Student spending increases this year
March 5th, 2013 by NAM Youth Marketing Specialists
Marketingcharts.com compiled a statistical analysis that revealed an increase in college student discretionary spending. This year the figure is $405 billion, up 5% from last year’s $385 billion.
Student enrollment increased by 600,000 this year so this is part of the cause of the increased expenditure. But discretionary spending per student still increased from around $4000 last year to $5,559 this year.
Part of the market spending will come at the expense of tuition room, class materials, and board (non-discretionary spending). Last year $299 billion was spent on such spending, this year it is $285 billion.
A major portion of those extra expenditures will go to food. 1 in 3 college students are spending more on groceries. The analysis also reveals increased spending on entertainment, technology, and personal care services and products. More information
College Students Prefer Viewing their Media on Multiple Platforms
January 14th, 2013 by NAM Youth Marketing Specialists
Young viewers continue to watch a lot of videos on the internet. A Nielson report confirms that for 18-24 year olds the time spent amounts to an hour and a half each week. Half of the users use their smartphones while they are watching TV.
Compared to other demographics, video streaming makes up a large chunk of how college students spend their time – 18% of their time is spent watching streaming video, and the remaining time of 82% is spent watching television.
Other interesting statistics reveal that those students living at home as oppose to college dorms are more likely to own devices such as DVR and tablets and gaming consoles; aside from Cable TV which is marked at 98% and 96% respectively.
15% of college students own a tablet, but only 8% of those identifying themselves as “independent-household members” own one.
‘Gangnam Style’ artist does ad for Wonderful Pistachios
January 14th, 2013 by NAM Youth Marketing Specialists
The 30 second ad will be played during the Super Bowl featuring ‘Psy’ (Park Jae-sang). It will be played during the third quarter of the game. The ad will continue to play after the super bowl on other cable channels and prime-time TV.
The key to the strategy will be the combined effort of heavy ad efforts in addition to in store appearances of the brand.
“The key is that consumers see our ads, then ‘bump into’ the product when they’re in store,”.
Social media will also be employed to boost exposure for the ad, tapping into Facebook to give users a chance for a sweepstakes for a 12 month car lease for Mercedes Benz SLK 250 (which also happens to be the car that Psy drives).
The pistachio brand also asked YouTube stars to create parodies of the video once it’s been released.
The brand will also increase in store promotion efforts. Free-standing displays will be found in stores number 50 thousand.
For more detail: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/190728/psy-does-super-bowl-ad-for-wonderful-pistachios.html?edition=55344#axzz2HySidO5X
Search Engines versus Social Referrals: SEO and Social Channels
January 12th, 2013 by NAM Youth Marketing Specialists
In the early years of the internet finding information was achieved through link aggregators and tree guides. At some point came search engines with increasingly sophisticated search algorithms came along.
An additional way to reach consumers, however, came in the form of social referrals with the increasing use of services such as Facebook and Twitter. Social referrals of course is not new. Links have been shared with colleagues and friends since close to the beginning of when the internet went mainstream. These services have only made that process more prominent.
For instance, a person’s network connections have been considerably amplified through services like Facebook. Consider that a single link you post is received by 500 friends; as likes and shares are added on that link’s exposure is being magnified.
Here’s a sample of a statistic comparison between search engine and social referrals. As far as premium publisher sites go search represents 22%, and social referrals is close behind at 18%.
The trend with social referrals is expected to increase as Google recently shifted to make search referrals less transparent for publishers, in addition to an increase in the quality of social analytics.
Could Tumblr Replace Facebook?
January 12th, 2013 by NAM Youth Marketing Specialists
It turns out that more students in grade 10 use Tumblr than Facebook. 55% of kids aged 13-18 use Facebook, 61% of them used Tumblr. 22% use Twitter, and 21% use Instagram.
The question is whether Tumblr could replace Facebook. It is plausible given that both services share many similarities such as being image based, which is becoming increasingly so for Facebook which just acquired Instagram.
Smartphones of the Future Today – Brain Wave Technology
January 8th, 2013 by NAM Youth Marketing Specialists
Consumer Electronics show happens today where hundreds of companies will reveal their wares. The latest trend seems to be brainwave technology that detects “intent before movement”
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors are used to support phones that can produce various media content such as sport and education. These devices are being used by developers to create new technologies and a network of devices.
