BU504 - Integrated Marketing Communications Instructor: Michelle K. Bonny Southern States University Week 3 – Discussion Question Bruna Martins           As a consumer, do you believe yourself to be highly influenced by brand communication that effectively manages messages that are aimed at presenting product(s) as part of a desirable lifestyle? Also, from this perspective, do you agree with the statement in the article that, "You can buy what’s in the photo, but what you’re really hoping to purchase is access to that lifestyle"?  Explain your point of view as a consumer, with reference to your own use of, or experience with, social media platforms, such as Instagram, in which brand messages offer connections to an "ideal" or "dream" life.           As a consumer, I  believe I’m highly influenced by brand communication, specially on Instagram, because I’m always there, checking the news about my friends, famous people or products.           Instagram is a simple way to capture and share the world’s moments. You can follow your friends and family to see what they’re up to, and discover accounts from all over the world that are sharing things you love. There is over 500 million people on Instagram and they can express themselves by sharing all the moments of the day but is also a great tool for brand communication.           I totally agree with the statement in the article that says: "You can buy what’s in the photo, but what you’re really hoping to purchase is access to that lifestyle"?. I agree because Instagram make us feel like all the people in the world are enjoying their lives, make us feel like they are perfect and have a perfect life and that’s not true, so I think people buy what’s in the photo to feel a little bit like the person who is wearing or using the product, what is great to the brands, but not that good for the real people and real life. BU504 - BU504 Integrated Marketing Communications Instructor: Michelle K. Bonny Southern States University Week 1 – Discussion Question Bruna Martins My name is Bruna Spera Martins, I am 27 years old, I have a bachelor degree in Odontology and I already had some experiences studying abroad and working in the field. In 2013 I did an ESL program in San Diego-US, and I had great experiences over there. I really got to know the American culture and made American friends. That time I was 22 years old and I could notice how I got so much better as a person and how to deal with different type of things on my own. I started to study Odontology in 2010 in the Paulista University (UNIP) and while I was studying I did an internships in the field. My internship was as a dental hygienist in my family’s Dental Clinic. My job there was to see patients and help them with dental cleaning and whitening. After I had my internship experience, in 2013 I decided to study English to improve my skills and be able to do dental specific courses and programs. And it was in 2013 that I went to California, .

1. BU504 - Integrated Marketing Communications
Instructor: Michelle K. Bonny
Southern States University
Week 3 – Discussion Question
Bruna Martins
As a consumer, do you believe yourself to be highly
influenced by brand communication that effectively manages
messages that are aimed at presenting product(s) as part of a
desirable lifestyle? Also, from this perspective, do you agree
with the statement in the article that, "You can buy what’s in
the photo, but what you’re really hoping to purchase is access to
that lifestyle"? Explain your point of view as a consumer, with
reference to your own use of, or experience with, social media
platforms, such as Instagram, in which brand messages offer
connections to an "ideal" or "dream" life.
As a consumer, I believe I’m highly influenced by brand
communication, specially on Instagram, because I’m always
there, checking the news about my friends, famous people or
products.
Instagram is a simple way to capture and share the
world’s moments. You can follow your friends and family to see
what they’re up to, and discover accounts from all over the
world that are sharing things you love. There is over 500
million people on Instagram and they can express themselves by
sharing all the moments of the day but is also a great tool for
brand communication.
I totally agree with the statement in the article that
says: "You can buy what’s in the photo, but what you’re really
hoping to purchase is access to that lifestyle"?. I agree because
Instagram make us feel like all the people in the world are
enjoying their lives, make us feel like they are perfect and have
a perfect life and that’s not true, so I think people buy what’s in

