Field marketing to students

Guest article by Chris Johnstone, of the Campus Group. This piece originally appeared in the book Targeting Students: A Marketing Guide (2005)

Field Marketing is one of the fastest growing disciplines in the marketing industry so it is perhaps surprising that its precise definition still causes some confusion.

In a nutshell, it's about using people to communicate with consumers. As the Direct Marketing Association puts it: "Field Marketing is the provision of highly skilled and trained people to conduct brand-building strategic (long-term) or tactical (short-term) exercises on behalf of clients."

It encompasses a broad spectrum of activities from 'big bang' brand experience events and roadshows through to flyers and posters. Somewhere in the middle of all this are more technical services such as POS [point of sale] work, merchandising, auditing and mystery shopping. Outsourcing these activities enables clients to utilise the specialist staff employed by a field marketing agency in order to achieve specific goals and targets

Successful above-the-line marketing is fine for increasing brand awareness, but given that the average person is exposed to over 2,000 advertising messages and images a day, it's difficult to measure the impact your spend is generating.

Field marketing, on the other hand, is widely considered to be one of the most efficient and economical ways of re-enforcing brand positioning. It is measurable, quantifiable and perhaps most importantly, completely targetable. As long as the habits of human beings continue to be in the least bit predictable, field marketing will remain an important part of the marketing mix.

I still remember the first major field marketing campaign I came across while holidaying in Canada in the early 1990s, the Pepsi Taste Challenge. To this day I can remember everything about it, the taste obviously, but more importantly the friendliness of the staff, the thrill of the game and the rather naff (but to a 16 year- old, incredibly exotic) prizes that people were getting for taking part. I remember feeling pretty impressed that a big company was taking the time to come out and talk to me as a young consumer rather than shouting at me through the TV or via a massive billboard at the side of the road.

On the other hand I can't tell you much about Pepsi's above-the-line campaigns. I know that in the past they've used Michael Jackson and more recently Beyonce, Britney and the entire Real Madrid team. I couldn't recall them using Ray Charles, Fred Savage, The Rolling Stones or even the Spice Girls and I certainly couldn't describe the content of any of these adverts.

So how does this translate to the student market?
Student numbers across Europe have grown rapidly over recent years. In the UK 43 per cent of 18 to 24 year-olds now experience higher education and, despite the stereotype of a restrictive student budget, their spending power is estimated at £10 billion per year.

The majority of this market is concentrated in 150 or so large institutions around the UK. Each student remains in this single geographic area for three or four years of their lives. Their daily movements are planned and published in timetables. We know where they are, when they are there, what they consume and why.

In fact, student cities and campuses offer brands a near-perfect environment for successful field marketing but like everything else the success of the campaign will ultimately depend on the planning and execution and this is where many brands and their agencies go wrong.

Planning
Our position as an agency is to remain completely neutral when it comes to advising clients on the route to market. If field marketing is the way forward then we guide our clients in that direction but when an online or offline media campaign would be more effective then we advise them so. In this niche market I think we are quite unique in this regard.

We ask our clients a series of questions which helps us build up our
conclusions as to the most effective strategy.

1 What do you want to achieve?
2 What investment do you want to make?
3 What results do you expect?
4 How do we measure success?

Sales, an increased long term brand awareness, the launch of a new product, data capture, market research. All of these can be achieved through field marketing - but only if the answers to 2, 3 and 4 support them.

Successful brands invest in the student market. Long term strategy and long term consistent spend are vital. We can help our clients understand this market but they must be committed to it. If they do commit then the results can be phenomenal.

Some of the most successful and memorable student marketing campaigns of recent years have had been delivered predominantly through field marketing. These include the Orange Enjoy Music Tour, The KPMG Pods and the regular campaigns employed by The Times, Barclaycard, Lynx and O2. Any conversation with a student about marketing on campus will ultimately result in one or more of these campaigns coming up. They work for the students and they work for the brands involved. These brands invest in the student market and the result is that students feel empathy towards them.

I believe that brands should link their student campaigns to those running in other markets. At the same time however students should not feel that a national campaign has simply been rehashed for the student market. The effort of brands such as those mentioned has resulted in a level of expectation from students. They expect brands to have a 'student campaign' and expect to be an important target market for any self respecting brand.

Students are the ABC1 consumers of tomorrow. They spend now and worry about it later. They are an attractive proposition to any marketer and they know it! With this in mind, field marketing becomes an increasingly attractive proposition. The face-to-face nature of the marketing makes it feel personal and relevant. The flexibility of field marketing allows a national campaign to be adapted to the audience and the cost effectiveness of it makes investment in the student market a sensible business strategy. We've been working with The Times on its student campaigns for over four years and their field marketing campaigns remain an integral part of their overall marketing strategy. Their objectives are simple:

Data capture to build up a database of readers allowing them to interact with their audience in a more regular and effective manner;

Drive sales by offering students discount vouchers which allows this objective to be completely measurable;

Sampling to increase readership amongst students who wouldn't normally consider purchasing The Times;

Build empathy amongst students through regular contact and lots of freebies (from bottle openers to DVDs, books and chocolate).