The future of smart phones will also be discussed, related to how when connected to the cloud, mobiles that connect to other devices such as TVs or car systems become even more intelligent.
Today apps are used by these apps may be replaced by more intelligent systems that use location, preferences, calendar events to create automatically generating content and services.
Eye tracking is another predicted technology that will grow more prominent, and brainwave technology is also said to become beneficial within five years.
Founders of InteraXon and innovators of Muse, will demonstrate how brain sensing technology can be used to help areas of entertainment, ADHD, stress management, fitness, gaming, overall health, studying.
Asking the right questions for your marketing campaign
January 8th, 2013 by NAM Youth Marketing Specialists
Listening is an important aspect of the marketing experience. It’s about figuring out what they want and how they want it. It’s important to remember who we marketers serve, they are people we know, our neighbors and friends.
UDOC deals with college students, a demographic with the shortest attention span but also the more developed radar for “BS”. UDOC specializes in communication before, during, and after. Below are some basic questions split up into three categories that we marketers ought to ask ourselves.
Pre-Event
How do we promote an experience in a way that compels?
How do we make use of social networks and up our web presence to engage with our audience?
During the Event
Does our brand provide enough opportunities for interaction with the consumer?
Do our brand relates activities inspire loyalty and purchasing intent for the consumer?
Post-Event
How do we continue communication with our client afterwards?
How do we offer a compelling experience that endures after the sale?
For the full list of questions check out the source: http://yourcampusconnection.udoncampus.com/2012/07/10/amplify-your-experiential-marketing-campaigns-by-asking-the-right-questions/
The New Way that College Conduct Student Admissions
January 4th, 2013 by NAM Youth Marketing Specialists
Our world is becoming more digitized and it’s important to take the good with the bad. Online presences are growing and becoming more significant, so it is important that we are aware of the kind of image we are projecting out to the world.
According to Us News & World Report more and more admission counsellors are using social media to give a back door checks on potential candidates. 24% reported to use social media as a research tool in this regard. The question is, how can students use social media to work for them and avoid having it backfire on them?
Students can of course make the things they don’t want to share with admission officers “private”. This can be done with party images or unconventional opinions. A rule of thumb question: Would you want your grandmother to see some of these things?
One strategy is to only make the photos public that represent who the student is in a positive light; anything that shows of your achievements, experiences, skills, are things that contribute to shedding a positive light on your brand.
Source: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/186128/the-new-college-try.html#axzz2H0Z19kY6
The tools that still work – Word of mouth advertising
January 4th, 2013 by NAM Youth Marketing Specialists
With the uprising of all the techy social media tactics to get the word out on your brand, it’s easy to forget that classic word of mouth still works. Here’s a refresher on some of those old concepts…
Postcards
Hotels used to give these away. They are easily sharable and often find a home on a fridge for months at a time.
Coupons
Coupons are great and can be used to initiate conversations and be used to leverage exciting events. Papa John’s once offered a deal for every touchdown the Redskins’ made. Similarly, the Gap offered discounts for shoppers who wore “I Voted” sticker during an election year.
Fan Clubs
Fan clubs can be made to bring people together who are passionate about your stuff. If you achieve such social hot points then you can create a lot of word of mouth.
Great Content
Recently RedBull employed this tactic by sponsoring Felix Baumgardner’s jump from space. Great content has always been a great thing for people to share. It doesn’t have to be as expensive an investment as RedBull’s. For instance, John Deere was successful at getting people to share with publishing farming tips in a publication. If people can learn from it then they’ll probably share it.
Very good word of mouth strategy used by Outback Steakhouse
January 2nd, 2013 by NAM Youth Marketing Specialists
Dan Holm and Ken Bot of Outback Steakhouse explained their strategy to achieving excellent word of mouth in a video. Every customer interaction counts. For instance, they surprised one of the patrons on their 40th birthday with 40 Outback gift cards, and this had some amazing results.
Here are some things they covered in their presentation:
-Customers who feel empowered will take action on behalf of the brand
-How no automated tool can be used to manage the relationships
-Servers should behave in a way that they would themselves would want to be treated if they were dining out
-How one customer by his own initiative filmed each of his give away and even made it to the local news
-Why surprise super gifts to super customers are so good (for instance, many people who received gift cards gave most of them away)
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