Category: Marketing

The thin line of dorms and marketing

(Written by Melody)
Here’s an idea, if you want to market a thought or product or business to college students: MARKET IN THE DORMS
WHY: because we’re almost ALWAYS there

Here’s the time percentages of where I, (the average college student…okay work with me here) spend my time:

15% - in class
05% - in the dining commons
10% - in the library
05% - doing something recreational (aka alcohol away from the dry dorms)
65% - IN DORMS

Alright so, give or take, the average college student spends 65% of their time in the dorms, whether it be in their room, in the hallway, in the elevators, in the bathroom, that’s ALOT of time.

So that’s Melody’s (college correspondent) hall, and no your eyes are not deceiving you, that IS in fact an Asian man with boobs.

Please note to accomplish dorm marketing: A problem many companies face is they are not allowed in the dorms. Oh my, what to do? Partner with a student group who are generally allowed to advertise/market stuff in the dorms. Or you can try to work with hall council (students who run the dorm activities). These are greats way to make your product/idea/service seem more legit and not face any legal issues from the campus.

Noah’s Ideas:

- I was an RA for 2 years at Berkeley and when there was free food for my residents they went nuts. So 2 possibilities are new restaurants/markets opening up near a college campus, give your stuff away and students will come. Secondly, for other companies, if you give a few free pizzas to the student group to share in the dorm it is easy to make your product noticeable by putting it next to the food.

- Another idea is to give your product out for free to someone in the student group to play with in their dorm. Most students rush to dorm rooms when they see a crowd lined outside the door. If some kid got a new Xbox 360, iPod, free movie or some other interesting product you can guarantee there will be “word of mouth” marketing if the product is cool.

Melody’s Ideas:

- First and FOREMOST, in a bathroom stall is THE place to advertise about whatever you want to advertise about. Seriously, I spend so much time reading in the bathroom and whenever there is some kind of flyer on the wall, whether it be about abortion or the growing mushroom populations at Berkeley, I will read it intently.

- Another great bathroom idea is flyer near the sinks, because as I’m counting to 50 Mississippi’s as I brush my teeth, I try to avert my attention to any “literary piece” I can find. While I’m washing my hands too. Oh! and BONUS IDEA: if you want to like spend the extra few cents to laminate your advertisement, showers are great reading vicinities as well!

- Obviously hallways or as I like to it, the Hall, is a great place since we’re always walking up and down them. My floor always has study sessions in the Hall and while I’m pretending to pay attention to whoever is reviewing I read the flyers on the walls.

- Also, a fun place to flyer is in elevators; I always find elevators so staid and boring. Maybe some highlighter-colored paper with some kooky, bold font would do the trick. I guarantee that you’ll have a handful of students reading.

A NOT-so-Grrrrreat idea is to slip flyers underneath people’s doors. Personally, when I find flyers in my dorm room without having asked for them, I must admit, I do get irked and I just throw them away. Same goes with mailboxes! Be courteous, yet creative. It’s HIGHLY appreciated.

So just follow the three C’s for dorm advertising:

1. Courtesy
2. Creativity
3. College-relativity

Lastly, as Shivani noted in the comments make sure this is your target market before proceeding with marketing to dorm students. Personally, I think these students start word of mouth wild fires. It is easy to spread things within the building and once 100-250 people know about something it is hard to keep quiet.

Shameless plug: HFG Consulting provides creative ways for companies to reach the college market. If you need help reaching them let us know, noah [a]t hfgconsulting.com