The Lounge are this year’s official partner for Haymarket’s Student Marketing Conference. We thought we’d try to summarise our decade of student marketing experience into nine principles for marketing more effectively to this audience. Here’s a summary. Click here to read more detail about each of them along with a few tips and examples.
1. Make the business case for students
2. Focus your spend
3. Immerse yourself in students’ worlds to understand their reality
4. Target the right students for your brand
5. Beware the culture of expectancy
6. Be the entertainer and experience provider
7. But don’t expect students to do too much
8. Don’t jump on the Facebook bandwagon without a strategy
9. Timing is everything
1. Make the business case for students
So why target students? The Lounge focuses on 11-35s, of which students are just one group, but students are the starting point for brands looking to nurture relationships with the high spenders of tomorrow. For many students, this is the first time they’ll be making independent buying decisions. They have access to a lot of money: from parents, the recently reinstated grants, loans, generous bank overdrafts, credit cards and from part time work.
So banish the stereotype of the impoverished, grungy student from your mind and think about the increasing numbers of female students satisfying their desire for designer gear by ‘wardrobe sharing’ with friends of similar shoe and dress sizes. This affords them the luxury of spending £400 on a pair of shoes or a designer handbag for half the cost. Yes, many do have this kind of money at their disposal and most don’t have any major ongoing expenses, direct debits, responsibilities, strings attached or concerns over debt...until after they leave uni.
It’s also pertinent to mention given the current economic climate that students are one of the only recession proof demographics. Whilst your marketing budget may be feeling the pinch, students’ wallets and purses won’t be.
2. Focus your spend
Why target students separately? Whilst they might consume some of the same media, their lifestyle and mindset is unique. They label themselves first and foremost as ‘students’; this is their ‘profession’. And they expect their status to be understood and addressed.
Never before or since will they live in such a highly concentrated bubble with like-minded individuals. Which makes targeting them highly efficient for brands. No other demographic lives with, socialises and spend most of their day with the same friends. This makes the creation of talking points to drive WOM a vital part of any student marketing mix. Their lifestyle affords them the freedom to socilise far more than any other group, which means less time in front of primetime TV and more opportunity for targeting them out-of-home; around university during daytime, at their social haunts at night, in their halls of residence and student houses, in their breakfast/dining halls and refectories. There are many opportunities to tap into their other interests through societies, sporting calendars, music, film and more. There are growing numbers of student specific media channels available as well as more bespoke programmes on campus and online.
3. Immerse yourself in students’ worlds so you can understand their reality
Most people who’ve been to uni fall into the trap of applying their own experiences to today’s students, even if that was 10 or 20 years ago. The classic student creative we come across is a mess of washing up, coffee stains and baked beans with a text book, lap top and mobile phone thrown in for good measure. Most students find this laughable and demeaning as they view themselves as fully fledged adults who’ve just gained true independence with all the responsibilities and liberties that come with it.
Today’s students are a more sophisticated, eclectic bunch who are discerning about brands and are looking to start relationships with those who take the time to understand them. The best way to understand the students of today...and tomorrow, is to spend time with them in their world, observing them and talking to them.
4. Target the ‘right’ students for your brand
Students are not a homogenous group. For many, university life presents an opportunity either to reinforce or reinvent their identity. But whilst the drive to be ‘individual’ is great, the desire to fit in, make friends and belong is greater. So they quickly morph into ‘tribes’ according to their lifestyles, interests and values. Whilst we won’t go into the different tribes here, (see the link to student tribes article in our December newsletter), examine which tribes hold most synergy with your brand and/or which is the most influential for your purposes and how you can tap into their particular interests and values to create a large group of brand advocates.
Similarly, it pays to work with key student influencers, instilling in them a passion for your brand. Red Bull was the first to formalise this with their iconic brand ambassador programme. As with Red Bull it’s vital to invest long-term in a programme such as this and so students come to respect and revere your brand’s ambassadors and strive to be selected.
