1. ORIENTATION 2010
REVIEW
Marketing to students
– A Lost Art?

2. // WHAT DOES “STUDENT”
LOOK LIKE //
Students are a rather diverse bunch, despite media
(and some marketers’) attempts to reduce them to
stereotypes such as:
1.Couch-burning taxpayer funded bludgers;
2.Naïve left-wing wannabe activists; or
3.Tomorrow’s future leaders
Regardless of such misguided labels, there is little
doubt that students are a significant demographic,
particularly for marketers with an eye (or two) on the
youth market. The numbers, in media terms REACH,
speak for themselves…
Uni’s - 170,000 Tech’s - 197,000
60% = 18 – 24 34% = 18 – 24
102,000 67,000
Gen Y’s / Millennials Gen Y’s / Millennials
who we know The commercially
where they live ‘unloved’
and where they of the Tertiary
hang out Gen Ys
169,000 Captive Gen Y’ers

3. // WHAT DOES STUDENT
MARKETING LOOK LIKE //
The main banks cut a
significant and sometimes
solitary role when it came to
on-campus activity.
The BRANDSpanking team have been involved in
student marketing in some form for over a decade
and, with the exception of Otago (more on that
later), the commercial world seems to have
deserted this really powerful property.
Student marketing is NOT just about O’Week,
although some see it as peak time… If this is peak
time then this property could currently best be
describe as ‘roomy with huge potential’

4. // WHAT DOES GOOD STUDENT
MARKETING LOOK LIKE //
Whether it be because it was a two horse race for
nationwide presence, consistency and commitment to
the target audience, or because it was a decent
campaign, we are not sure but Westpac beats ASB to
the best on show award.
Reasons:
Nationwide campaign with consistent activity
Obvious investment with branded old vehicles, on-site
cool sign up process with funky technology and staff
numbers
Quality well trained promo staff (note – not bank staff)
Quality and lots of giveaways (Temp tattoo / Bottles of
Ginger Beer / Beer Mats)
Size matters, so does noise – they had both
SUMMARY: They took the campaign investment
seriously but had plenty of fun with the campaign
Yeah, they also had a good (but not original) offer ($40
giveaway) but that’s not the point……..

5. // OTHER GOOD STUDENT
MARKETING //
ASB – Consistent and ever present across all the
campuses. Great branding, although light on
noise and originality. However, best use of
media utilising adshels, magazines and online.
Studentlife – Coolest prize =
Branded Jandals in all sizes
Frucor and Coke. Two different approaches to
lunchtime integration with consumers – Otago’s
Frankly Sandwiches demonstrates a complete
integrated branding and functional alignment for
the ‘Frank’ brand whereas the similar exercise at
Auckland Uni with Coke seems more like a brand
maximisation and product sales exercise. Which is
more successful in terms of sales revenue however
would be interesting….

6. // HISTORICALLY SPEAKING.. //
..in the past not so long 2010…
ago…..
Orientation festivals go back further than most of our
memories and raucous, drunken behaviour was evident
then as it now….or not!
In recent years we’ve seen a ‘push back’, in part driven
by institutional responses to bad publicity generated by
events such as the Toga parade and Undie 500.
Conspicuous by its absence is the maverick behaviour
that brands once saved for this arena. This used to be
the place where brands could take their brand values
and push them to the limit.
Giving their agencies a chance to express themselves in
a confined environment made this property
appealing…right now O’Week has all the danger and
uniqueness of a school fete sausage sizzle.

7. // SO WHAT’S HAPPENED….//
The global economic downturn seems to get blamed for
everything but we’re going to bypass this excuse for the
apparent ‘downturn’ in student or tertiary marketing that
seems to have happened over the last 3 years.
The downturn started well before everyone had heard of
sub prime mortgages.
All present and active during
Two factors come to mind; Otago – Westpac / ASB / National
/ ANZ / BNZ / Bond and Bond /
Firstly, we got lazy! Back in the day student marketing Harvey Norman / Grabaseat /
R&R Sports / Mountain Dew /
was largely about O’Week. This in itself was flawed but it Mother Energy / Night and Day /
worked to a degree because lots of people got involved Student IT / Farmers Market /
Jesus / plus a plethora of local
and it was fun for everyone for 4 weeks. small businesses and churches /
Now, aside from banks and a bunch of Dunedin retailers,
the evidence of O’Week 2010 suggests that students
have escaped marketers collective consciousness.
Students are still on campus, they still spend the same (if
not more), they still want to have fun, and you won’t
earn their true friendship just by being on Facebook.
THERE IS A LACK OF CONVERSATION………..

