Wrap Up: The Power of College Students

After spending the semester writing about marketing to college students, I have discovered a lot about the topic. As I have known from the beginning, college students are a unique demographic with a ton of spending power. Brands are constantly trying to find new ways to market to them because of their intense spending habits. In addition to the amount of money spent, I think that brands and products choose to market to college students because they are aware of the new and current trends. They tend to know about certain things before others, such as new technology, clothing styles, and music. College students are comfortable with using the latest technology. They are obviously more informed than older generations, such as their parents and grandparents, and have the money and responsibility to purchase these things, unlike younger teens and kids. iPods, digital cameras, Google, and even AIM are all newer technologies that most college students are comfortable using and even rely on these things on a daily basis. While recognizing the power of college students, I have learned a variety of ways in which marketing to college students will be the most effective.

College students have busy schedules that are unlike the schedules of any other. Often times they are viewed as being nocturnal, sleeping as late as they can during the day and doing work or partying through the night. They go to classes during the week days and hang out with friends and do work during the week nights. On the weekend, they are busy socializing, partying, and experiencing the college lifestyle. Basically, college students are in their own world. For these reasons, companies have found that using traditional media is often ineffective when marketing to college students. They do not pay attention to media such as radio, newspapers, as well as many magazines and television stations. There are several magazines and television shows that reach a percentage of college students, but the advertisements have to be exceptional if they want students to notice them. College students have “their shows,” which are the television shows that they take a break to watch with their friends. Even if this might seem like a successful way to reach them, companies have to remember that commercial breaks will most likely consist of talking, eating, and not paying attention to the commercials. The ineffectiveness of utilizing traditional media to market to college students has been proven when college students are not purchasing the products. Therefore, this has led companies to discovering new and unique methods of advertising to this demographic.

By figuring out what grabs their attention, companies have originated new approaches when marketing to college students. Essentially, it’s all about creating a buzz on campus. Some brands have discovered how college students pay close attention to their peers. For example, in a blog entry about creating a buzz on campus, I talked about how Microsoft hired student representatives at Boston University to market their product, One-Note. The student reps wore t-shirts with a catchy slogan, handed out flyers, and struck up conversations with other students about the product. Whether students are hired to create the buzz or a buzz is created on its own, students pay close attention to their peers. When walking around a college campus, you’ll notice many of the girls wearing similar clothing, and you will see half the students on their cell phones or listening to their iPods. College students are observers. They notice what others are wearing, what they’re saying, and how they’re acting. Some brands even hire companies to help them create a buzz. Companies such as Mr. Youth and Alloy Media + Marketing specialize in creating a buzz among teens and college students. They use viral and guerilla marketing techniques in order to create a buzz and get a product or brand noticed among this demographic. Even though many college students strive to be different or non-conformists, they are all in this bubble, being bombarded by advertising because marketers know that they have a ton of spending power. In essence, it’s about finding a marketing method that works for a company’s product, but it needs to be new, exciting, and unlike anything else, if the company wants college students to notice it.

Another finding that I have noticed is that companies who aren’t sure how to market to college students are using college students to figure it out. Instead of hiring an advertising firm comprised of adults, companies such as GM and Gardenburger are approaching college students to find out how they can be reached effectively. This method can not only save a company money, but can actually help them reach the demographic. Whether holding a contest for advertising students or approaching a specific college or university, brands are finding various methods to this marketing tactic. Some of the companies offer a reward to the group or college that wins the contest, but for a college student studying advertising, the best reward is pride and being able to put that on a resume. Additionally, college students are coming up with some of the best ways for marketers to currently advertise. For example, it was a group of college students who invented the new “pixel advertising,” in which a company can buy pixels on a website to put a logo that links to their website. The popular college student social network, Facebook, was invented by a college student and advertisers are now looking at it for major advertising. The majority of college students belong to the Facebook and check it at least once a day, making it almost guaranteed that an advertisement will reach them.

My topic connected to what we have studied this semester in audience research because of our media plan project. It just so happened that the media plan topic was spring break, which is marketed to college students. My group had to market to college freshmen for their spring break experience. We chose to market Acapulco as the freshmen spring break destination for a variety of reasons, including that it has the overall spring break package experience that includes both day and night activities. We had to use traditional media for our campaign in 10 cities/markets, but chose our media carefully. For example, advertising on television shows that reach a teen/college student audience and picking websites that are heavily used by the demographic. The project related to my blog in how we had to devise a number of guerilla and viral marketing techniques in order to create a buzz about our product, Acapulco. With everything from a booth at college orientations, a car – wrapped as the “Beach Bug” that would make appearances and later be raffled off at a campus concert sponsored by spring break Acapulco, student reps giving away t-shirts, advertisements in pizza boxes, and bookmarks inserted into textbooks in campus bookstores are just a few of the techniques we chose to use. My blog actually helped me when deciding on marketing tactics for the project because I am now fully aware as to what methods work when advertising to college students. To wrap it up, if a company wants to market to college students, creating a buzz by finding new, entertaining, and interactive advertising approaches is the key to an effective campaign.