Competition is rife between restaurants hoping to dominate the student market. Wagamama had made the decision to turn away from the trend of using heavy discounting to attract customers. They were concerned this may put them at a disadvantage with their student customers and wanted to re-engage with students across the UK.
Approach:
Wagamama tasked this project to agency Albert who came to BAM to co-ordinate the campaign. Together we recognised the importance of experiential marketing in engaging with students and put together a combined social media and experiential campaign.
We took Wagamama on campus in a UK-wide road trip to 12 universities. Two students staffed the Wagamama vehicle serving noodles to other students across the UK and blogging simultaneously on social media.
Results:
During the four weeks after the campaign, student custom in the target outlets rose by more than 80%. Wagamama had over 30,000 active members on the Noodle Tour community and 800,000 views of their Facebook page.
Testimonial:
“Student custom in the target outlets rose by more than 80%. Wagamama had over 30,000 active members on the Noodle Tour community and 800,000 views of their Facebook page.” – Wagamama
Greggs national university marketing campaign
Following a successful trial in 2014 that saw Greggs attend nine Freshers’ Fairs, BAM and Greggs worked together to plan and carry out a nationwide Freshers’ Campaign attending 46 Freshers’ Fairs in 2015.
As part of the partnership, BAM planned and delivered a nationwide Freshers’ Fair tour handling all of the campaign logistics including event booking, recruiting and training talented promotional staff, as well as transporting an interactive set and thousands of goodies to each fair.
Approach
At each Freshers’ Fair students participated in an interactive game, either “Spin to Win” or “Lucky Lights”, for a chance to win prizes including free food vouchers and branded products such as thermos mugs, USBs and frisbees.
Visitors to the stand also picked up goody bags filled with freebies including the Greggs “Fill Me For Free” bag that can be taken to their local store to retrieve a choice of freshly baked food.
Results
The results generated a significant impact on footfall and purchases by students within the key target locations, with 30,000 student deals bought since the campaign.
Key Figures from 2015
46 Freshers’ Fairs attended, reaching from Dundee to Southampton, Cardiff to London
100,000 goody bags distributed
18,000 prizes given away
More than 24,000 emails collected
27 vans hired covering in excess of 3,500 Miles
More than 1,000 promotional staffing hours
20,000+ products redeemed
30,000+ student deals purchased since the tour
BAM is now working closely with Greggs on plans to expand the campaign for 2016.
TESTIMONIAL
BAM HAS BEEN VERY HELPFUL, THEY KNOW THEIR STUFF, THEY KNOW HOW THIS MARKET OPERATES AND THEY KNOW HOW ALL OF THE UNIVERSITIES DIFFER. IT’S IMPORTANT TO GET PROFESSIONAL SUPPORT IN MARKETS LIKE THIS AND WORKING ALONGSIDE THEM HAS MADE THE CAMPAIGN MORE EFFECTIVE, SO IT’S WORKED REALLY WELL!” ROGER WHITESIDE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, GREGGS
“BAM HAS BEEN REALLY HELPFUL WITH THE LOGISTICS AND PUTTING THE PROMOTIONAL TEAMS TOGETHER AS WELL AS BOOKING THE STALLS AND MAKING SURE WE’RE IN THE BEST PLACE AT EACH FAIR, WHICH HAS BEEN REALLY KEY TO THE CAMPAIGN.” DANIEL MACLUSKEY, STUDENT CAMPAIGN MANAGER, GREGGS
Double whammy for BAM at local awards
We’re proud to have reached the finals of the UK’s largest regional business awards – the Gloucestershire Echo and Gloucester Citizen Business Awards 2015.
Double whammy for BAM at local awards
BAM currently holds the title of Best Place to Work and is thrilled to have been named a finalist in this category for the second year running. The team is also a top challenger in the Marketing category, for its exceptional results-generating campaign for Hostelworld.
“This is fantastic recognition for the team,” says Tim Bodenham, Managing Director of BAM. “The culture at BAM is pretty special because of our exceptional people – they bring together a depth of skill and experience with real energy and dedication. We’re proud to have been acknowledged nationally as one of the UK’s best workplaces by the prestigious Great Place to Work® Institute UK 2014, and regionally as Best Place to Work in last year’s Gloucestershire Echo and Gloucester Citizen Business Awards.
