Author: Liby Navarro

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Faculty Faculty Research International Advertising Professional Development Research

New Research on Virtual Influencers by Dr. Xie

 

Dr. Quan Xie has conducted new research on “Prosocial Campaigns With Virtual Influencers: Stories, Messages, and Beyond” alongside Eunjin Kim, Joo-Wha Hong, and Hye Min Kim.

How can virtual influencers be used to promote prosocial messages? In the digital age, virtual influencers (VIs) hold great potential to enhance prosocial campaigns. This research aims to identify effective strategies for using VIs to create a greater impact, build deeper connections with consumers, and drive meaningful social change. Specifically, it examines how VIs can promote socially responsible behaviors, such as raising awareness about cyberbullying. The study explores whether storytelling (narrative messaging) can make VIs more effective in delivering prosocial messages.

The study concentrates on the ways in which social media platforms have revolutionized the curation and diffusion of material. Influencers are leading the way in these changes, with Virtual Influencers (VIs) occupying a unique space in digital interaction. The use of virtual influencers (VIs) to encourage socially conscious behavior is examined in this research. By contrasting human-like (HVIs) and anime-like (AVIs) influencers, as well as narrative vs. non-narrative messaging approaches, it looks at how VIs can successfully transmit prosocial messages.

The research tested two types of VIs: one that looks human-like (human-like virtual influencers, HVIs) and another with an anime-style appearance (anime-like virtual influencers, AVIs), across two messaging styles—narrative (storytelling) and non-narrative (informational). Focusing on Gen Z and younger Millennials, the results showed that HVIs were more effective than AVIs in increasing support for the social cause and enhancing message credibility, especially when the message was non-narrative. However, when using a narrative style, this advantage of HVIs disappeared, with no significant difference in effectiveness between HVIs and AVIs in terms of message credibility and intent to support the cause. This study offers valuable insights for marketers and non- profit organizations on the effective use of VIs in disseminating prosocial messages.

In addition, the study highlights how look and narrative influence viewers understanding and reaction to prosocial messages from VIs, providing useful information for companies and marketers.

This research was presented in the annual 2024 Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) in August.

Read the full research article here.

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AAF AAF Dallas Awards and Projects Better Advertising. Better World. Competitions Professional Development Professional Organizations SMU Creative TAI Students

National Addy’s Awards brought to SMU!

Helena & Kailyn with their National ADDY Award

The American Advertising Federation (AAF) hosts the annual ADDY Awards, which are the biggest and most prestigious competition in the advertising business. The competition is divided into three levels: local, district, and national. The District 10 competition took place in Dallas, Texas, back in March. Acorns campaign by Maddie Otero and Morgan Martinez won SILVER; Fender had Helena Hargraves and Kailyn Sawhny win SILVER; Skout’s Honor Pet Odor Eliminator campaign earned Helena Hargraves win GOLD; and Truth Initiative’s campaign led by Spencer Hogan, Bella Mac and Allie Weinstein win GOLD. Every student who placed Gold or Silver in the district level advances to the national competition.

Early in May, the national competition winners were revealed, and later that month, in Salt Lake City, Utah, during the AAF ADMERICA Conference, awards were presented.

At the National ADDY Awards, Truth Initiative campaign by Spencer Hogan, Bella Mac and Allie Weinstein was recognized with a SILVER ADDY. Acorns by Maddie Otero and Morgan Martinez earned a SILVER National ADDY. Helena’s campaign for Skout’s Honor Pet Odor Eliminator took home the SILVER , while Helena’s and Kailyn’s campaign for Fender took home the GOLD National ADDY Award.

We are beyond thrilled that Spencer, Bella, Allie, Morgan, Maddie, Helena and Kailyn’s campaigns received national recognition and brought four National ADDY Awards to SMU!

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Professional Development

Celebrating Excellence: Dr. Carrie La Ferle Receives The Dallas Business Journal’s Women in Business Award

By Bella Cox and Liby Navarro

This Thursday, the Dallas Business Journal (DBJ) will host the Women in Business Awards. For 17 years, these awards have recognized women from diverse backgrounds for their exceptional leadership and impactful contributions to their industries and communities.

With over 250 nominees each year, the selection process is highly competitive. A panel of judges consisting of past women in business honorees helps make the selection alongside DBJ leaders. This year, Dr. Carrie La Ferle has been selected as one of the 27 esteemed women honored.

