of apparel products at a cheaper price made online shopping very enticing to consumers. Amazon.com (Amazon) gained unprecedented popularity among consumers with its Amazon Prime program. Amazon’s retail revolutions changed consumer’s way of shopping and expectations. Both online and physical store retailers are facing tremendous pressure to fulfill that level of expectation. Thus, it is essential for retailers clearly understand the shopping expectations and preferences of Amazon Prime members …

Branding On A Budget: Marketing In The Nonprofit Sector, Nicholas Biere

Honors Projects

“Branding on a Budget: Marketing in the Nonprofit Sector” This service learning project combines academic research with experiential service learning. The purpose of this project was to create a strong brand for BeInstrumental, a nonprofit music education organization from Toledo, Ohio through the creation of a graphic branding plan. Principles of visual communication technology, graphic design, marketing strategies, branding, and graphic design are all implemented in this project.