“To be a finalist again is tremendous, and it’s even more exciting that we’re up for ‘the double’, with a hugely successful client project in the frame for an award.”
Recognised by industry peers as a finalist in the CIM Excellence Awards earlier this year, BAM’s work with Hostelworld, the world’s number one hostel booking website, supported the UK part of its global ‘Escape to the World’ campaign.
Including the launch of a fantastic competition to win three all-expenses-paid trips of a lifetime, BAM’s objectives were clear; to drive entries, collecting a minimum of 50,000 student email addresses, while increasing brand awareness and engagement among the student market. This was achieved through delivering a creative and strategic multi-channel approach. The campaign was also selected as a finalist in the British Youth Travel Awards in December 2014.
Now in their 18th year of recognising the best of business in Gloucestershire, more than 130 entries were submitted for the Gloucestershire Echo and Gloucester Citizen Business Awards 2015. The winners will be announced at a black-tie ceremony on 1 October 2015 and the BAM team will be there in full force to enjoy the festivities.
Give us a call on 0845 1300 667 or drop us a line if you’d like to know more about how our ‘best in class’ team can put you in touch with an audience whose estimated annual spending power is more than £19.7 billion.
Mobile marketing: Targeting millennial’s
With 71% of 16-24 year olds needing to be around mobile phones at ‘all times’, the idea that mobile is a crucial marketing tool for reaching young people is not all that surprising. Marketers can prompt better brand perceptions just by creating a pleasant mobile experience. However, with a sea of digital content at students’ fingertips, marketers need to identify how to make their brand stand out from the thousands of others. We have seen how brands can successfully use social media to market to students, but how effective are other mobile features that could be utilised (or not)?
Apps
According to The Beans Group, 76 of the top 100 Youth brands have their own mobile app. With the popularity of smartphones, mobile apps are now a key marketing resource; almost a third of these top 100 brands have at least one app (even if they don’t have a mobile-optimised site). However, as easy as apps are to download, they are equally easy to neglect. Brand apps have two expectations to meet: direct material benefit or entertainment. Sometimes deemed unuseful, apps are first to be deleted when storage space runs out (that is, if they haven’t been immediately deleted already). Delivering an app-exclusive reward scheme will help your brand succeed in the student market. GBK’s loyalty program captures the two expectations successfully, with fun challenges and attractive student deals.
Caution: Voxburner and Mobile Marketing Magazine note that 67% of 16-24 find in-app adverts a huge turn-off – more annoying than buffering times – so be sure to avoid this. Push notifications also may be more irritating than useful, as the same study identified that 28% of young people always turn off push notifications and another 60% do so when they feel that notifications are excessive. Lastly, young people demonstrated a big resistance to paid apps; three in four are reluctant to spend money to download apps.
Mobile Shopping
Ensure your website is responsive and works on all devices, whether it runs on iOS or android, smartphone or tablet. Convenience is key to mobile shopping for young people. Mobile payments should function smoothly, as, according to Voxburner, 30% of UK youth planned to increase spending on digital content earlier this year. Although 39% of 18-24 year olds regularly shop online, almost a third of shoppers will quit at the checkout if their preferred payment methods are not offered – credit and debit card remain the most popular payment methods. Other top reasons for abandoning the purchase were technological malfunctions and being asked to register before checking out. While 68% of Britain’s 16-24s are far less concerned with sharing private data online, this can still stand as a barrier to purchase. Search filters should be used when laying out many products to ensure speedy browsing, maximising the overall satisfaction of your audience.
Mobileoptimised Websites
Ideal but not crucial. Only 53 out of the 100 top youth brands have optimised sites for the mobile user. While this number increases to nine out of ten among the top ten brands (including Youtube, Google, BBC, Wikipedia, and Amazon), these companies are mostly online-based businesses. Developing mobile optimised sites is not only about making them responsive to a smaller screen, but also how slick the user experience is, providing quick and easy navigation. Most crucial is functionality, as over half of mobile users will move on to a different website if it takes more than three seconds to load. Less content and fewer elaborate design elements can reduce load time, while key features sought by mobile users must be easy to locate. Unpleasant mobile experiences can damage brand perception, with most customers unlikely to return.
