Tactics for attracting the college crowd

Nation's Business, Dec, 1997 by Joshua Robin

College students make up a potentially lucrative market, particularly for small businesses near college campuses. According to Roper Starch Worldwide Inc., a market-research firm based in New York City, the college market has an estimated value of $96 billion a year.

Ian Leopold, president of Campus Concepts Inc., a Baltimore advertising firm that targets the 18-to-24 age group, offers these easy and relatively inexpensive suggestions for small firms seeking student customers:

* Tap into the campus lifestyle. Read the school newspaper, walk around the campus, and stay up-to-date on events at the university. Popular images and allusions in your advertising and store decor will draw students' attention.

* Sponsor college teams and clubs. Intramural sports are among the most popular extracurricular college activities. Leopold suggests putting your logo on team uniforms, distributing free samples of your product at games, and sponsoring tournaments.

* Gain exposure on the Internet. A restaurant, for example, could create its own World Wide Web site advertising its menu, specials, hours, and address. Enabling customers to order via the Internet is a plus.

* Evaluate your discount-coupon strategy. Coupons can work, but students will use them only if they are "real deals," Leopold says.

* Look into doing business directly with the college. For example, in Medford, Mass., four local, independent takeout restaurants signed an agreement last spring with Tutts University that allows students to charge their delivered meals to their college financial account, according to Patti Lee of Tufts Dining Services.

* Set up a table in the campus center or student union to market your products and services or simply gauge student interests.

* Hire a student representative to post signs, invite people to events you're sponsoring, or hand out fliers. Such workers are relatively inexpensive and can boost sales by putting a youthful face on your business.