2. the photo to feel a little bit like the person who is wearing or
using the product, what is great to the brands, but not that good
for the real people and real life.
BU504 - BU504 Integrated Marketing Communications
Instructor: Michelle K. Bonny
Southern States University
Week 1 – Discussion Question
Bruna Martins
My name is Bruna Spera Martins, I am 27 years old, I have a
bachelor degree in Odontology and I already had some
experiences studying abroad and working in the field.
In 2013 I did an ESL program in San Diego-US, and I had great
experiences over there. I really got to know the American
culture and made American friends. That time I was 22 years
old and I could notice how I got so much better as a person and
how to deal with different type of things on my own.
I started to study Odontology in 2010 in the Paulista University
(UNIP) and while I was studying I did an internships in the
field. My internship was as a dental hygienist in my family’s
Dental Clinic. My job there was to see patients and help them
with dental cleaning and whitening.
After I had my internship experience, in 2013 I decided to study
English to improve my skills and be able to do dental specific
courses and programs.
And it was in 2013 that I went to California, to do an ESL
program. It was great for me and to improve my English.
Besides the study, I met people from all over the world. Japan,
Germany, Italy, Spain, Chile, Paraguay and Australia. I could
see different cultures, how people negotiate, study, I could see
how people observe the same things from other perspectives. I
learned a lot.

3. After my experience in San Diego, I returned to my home
country to conclude my bachelor studies, in which I graduated
in 2015.
I decided to come back to San Diego in 2016 to have more
administration's knowledge.
I have never taken Business Classes before last year, so
everything is new to me.
I am really influenced by marketing and advertising and one of
the brands I have seen a lot is Fabletics, it is a store for workout
gear. Every time I look my social media I can see their
advertising.
I think that one target me because there is picture of real women
wearing their products. On these days is really hard to watch an
advertising with real people, because they usually use
photoshop and change the real face expressions and bodies of
the models.
Another brand I have seen today and I really like is Crap
Eyewear, I think I like them and it targets me for the same
reason as Fabletics, they use real people and they also have a lot
of unique sunglasses that you won’t find it in another store.
Please read the provided article: "9 Different Types of Brands".
In the article, the author explains that “Although two or three
brand types might seem relevant to your brand — and there’s
certainly overlap between them — you should identify a
primary one. Your primary brand type should be the one that
aligns best with your overarching purpose”.
WRITING PROMPT:
Identify the two or three brand types (choose from the content
of this article) that you would consider most relevant to the
product or service of your Summative Course Project, and then
explain which one you consider to be the primary brand type,
and discuss your reasoning.
In my opinion, the brand types that I would consider most

4. relevant to the product or service of your Summative Course
Project (“Imperfect Box”) are: Conscious, Innovative and Value
brand.
Billions of pounds of produce go to waste on farms every year,
often just because they don’t look the way that big retail stores
want them to. Instead of ending up on your dinner plate, these
"ugly" fruit & veggies are often left in the field, sent to become
animal feed, or sold at a significant loss to become processed
food.
Food is a terrible thing to waste. It’s bad for people and the
planet, and yet 40% of all the food produced in the US goes
uneaten. From farms to fridges, waste is a massive problem that
has infiltrated every level of our food system. It’s a problem we
can all play a role in solving.
Fact: 20 billion pounds of fruits and veggies go to waste on
farms every year, oftentimes because they don't live up to the
cosmetic standards of grocery stores.
Imperfect Box, is a box that you customize each week to get
exactly what you want. In the box there is vegetables and fruits
source directly from farms and you get your box delivered to
your home.
I believe that product is innovative, because it can makes a ruge
difference in our planet, although we should be buying and
consuming the “imperfect” veggies and fruits for a long time.

5. WEEK 6
WRITING PROMPT:
Consider the product/service/idea which you have selected for
your summative course project. Select FOUR of
the advertising/marketing options that are presented in those
chapters, which you believe would be the most effective
mediums for your product/service/idea, and explain your
reasoning.
1. Online Advertising
Online advertising or digital advertising as a form in which the
message is conveyed via the internet. For every website ads are
a major source of revenue. Advertising online has become very
popular in the last decade and has surpassed the expectations of
most of the advertising experts. 60% revenue of Google is
generated from ads and the same goes for Facebook.
Online advertising has become so effective that a particular ad
can be targeted to a specific person of specific age of a specific
location on a specific time. In terms of pricing advertising
online is very cheap compared to all other forms of advertising.
2. Television
Television has an extensive reach and advertising this way is
ideal if you cater to a large market in a large area. Television
advertisements have the advantage of sight, sound, movement
and colour to persuade a customer to buy from you. They are
particularly useful if you need to demonstrate how your product
or service works.
Events like the super bowl, international cricket games,
Olympics where the top attractions for advertisers to advertise
about their products..
Another form of television and infomercial. An infomercial is a
specially designed advertisement for information and awareness
of the public. The term information comes from the combination
of words information and commercial. Ads of almost all
products are shown on television. Although it is costly,
Television Ads are till date one of the best types of advertising
and have the most fantastic reach for a large audience.