QR codes
Perhaps not. QR codes are meant to conveniently save the effort of manually typing a URL, but a Voxburner study has identified that 61% of 16-24s are aware of QR codes but are unlikely to use them. There are several reasons why QR codes are unappealing to the youth market. Firstly, users are reluctant when they don’t know where the code will take them; sure, QR codes save the effort of manually typing a long URL, but with URLs there is less room for security risks. Secondly, the process of pulling out their phone, loading the scanner app, then scanning the code seems a tad too long. QR codes can still be successful for coupons and vouchers, when your user is already engaged with the information and therefore willing to put in the effort. Otherwise, all the effort to open a website that offers no reward becomes simply a disappointment.
Handy apps and efficient mobile checkouts are the two top must-have tools to capture students’ attention. When marketing via mobile to students, the key points to adhere to are efficiency and relevance. As long as clear and beneficial messages are provided through the right channels with clear and direct benefits, students are more likely to stay actively engaged.
Linda, UCL (author)
BAM becomes CLV’s advertising agent
We are proud to announce that BAM Student Marketing have acquired rare Exclusive Partnership opportunities with student accommodation provider, Campus Living Villages, providing brands with the unique chance to exclusively connect with over 8,670 students across the UK and over 35,000 Worldwide.
Campus Living Villages (CLV), is a fast growing student accommodation provider who owns, manages or is developing over 35,000 beds across Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. In the UK, their growing portfolio features over 8,670 beds and includes 14 sites across the country with the biggest sites at the University of Bedfordshire (2,012 beds) and the University of Salford (2,458 beds).
Through our new Exclusive Partnership, brands will not only have access to market to students within their University halls of residence but also through packages where brands can exclusively market their product and services, excluding all direct competitors, to CLV’s growing student accommodation portfolio.
Right through the academic year there are some exceptional opportunities for brands to place their product directly into the hands of CLV’s residents. Unlike other opportunities and sites, CLV are where students reside, so brands can be even more certain to catch them.
In addition to the media exclusivity, brands will benefit from having their own bespoke media package created for them to communicate with the students within CLV.
For more information about advertising through CLV’s media options, to become an Exclusive Partner with CLV or the benefits and opportunities to advertising to students directly through their halls of residence, contact us today!
BAM wins UK’s student shopping events
Student marketing agency, BAM, are working with commercial property giants, Land Securities, to offer brands a platform to connect with more than 70,000 students.
The new partnership will give retailers the opportunity to target students across the UK through a series of student night shopping events at six of the most popular shopping centres including: St David’s (Cardiff), Trinity Leeds (Leeds), The Galleria (Hatfield), Gunwharf Quays (Portsmouth), Bluewater (Kent) and Buchanan Galleries (Glasgow).
Retailers will have the chance to get up close with students thanks to Land Securities’ strong relationship with the venues. Brands wishing to take advantage of these high student numbered events can find out more information, by downloading our Student Shopping Events Media Pack.
Tim Bodenham, Managing Director at BAM, says: “Previous events have seen in excess of 25,000 students attend St David’s shopping centre in just four hours, so we identified straight away that there is a fantastic opportunity to get retailers working with students.
“We are looking forward to working with Land Securities, bringing our knowledge of the student market to further develop an already established platform of student events at some of the UK’s leading shopping centres.’
BAM has a proven track record of forging lasting relationships with Students’ Unions and universities, and has gained 17 years worth of unique insight into the student market.
To find out more about the opportunities these events brings to student focused brands, please download our Student Shopping Events Media Pack.
5 tips for marketing to students on a budget
‘I’m broke’ – the phrase ringing across campuses nationwide. Although students are provided with around £3,600 per term, for most, budgeting is a constant struggle.
London is the most notorious for its pricey living standards. According to research by HSBC, University College London students spend around £315 per week on rent, bills, groceries, alcohol and bus passes – accommodation and food being the most prominent purse-drainers.
