Now we all know about the nature of this industry,especially people like college students. The aim is to gather maximum users of a commodity, mostly done through non- personal messages which are often persuasive in nature about the superiority of the subject of the ad. Colleges are arguably the most active social hotspots in any locality. Be it in terms of people gossiping, or in terms of events and gatherings. And they are essentially very resistant to traditional advertising. And that is understandable
because they are in the stages where most of them are experiencing financial freedom for the first time, they remain open to new brands, and so when they look into choices, they are highly speculative too. So, it becomes very difficult for an enterprise to reach out to this market in a way that actually works, and posters and fliers are not always enough.
A student like this will always prefer a product which has been recommended personally by a friend or by someone within the community.Besides better prices, quality and services, friend recommendations are indeed the biggest drivers for brand switchovers. It is safe to say that in an environment like this, once a brand gains enough recognition that it’s being talked about, it will
spread quickly, because teenagers talk all the time. They need to gossip and relevant topics are always welcome. All one needs is to slip in the word, and rest will be taken care off.So, the best way then is to utilise college resources themselves for such purposes.
As a trend many Campus Ambassadors are now very common in many colleges. These are basically students which handle small tasks for a company within their own campus, like putting up posters and managing small events. Companies ranging from Facebook and Google to Adidas,and even IIT’s book@door are now spreading their reach across colleges through campus
ambassadors.Even student publications are excellent ways to start such discussions. College newspapers come
from within the college community and hence they are a trusted source for information, even advertisements.
Another way to benefit is using students to design ads through holding open contests or hiring student run ad agencies. Companies such as PepsiCo have had success with ad contests. In the past few years Doritos has been voted the best Super bowl ad by using fan made advertisements which show insight into what their customers want. The BYU Ad Lab is growing notoriety with major companies
as an excellent student run ad agency. These can be great ways to craft your message with students in mind. But one still has to keep in mind that these are students and not professional advertisers, you cannot ask them to run door to door and publicise
your product. It is highly unlikely that a student would be very willing to do that for a brand. While working in a start-up, a student naturally expects to be placed above a paid worker doing small mindless jobs. Draw a very clear line between what you can and what you can’t expect from your people. Also, if you are an early-stage start-up entrepreneur, before you advertise, it is
highly recommendable to hire a really great business development or salesperson to pound the pavement and talk to prospects. And if you’re hell-bent on growing awareness and generating sales early in your company’s lifecycle, spend your budgets on marketing and public relations, not paid advertising, you and your investors will be much better off for it in the long-run.
Entrepreneurship at IIT Delhi 