Initial research and recruitment is key. Then build a deep involvement with your brand amongst your advocates. Give them the tools, a clear strategy and programme to roll out. And finally, put in place clear measurements. Integrate what you’re doing offline with online brand ambassadors, and you can transcend geographical limitations to reach students across the whole of the UK.
5. Beware the culture of expectancy
Students are amongst the most expectant of all young adults. They are so used to the raft of discounts and freebies, they’ve come to expect them with a ‘so what?’ attitude. Brands fuel this culture of expectancy with one-off gifts, never more so than in the banking sector. A few years ago, a £10 book or record token enticed students to open an account. Now, nothing less than an iPod or a five
year rail card will suffice. So, what does this mean for brands? Do you have to compete with ever increasing-value gifts? And do students even really appreciate them?The problem is, these one-off gifts are just that, one-offs. They have no long-term value. So, think about how you can build a relationship by providing ongoing benefits. Alternatively, how can you create valid experiences, which hold greater value and create a talking point, which brings us on to our next principle...
6. Be the entertainer and the experience provider
Students go to university to gain a degree. Well, that’s the official story. What’s more important everday is the lifestyle. Ask any student and they’ll tell you university is all about the experiences and the lifelong friendships formed. It’s these experiences that give them social currency and bonding moments with their newfound friends. It’s these shared experiences, which drive invaluable WOM. Brands who are the provider of those experiences will start a relationship with students, which can, in turn, become a lifelong and lucrative one.
7. But don’t expect students to ‘do’ too much
Hand in hand with expectancy comes the challenge of how to motivate and mobilise students, even when there’s a massive carrot being dangled in front of them. Think about how you can enhance their existing routines and experiences without asking them to step outside their normal routines or comfort zones.
You can also work around this culture of apathy by identifying the motivated few to bring the message to the unmotivated masses. Perhaps it’s that those few have something major to gain, perhaps it’s that they’re willing and able brand advocates, perhaps they enjoy the limelight and have an entrepreneurial spirit. Spend time identifying these individuals as investment in them upfront, will help you to reach the masses without asking them to ‘do’ anything they’re not already doing or something that feels alien to them.
A final thought on this challenge is a cross over with Principle 6. Tap into what’s important and you can win the hearts and minds of some faithful students. Invest in them in the long term and become a part of student culture as a ‘provider’ and you will become a natural part of daily student life, negating any worry for apathy and with the massive rewards that loyalty brings.
8. Don’t jump on the Facebook bandwagon without a strategy
Ok, so we all know that the majority of students are on Facebook (nearly 1m in fact). Facebook started in the UK as a uni networking site, and students have remained loyal. Not suprising then that for many brands, a Facebook profile is an automatic tick box. And it can be a fantastic medium through which to engage students, but only if there’s a point; a reason for students to engage with your brand. As we’ve already touched on, students are simultaneously expectant and apathetic, unless you find the hook through which to stir up their passion. This applies to online and SNS such as Facebook as much as the offline world.
Think about why students use Facebook - to chat with and follow their friends; it’s fondly nicknamed the ‘stalker network’. They don’t actively seek out brand profiles unless there’s a damned good reason. So, how can your brand credibly infiltrate students’ own profiles and how you can become an integral part of what they’re already doing and interested in? Here’s a couple of thoughts: use Facebook as a vehicle through which to communicate a valid and interesting message, not as an end in itself. Think about how your brand can add value to existing usage. Work hard to identify a few influential students who can be invited to experience your brand, and put in place the means for them to be able to become advocates to a far wider audience through Facebook.
9. Timing is everything
You might have the best idea, creative and communication strategy but if you don’t understand daily student life or the wider student calendar, both of which can vary by university, you could end up on an empty campus or trying to engage them when all they can think about is exams. So, do your research on reading weeks, term dates, exam timetables, popular student nights and other local nuances.
Another interesting conundrum is whether to target Fresher Fairs. We have many conversations with brands on this topic as for some, students equals Freshers. Hold on though. Do you only want to target first years? Do you have to speak to them at the very start of term? Would you rather spend less for greater reach, target all years and not compete with as many other brands for cut through? Your answers to these questions will determine whether or not you should target Freshers.
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