Sunday, April 22, 2012

Businesses Marketing on College Campuses



In this blog post I would like to talk about marketing on campus universities. While I was an undergraduate at UCLA, I noticed an incredible amount of various companies that marketed on campus. Whether it were by posting flyers all over campus, or having company tents with representatives set up along our “Bruin Walk,” companies always managed to find a way into the view of the tens of thousands of college students that walked through campus on a daily basis. During different seasons of the year, the marketing rush seemed to vary. It was definitely more prominent than others.
            I not only noticed the assortment of marketing strategies and presence on campus by various businesses, but I also observed student reactions.  Personally, being as busy as I was, all of the companies and offers etc… really began to become a blur after a while. Unless a company was online giving free burgers, like In & Out Burgers would do yearly, or free things like shirts or supplies, my attention was always easily distracted by my tasks at hand and business I needed to attend to. I saw this to be a reaction many of the students on campus had. If a company was offering something free, they were sure to gather the most attention, and in the end the most contract information from students.
An article called “Building a Buzz on campus” on Boston.com highlights that “College students have long been prime targets of corporate marketing because as they shop for themselves for the first time, they are poised to form brand loyalties.” This is very interesting. This train of thinking is used within the same realm of reasoning credit card companies’ use when marketing for college students’ attention. Really, all companies can be seen doing this. Companies push hard to gain the interest of the college generation for hopes they will gain lifelong customers. Living on my college campus, daily I was made to feel like I was a “prime” target.  “Building a Buzz on Campus,” also goes to highlight that marketers have their work cut out for them while on campuses because students really follow social media trends and also what their peers like primarily. I definitely agree that it is hard to really succeed at having someone try a product or join a group, etc… when being marketed to on campus unless the company relates to something the college student was previously drawn to or interested in, or perhaps deals with aiding their future aspirations in some way.



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