As a recent Voxburner study shows, 89% of 16-24 students think more highly of a brand if it offers student discounts. Bargain hunting is second nature to students; here are five tips for marketers to bear in mind:
1) Better sales and deals
Everybody loves a sale; the bigger the better. Students pay close attention to those magical percentage discount. Vouchers, however, do not always work. According to Voxburner, many young people just can’t afford ‘minimum spend’ conditions. Many of those surveyed commented on the inconvenience of vouchers with expiry dates or date-specific deals.
‘Black Friday’ has also become more popular among students due to Amazon’s great deals, which students ranked as their second most popular brand.
Simply having the ‘lowest price’ is the biggest purchase factor, applying to 44% of those surveyed and causing students to delay their shopping until the big sale days.
2) More advertising
According to Money Saving Expert, places like Yo! Sushi, McDonald’s and New Look hold promotions on certain days specifically aimed at students, but they’re not always advertised or made clear. If brands are offering one-day deals, vouchers or student-specific promotions, be sure to make your target audience aware. Social media is a great tool to help spread the word.
3) Offer online deals
As we become more dependent on technology, the internet and smartphones, online shopping has become more widely used by students. According to a Voxburner survey, 95% of 16-24s buy products online and due to apps, it’s incredibly easy to compare online prices with those in store. Many students will therefore ignore high street shopping sprees to save money later online.
4) Student Unions and the NUS
Student Unions and the NUS are key when advertising discounts to students. The NUS Extra Card is only £12 and brands associated with the card are more likely to be used by students. Voxburner Student Academy member Katie commented in a recent study that she buys toiletries ‘from Superdrug because of its Beautycard, and it’s ten percent off with an NUS card.’ Another member, Chloe, revealed that she uses Spotify Premium for the same reason, which is offered at just £4.99 with an NUS card.
5) Weekend deals
According to new YouGov research, takeaways are one of many deal types that have risen in popularity over the weekends – only 14% of students ‘sometimes/often eat takeaway food during the week’. Sales and deals over the weekends can help secure the interest of your student market – particularly food companies who are able to offer free delivery, half price for extra toppings or free drinks. Bigger portions will also earn you brownie points.
All in all, living on a loan is a challenge to many students, but by remembering these key tips brands can still reap the rewards. Big deals that are well advertised and well timed will ensure that even the most broke student will be more likely to buy your product or service.
For more information on how to effectively market to students, please feel free to contact us.
Author – Christina (UCL Student)
Wall Street Journal Student Marketing campaign
The Wall Street Journal has over 1,800 journalists (450 in Europe alone) working across the globe to deliver interesting and engaging content, covering all topical news from politics and economics, to sport and stardom. However, among the student market, there is a general misconception that the publication is only worthwhile reading if you are interested in the stock markets of America, making the Wall Street Journal, for many, a publication that falls to the bottom of the pile.
In the summer of 2014, the Wall Street Journal identified the UK student market as one they wanted to explore to generate new, long-term subscriptions. BAM has a track record of working with high profile publications to generate subscriptions, so was approached by the Wall Street Journal to help run a test campaign to determine whether there was demand for a student-specific deal on its digital package.
BAM was set the following campaign objectives:
To help overcome student misconceptions of the Wall Street Journal
To engage with students across the UK to raise brand awareness
To help determine whether there is demand for a student-specific digital package
Approach
Working closely with the Wall Street Journal, BAM helped to plan and execute a Freshers’ Fair tour across 10 locations with the aim to change student brand perceptions and encourage new sign-ups. BAM provided strategic advice and guidance on which universities and fairs were the best to attend; which had the highest footfall to leverage as much reach as possible and how to successfully engage with the students at each university location.
In addition to delivering all the logistical aspects of the campaign, BAM provided face-to-face sales specialists to help with the execution on-campus. BAM’s extended promotional team were equipped with free samples to help them attract students in the first instance. It was then down to the individuals to convince their peers that the Wall Street Journal should be their news source of choice.
During the campaign, the promotional team demonstrated their ability to harness the skills and techniques required to successfully sell subscriptions to students and they managed to consistently achieve their individual sales targets.
