As a student, many companies have tried and failed to reach
out to me in order to sell products they believe may benefit me.
I receive
dozens of marketing e-mails and leaflets per month, in addition to viewing numerous
billboards and adverts on campus or in the local area targeted at students. So
what works?
It’s quite simple- if a company isn’t able to relate to a young person from their first contact with them, they’re unlikely to be successful in engagement.
Your average student or young person spends hours a day on
their mobile phone or on the internet, where information is fast-paced and
easily accessible. I firmly believe that the best companies are actively using
these platforms to build upon their image. There are very few companies whose
image and brand equity are strong enough to invite custom without digital
marketing.
An exception to this rule are companies like Starbucks or
Apple, who have landed themselves a strong position in the everyday life and
culture of young people. Both Starbucks and Apple’s products are regularly
mentioned in films and throughout social media (Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram
to name a few) and the company has therefore become an icon of young popular
culture that will continue to appeal.
For other companies, company image simply needs to be relevant. The benefit of using or buying a product offered by a company needs
to be immediately obvious. A good example would be Virgin Media and their
student broadband packages, tailored to fit student housing contracts. Whilst
offering these products, Virgin Media appeal to young people by using
celebrities such as Usain Bolt in TV adverts. TV is obviously a solid medium in
which to appeal to young people, and Usain Bolt is admired by the younger
generation and considered ‘cool’. Virgin Media’s company image is consequently,
in my opinion, strong to young people.
It’s difficult to think of companies with bad company image
as, consequently, I don’t think about or engage with these types of companies. It’s
fairly safe to say that if you don’t have social media marketing in place, your
website is out of date, and the only marketing materials you’re producing are leaflets
(sometimes even e-shots) attention just won’t be grabbed.
Young people are used to having information delivered to
them in interesting ways that also allows them to understand the given message in
a matter of seconds. Anything that falls short will have a hard time connecting
with students.
For advice on your company image and how to strengthen it, give us a call on 01332 291141.
For advice on your company image and how to strengthen it, give us a call on 01332 291141.
