Want students to notice your brand?
…Get yourself a team of student ambassadors!
There are currently over 2 million students studying at University in the UK, the majority of whom arrive on campus every year, armed with a hefty student loan, hard-earned savings, and donations from parents to help cover the costs of textbooks, rent and other important items like alcohol and clothes. Students may have a reputation for being constantly broke, but in the eyes of a marketer, students possess a large amount of disposable income and have a lot of spare time, which makes them a very unique and attractive target for brands.
However, they’re not the easiest market to reach: many students are nocturnal and only surface around 6pm in time for dinner; whilst others spend their days typing up lecture notes in front of DVD box sets of The OC. Students are educated trend setters and opinion formers and are more likely to relate to their fellow peers and pay attention to word-of-mouth than traditional forms of advertising. Many brands have begun hiring existing students to act as ‘brand ambassadors’ – to go around their universities with promotional material and free samples – engaging and interacting with their fellow peers with the aim of increasing awareness, improving the brand’s image and in some cases, create instant sales.
The benefit of a having a student brand ambassador is that it enables brands to market directly to students either on campus or in their halls of residence. Brands such as Red Bull and Southern Comfort have been quick to hire students as brand ambassadors as they are deemed to be an enduring and influential form of promotion. In addition, having a brand ambassador is relatively low cost – in some cases students are paid in the form of free products or commission. In terms of measurement, the brand ambassador relays feedback back to the core brand and also conducts market research with students quickly and reliably – not only offering your brand a cost-effective marketing tool but also an opportunity to gain valuable insights from an influential target market.
