Youth Marketing: Comment by Graeme Barratt
Graeme Barratt, co-founder of youth marketing specialist, Primo Media, expresses his views on marketing to students as he prepares for this year’s Scot Campus Freshers Festival which will take place on 3 and 4 October 2008 in Glasgow's George Square.
Our experience tells us that students are inspired by creativity and respect originality: organisations that understand and implement this are far more likely to succeed than those who rely on tired stereotypes of how students live, eat, socialise and generally behave.
As a group, students aren't difficult to reach, but it requires work and research to reach them. Theoretically, students should be easy to target - they visit their place of study every (well, most) days; socialise in local venues; have free access to the internet; are networking on and offline every day; and consume more media than most groups.
There are many effective marketing channels available to businesses targeting students, covering the full range of media from newspapers and websites to exhibitions, social networking sites and even a dedicated student union TV portal. The avenues are abundant, but many companies simply communicate their messages in completely the wrong way.
The crux of the matter is that students don't simply disappear after Freshers' Week. All too often, organisations make the fundamental error of focusing their entire student marketing spend on Freshers' Week and then 'vanish' for the rest of the year (as far as their target market is concerned). This, as many companies have found to their cost, can be fatal.
Although the Freshers' Week period is undoubtedly important in conveying a business' message to new students, companies must make a concerted effort to target students throughout the year in order to create and consolidate brand loyalty and improve year-round brand awareness. Vanishing after Freshers' Week compromises this opportunity to make a long-lasting connection with the student market.
Like any other audience, students are drawn to companies with solid reputations. It is no coincidence that most of the top recognised student brands (such as Endsleigh and STA Travel) include those who have effectively, but more importantly, consistently, invested in their student marketing strategy over a long period of time.
According to several sources, the student market typically comprises approximately 40-50% of the highly sought-after youth market, but media aimed at students does not benefit from 40-50% of the business sector's youth marketing spend. Instead, it receives far less significant proportion whilst the rest is poured into mainstream media channels. For businesses looking to target the student market, this is a key issue to address as a matter of priority.
For more information on the Scot Campus fresher's fair go to www.scotcampus.com