6. 3. Outdoor and transit
There are many ways to advertise outside and on-the-go.
Outdoor billboards can be signs by the road or hoardings at
sport stadiums. Transit advertising can be posters on buses,
taxis and bicycles. Large billboards can get your message across
with a big impact. If the same customers pass your billboard
every day as they travel to work, you are likely to be the first
business they think of when they want to buy a product.
4. Product Placement
Product placement is called covert advertising wherein a
product is quietly embedded in the entertainment media. Most
of the times there is no mention of the product although the
audience sees the product. Movies are the major places where
product placement is done.
They could be a few TV shows where product placement has
been used but the effectiveness is observed more in movies than
TV shows.
Will Smith is seen playing with his Converse shoes in the movie
I Robot. Several brands of beer are advertised in How I met
your Mother. In popular shows like Family Guy, humorous
advertisements are placed all over the TV show like Red
Bull, Sony, Apple, Microsoft, Samsung and many more.
With so many people subscribing to Netflix and Amazon prime,
Product placement is increasingly being used and is one of the
popular Types of Advertising.
USER GENERATED CONTENTS
3

7. BU504 Integrated Marketing Communications
Instructor: Michelle K. Bonny
Southern States University
Week 4 – Discussion Question
Bruna Martins
Contents created by users such as drawings, visual
presentations images which are in most cases posted on the
internet and mostly in the social media platforms are known as
User Generated Contents (UGC). In the market fields UGC is
mostly created by customers for a company they embrace or are
loyal to (Alexandre, 2010). Users of the social media platforms
might get rewarded by the companies in which they promote
through the various advertisements they make for their
companies and firms. The companies tent to enjoy free
advertisement and publicity through this action by their fans
which act positively to their growth.
As a consumer I get exposed to UGC through online links and
specifically the social media platforms such facebook,
whatsapp, twitter among others. These advertisement tents catch
my eyes on the mentioned brand and I tent look at the
advertised content and get influenced to want to learn more
about the brand and the advertised company. As a consumer I
think that these advertisements are good as they expose what
the fans of the brand would want the brand to produce and also
help in building talents of the fans in coming up with good
creations on a certain brand (Ian, 2010). I have come across
advertised brands on the social media and in a few months
found them in the market and their quality was good. I am in the
opinion that UGC is a good advertisement method which will
make businesses and brands go to the next level of production
as the consumers are being involved. Brands should always
reward their fans for the promotion they receive as they do not
pay the fans for the advertisement of the brands.

8. References
Manh, Alexandre N. User Generated Content: Eine
Klassifikation der bisherigen Forschung. GRIN Verlag, 2010.
McDonald, Ian. User-generated Content: A Practical
Guide. 2010.
Thornham, Helen, and Simon Popple. Content Cultures:
Transformations of User Generated Content in Public Service
Broadcasting. I.B.Tauris, 2013.
BU504 Integrated Marketing Communications
Instructor: Michelle K. Bonny
Southern States University
Week 1 – Discussion Question
Bruna Martins
Pepsi’s brand identity has transformed over the years, but
primarily it has remained as a youthful brand which
empowers people to enjoy their youth. The external and internal
indicators of Brand Identity have been modified many times. Its
logo, trademark, etc have undergone many changes over time
but the distinct identity of Pepsi has been maintained. We also
see a consistency in brand positioning for Pepsi as a Youth
oriented brand.
Pepsi, is young, vibrant, and fun. Pepsi use celebrity
endorsements or modern music in their commercials what makes
the brand outgoing, fun, and energetic. These personalities
dictate everything from their marketing to their customer base.
Pepsi has always had a young target audience. Many of their ads
were historically targeted at teens and even pre-teens and are
injected with fun, sports and most often, music.
When Pepsi wasn’t using musical celebrities, humor was their
weapon of choice, again utilizing young kids in the ads.
Jhonson, J. (March 24th, 2011) “Pepsi vs Coke: The Power of a

9. Brand”. Retrieved from:
https://designshack.net/articles/graphics/pepsi-vs-coke-the-
power-of-a-brand/