They use their national campaign slogans to keep the campaign relevant but personalise it through the vouchers and goodie bags. The results are
consistent and excellent value for money.

Execution
We are firm believers in the use of local, unbiased student advice and
assistance in the planning stage and just as importantly, in the execution of any campaign.

We consider the students we employ (campus brand managers) as our insiders. The eyes, ears, hands, feet and voice of our clients on campus.

The debate over the use of campus brand managers has been rumbling on for a couple of years now and our position on this strategy is the same as everything else. If it is the most effective strategy for our client then we will use it.

There seems to be a common misconception that campus brand managers are all about trying to sell something to their friends, like some kind of student pyramid scheme but that is not the case. Most campaigns are designed to keep a constant level of brand awareness and insight between major activities such as fresher fairs or roadshows. This can be nothing more complex than a regular distribution of posters and flyers, carrying out market research and sourcing PR and other marketing opportunities. Make no mistake that campus brand managers can be extremely cost effective and measurable. The insight they give the client can be worth the investment alone.

Many of our campus brand manager campaigns are in the area of graduate recruitment, helping a recruiter get ahead of the game. With over 600 recognised graduate recruiters in the UK, competition is fierce and using students is an excellent way to gain a competitive advantage. It's also easily measurable by looking at the number of applications the company receives, or how many people show up to the on campus recruitment presentation. One of our clients employed a team of students covering their nine key target universities. Applications from these universities increased 400% in one year.

Another important point to make is that not all campus brand manager campaigns are long term, major projects. We have developed a national team of generalist student staff who work with us on a wide range of projects and take part in all field marketing campaigns we work on. Even if we are running a national roadshow we ensure our permanent staff are supported by our local student teams, who have the opportunity to work towards a Chartered Institute of Marketing qualification through their work on our campaigns.

Remember that field marketing is all about people, and students like to see their peers being integrated into any marketing campaign. It reassures them that the campaign has been thought about, that it will be relevant to them and that the brand cares enough about this audience to involve them in the execution of it.

We try to strike a balance between specifically trained, professional, full-time staff who move the equipment and marketing collateral around the country, and local student staff who use their local knowledge to improve our results on the day. It's an important balance as neither one extreme or the other would be as effective.

Involving the students' unions
Students' unions are another important piece of this puzzle. They are the gate keepers to the campus and collectively are the largest student media owner in the country. They offer a wide range of media and have come on leaps and bounds over the past few years in terms of commercial outlook and awareness.

The biggest challenge remains their fragmented nature. Each students' union marketing department is independent and therefore there is minimal
standardisation amongst them. Prices, the media on offer and even standards of reporting vary wildly and this is where agencies such as The Campus Group fit in well.

We offer a link between the 150 institutions we work with and our client. We offer one point of contact and consistent, high quality reporting to the client while bringing marketing spend they wouldn't be able to secure independently to the union.

Our independence is vital here also. Students' unions quite rightly encourage all spend to be put into their own media. That is after all their prerogative. But students' union media solutions are not always the best solution for a client. Sometimes a national campaign via university PC screensavers, situated in the university library, might be far more appropriate, but unfortunately no-one associated with a students' union would ever want to give that advice.

We work closely with the students' unions on our field marketing campaigns and would encourage everyone to do the same. Our events and tours for The Times, Shell, 3, Deloitte, Kingsmill and O2 have all taken place within the students' union. They have vital knowledge of locations and footfall and can add a lot of value to the campaign.

Some things to remember when working direct with a students' union:

It can be hard to get hold of people. They are usually small teams with lots of responsibilities which keep them out of their office. Get a mobile
number!

Bear in mind the bureaucracy and hierarchy that comes into play when dealing with a university. If you are trying to do something bespoke (especially if it is outside the union building) check and double check that all necessary permissions have been sought.

Make very clear what you expect with a service level agreement. Things like copies of mailings, photographic evidence and detailed reports should not be taken for granted.

Conclusions
Field marketing is ideal for the student market. The general benefits of this part of the marketing mix are accentuated by the nature of the student market.

Field Marketing campaigns are very well received by the student audience as they are direct, personal, tailored to the market and relevant to the audience.

The majority of campaigns we eventually recommend to clients involves a major element of field marketing. In most cases it will provide far more measurable, targeted and cost effective results than any other part of the marketing mix.

If you target students, make sure you are there for the long haul. Invest in the market and you will reap the rewards.

Never make assumptions about this exciting and dynamic audience. Things change quicker than you can ever imagine. Work with people who are involved with the audience on a day to day basis.

Involve students in everything you do. As well as being your audience they can become a vital part of the planning and execution of any campaign.

Work with both a specialist student marketing agency and the students' unions. Bringing the agency on board is often no more expensive than working direct with the students' unions but you will benefit greatly from one experienced point of contact.