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Jennifer jumped off the corporate ladder to start her own web-based company in 1996. With the help and endorsements of the nation's top universities, Experience has quickly grown to be the leader in the online student and alumni career services and recruiting industry, offering first-to-market solutions and superior services. Experience's web site now supports 3,800 universities, 100,000 employers and 3 million students and alumni.

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Care to Engage Caffeinated Collegiates? Experiential Marketing for the “Non-Fat, White Moccachino” Generation

Written on
May 16, 2006 
Author
Jennifer Floren  |
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Care to Engage Caffeinated Collegiates? Experiential Marketing for the “Non-Fat, White Moccachino” Generation

In one recent campaign, Experience worked with a loan consolidation firm to drive brand awareness and leads in the college market. Rather than pitch students on the virtue of their products and services, the company worked with us to develop a content-rich microsite dedicated to educating students on how to manage their money. By placing brand information in a resource students could use to make major life decisions, the company was perceived as a partner (providing informative and objective data), rather than yet another company pitching a product. As a result, the loan consolidation firm enjoyed unprecedented lead generation in the college market through this creative program.

Young adults demand that information be presented as contextual and educational and in entertaining formats, rather than in straight sales pitches.

There are three phases of experiential marketing. The first step is getting online, and creating the right context for your messages. Remember, no sales pitches: educational context is best. The second phase takes things up a notch by going where your consumers are, making it easier and entertaining for them. The third phase is where the emotional connection between consumer and brand is solidified. This is where the consumer develops an attachment that, in effect, makes them a brand ambassador for your product or service.

“Cappuccino” – Phase I
• Taking it online – create an interactive campaign college students will frequently visit and send their friends to. Humor is the best way to accomplish heavy traffic and return visits. Contests or promotions that leverage user-generated content are proven successes with this demographic, as is content that educates them on a specific topic or cause.
• Education — present your brand, products or services in an informative way, stressing the ways it will improve customers’ lives rather than focusing on arbitrary benefits or non-essential benefits.

“White-chocolate cappuccino” — Phase II
• Location — bring your brand to students on campus, online, and in store in a thoughtful and fun way that allows the consumer to experience the brand while experiencing something they enjoy.
• Events — consider presenting information in the context of a live concert, physical or academic challenge (i.e. video contests, bike races, etc.). This makes your content more memorable.

“Non-fat-low-whip-white-chocolate-no-froth-mochaccino” — Phase III
• Value — present your products and services in the context of how they should be used, so consumers realize they are more valuable than competitors and, more importantly, they take action to embrace your products and services.
• Viral —train students on your brand, products or services so they identify the brand as something they believe in. Engaging brand ambassadors and creating viral programs that will get students and grads to pass it along to friends works for both product-level messages or corporate messages.
• Cross-functional – Double the impact by mixing multiple functions, such as recruiting or testing/sampling with marketing efforts

So, what do you do now?
Whether it’s a global brand, tried and true consumer packaged goods or a new service you are promoting; experiential marketing will help you build brand loyalty with 18-24 year olds. By appealing to their senses now, you can make them your consumers for life.

Remember: successful programs for this demographic need to be as informative as they are entertaining. Don’t just tell them they need a mochaccino, guide them to make a connection with how much better the “non-fat-low-whip-white-chocolate-no-froth-mochaccino” makes them feel (vs. a regular cup of coffee) through creative, dynamic and interactive campaigns. Handing them something and hoping they like it doesn’t work, so design programs that get students up from their chairs, off their couches, and create a relationship with your brand that triggers 18-24 year olds to take action.

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(1) Experience, Inc. 2005 Work & Lifestyle Survey





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