8. // SO WHAT’S HAPPENED….//
Secondly, the experts got old (or distracted).
It’s as if the old guard of student and tertiary marketing
found proper jobs and moved in to grown up positions.
The Varsity crew, studentz team, old school StudentCard
gang, Cow TV's maverick approach, Lucid Magazine and
even some of the old crazy marketers grew up.
// WHAT HASN’T CHANGED ? //

9. THESE FELLAS ARE STUDENTS >….

10. THEY STILL BEHAVE AND DO THE SAME STUFF YOU DID….

11. // WHAT HASN’T CHANGED ? //
5 Hardcoded Youth
Communication Guidelines Facilitate Conversation – Being on
Facebook doesn’t mean you’re having
conversation, being authentic and
An Authentic Story – Why are you utilising Twitter / FB / Bebo is great but
talking to them, what’s your story. what’s your conversation about?
Westpac took the piss and gave away
$40 – simple story. The Captain Cook
Tavern uses a great byline “The place where your
Dad first made out with yer Mum” The story here Deliver Value – With real value comes
is heritage and that this pub is could be part of real trust, which leads to your brand
your history. being sought out and shared. Young
people can quickly see when you are
delivering meaning to their life and when you’re
not. Value doesn’t mean cheap, sure it helps but
Be Accessible – You turn up once a there's a lot more to it.
year with a good looking promo girl
and sod off before the Warehouse
start selling Easter eggs? The tertiary
year is 7 months in duration, not 4 weeks. They
are still there and love distraction. If you hooked Laugh. Seriously, have fun!
‘em during O’Week, how are you going reel in that
loyalty.

12. // SPECIAL MENTION //
UNITEC //Provided a very unique spin on Orientation Week festivities and managed to create a mini music
festival in West Auckland fully equipped with market stalls, games, beer tent / area and cool artists. Brands present
seemed to benefit from the festival atmosphere although the dark side of festivals with alcohol consumption and
pot smoking meant that the festivities became less commercially viable post 4pm and the scene became less
O’Week and more Westie festival…which is cool, to a point.
MAXX //Generated the biggest queue at Auckland, necessity overrides free stuff anyday!
CADBURY PICNIC //–Present at Unitec, what a set up, brilliant inflatable and so brand and product
relevant….would have looked great at BDO and the like.
CHRISTIANITY //–Recent reports out of the US say Gen Y is less religious than the previous Generation, would
be interested to explore this fact in NZ as across the country Jesus was pushed at a lot of campuses, very well.
Whether the queues for sausage sizzles, free jandals, welcoming couches with bearded friendly faces or guerilla
marketing techniques handing out Bibles worked in terms of recruitment or not is an interesting question but for
pure coverage and persistence both at O’Week and other summer festivals the marketing is certainly ON
THE COOK TAVERN //-Firstly for providing a decent beer after a country long O’Week tour but mostly for
maintaining what can now be coined “Old Skool” youth and student marketing values of authenticity, delivering
good value, facilitating engagement and having a bloody good laugh while doing it. Easy for a pub, yes, but the
marketing strategy, tone and execution, like Parachute, remain great examples regardless of the property.

13. // FINALLY//
Lastly, we are gauging interest in doing accompanied
immersions with clients. Brand Spanking will accompany
you and your management teams to University and Tech
Campuses / Retail / Music Festivals or other
environments along with a brand or company research
objective to capture youth thoughts and feelings
towards you and your brands. If you're interested, let us
know...it's an amazing way to interact with your target
market -we can set you up with all the tools you need
and give you a rare insight into your target market
For further Insights, Consultancy and Prompt Responses
to RFP’s across both Youthful Research and Interactive
Experiential Marketing or Speaking Engagements
Contact Spencer Willis 09 377 4110
spencer@brandspanking.co.nz
0276 628853