“I am honored to be selected as a recipient of the Dallas Business Journal’s (DBJ) Women in Business Awards. I love sharing the importance of culture for effective communication in advertising and marketing with the next generation, local & global organizations, and within the non-profit sphere. As a 2024 inductee to the Society of Culturally Intelligent (CQ) Fellows, I have had the opportunity to expand my knowledge in best practices in leadership across a broader range of cultures. Culture includes everyone, from national culture, to race and ethnicity, to gender and lifestyle, and even the homeless. Through my work with S.O.U.L. Church (soulchurch.org), a mobile church serving the Dallas homeless since 1995, we see the importance of learning about a culture to build trust and true understanding of needs, resulting in more heartfelt and effective outcomes. This award is an honor to receive as all the women receiving the DBJ’s Women in Business Award are absolute powerhouses in their respective disciplines and yet make time for giving back to the community. I look forward to seeing what each will continue to achieve in the future for themselves and for the betterment of Dallas and beyond.”

We are so proud of Dr. Carrie La Ferle for her accomplishment.  As the award celebrates women who are leaders in the fields across various industries — with Dr. La Ferle in Advertising. This prestigious award is given to influential women who go above and beyond in their business and community and who will continue to impact our business landscape for years to come.

 

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Better Advertising. Better World. Discovery Classes Engaged Learning Graduate Students International Advertising Masters in Advertising Program NYC Professional Development SMU Creative Student Perspectives TAI Alumni TAI Classes TAI Students Undergraduate Students

Creatives Take NYC

From April 25 to May 1, several of our students had the opportunity to tour and network with some of the world’s leading advertising companies during this year’s TAI creative NYC trip which serves as a discovery class. Dr. Mark Allen and Professor Willie Baronet planned and led graduate and undergraduate students in this unique immersive advertising experience.

“As always it was an inspiring and productive time in New York where we took our students to some of the best agencies in the world. Watching them meet our alums and seeing the amazing work they are producing is always a magical experience for me. This year we visited Anomaly, Ogilvy, Momentum, Walrus, NBC Universal, Kenneth Cole Studios, Translation and more!” – Willie Baronet

The first stop on the tour was Johannes Leonardo, a creative firm that encourages customer involvement on behalf of companies. TAI alum Tessa Conti gave us a tour of the distinctive JL church-style facility and updated us about her work with clients including Adidas, Amazon, and Kraft. Later on in the day, we went to Translation with Kaleb Mulugeta, a TAI graduate, and had breathtaking views of the Brooklyn Bridge. AdAge has named Translation the 2022 Agency of the Year and included it on their Agency A-List.

We began our Friday morning at Kenneth Cole Studios, where Maria Cuomo gave us a tour of the facility and shared some of Kenneth Cole’s advice. Despite being a fashion business, we learned about in-house advertising and the brand’s deliberate adherence to its identity. Amol Rana gave us a fascinating tour of Google and displayed some of his YouTube commercials. We had the opportunity to speak with several alumni for a Q&A session at the end of the week, during which we asked them questions regarding their post-college and professional lives and received some incredible advice.

The plan for the weekend was to visit Central Park, see shows on Broadway, and visit museums like the Whitney and MOMA in order to thoroughly immerse oneself in NYC life.

On Monday, we had a great start to the week by going to Momentum Worldwide, here they served us NY way. We learned everything there is to know about experimental advertising, which is the practice of leveraging technology to improve the human experience while creating memories for brands. Former TAI alumni Jordan Chlapecka and Allie Hartman talked about their experiences working with companies like Verizon, Nike, Coke, and AMEX. Next, we visited Ogilvy, where we met up with Helen Rieger and Morgan Hoff, two former SMU students. They were able to demonstrate several projects they had completed for Verizon, Nationwide, and Coca-Cola, but they also gave us advice on how to approach uncertain circumstances proactively when things could change unexpectedly. Deacon Webster’s Walrus was the final agency visit of the day, during which he explained his strategy of being calculating but yet humorous. We concluded Monday night with the senior dinner, where Willie and Mark gave inspirational speeches and many of us shed tears as our seniors begin a new chapter in their life.

On our last day, we began with a visit of the SNL and Jimmy Fallon sets at NBCUniversal. Michael Reidy, an SMU alum, welcomed us with breakfast before the panel discussion began. The panelists stressed that while our creativity will make us stand out, we must also enter this phase of our life with passion and resiliency. Eric Damassa led the final agency visit of the trip, which was Anomoly. Anomoly strives to cooperate with companies like eos, Ranch Water, and Obie that align with its mission. We concluded the trip with the Alumni Networking Event, where we had the chance to socialize with other alumni who live in the city and sing a few karaoke songs to round off our time together.

Overall, there are not enough words to describe our trip, so be sure to watch our reel on Instagram at @smu.advertising!