Results
Working with BAM’s on-site representatives, the overall campaign generated close to 300 new subscriptions. More importantly, BAM was able to generate real and meaningful interactions with students, providing the Wall Street Journal with insight into this vast youth market, while raising brand awareness and delivering the benefits that the Wall Street Journal can offer to students.
The results of the test campaign have established that there is in fact a demand for the Wall Street Journal within the student market, and plans are now under-way to grow the campaign in its second year.
Get students talking on social media
Getting anyone to talk about your brand on social media channels, let alone the intrepid student, is no easy feat. In general, people take to real-time online platforms like Twitter and Facebook to either moan at a brand about how they didn’t receive their unicorn in the post or to share some overly gushy compliment about how much they love their products (leaving you wondering how much they paid that person to say that).
From our 18 years in the industry, we’ve found that students are very conscientious, seek quality & value and feel that brands are hugely important. They’re at a key time in their lives when brands can make a real impression and generate long-term loyalty that’s invaluable once they’ve moved into the workforce. The relationships students create with brands at this stage can also have a huge impact on their future purchasing decisions.
So, we answer the holy grail of all questions; how do brands generate positive conversations and engage students with their social activity? Unfortunately there is no one-size-fits-all answer, but these top five tips should certainly get you on your way – the rest is up to your fans!
1. Have fun!
Between all the lectures and studying, students generally have the most fun. We can vouch for that ? So this fun needs to be consistently provided to them in all aspects of their day, be that when they frequent their student union or when they communicate with a brand on social media.
Holding competitions, launching games or sharing the odd picture of a shocking face-swap can help brands to create a hub for fun that will not only get students talking about them, but keep them coming back for more! This is something that we instill in nearly all our marketing campaigns and we’ve found that by engaging students in this way, brands are creating more meaningful and solid relationships.
2. Don’t assume
So, you’ve decided you’re going to create a targeted student campaign. You know students, right? Aged 18-24, love to go out all the time drinking and partying, dress in joggers and hoodies, eat pasta and pesto every day and do no work. Don’t even get us started on the sleeping all day. You’ve failed before you’ve even started.
Yes, while some may live this lifestyle, the reality is it’s probably a really small percentage. If you make assumptions about your target audience that turn out to be totally untrue, you’re risking your campaign flopping. You need to profile and target your audience properly, not just their behaviour.
3. Don’t just take, give back
Now, we know we’ve said it’s important for brands to have fun with students on social media, but there’s got to be a balance. It’s all well and good offering your audience the chance to win festival tickets or play a game, but by giving something back of genuine value you can take your relationship to the next level.
Offering useful insight or chances to gain work experience will also be seen as a good reason to follow or engage with a brand on social media.
4. Mobile first!
Believe it or not, millennials are now the biggest demographic. In 2015, they overtook baby boomers as a segment and there are now 80 million of them around the world. But don’t be overwhelmed; this actually creates a huge opportunity for brands! It means that the largest demographic, which happens to host a big chunk of your target market, are in your hands. And which channels are they most likely to be using? Social media, of course. And how will they be accessing these channels? Well, their mobiles or tablets!
Make sure that your content, apps, website, (actually, anything you do), are optimised for mobile, and that’s not just because of Google. Launching a Facebook app page when you want to engage users via mobile just won’t work because they only work on desktop. Creating a really visual microsite with tonnes of high quality pictures that takes ages to load on mobile won’t drum up link equity. Be sure to consider how content works across all devices and channels before you launch your campaign.
5. Always, always be transparent
Because if you’re not, you will get found out, and it will be game over…seriously! Students are a savvy bunch and will see through the nonsense; they’re also not shy to call you out on it either and with instant, public platforms it’s never been easier to name and shame. So although social media can be seen as a blessing, it’s also a place ripe for trolling and hating. Being open, honest and even owning up to your mistake (rather than trying to hide or talk your way out of it) is the best way to ensure that you’re not going to get a backlash of angry tweets.
If you would like to find out more about how we can help you create a solid social media strategy and content plan to reach students get in touch!
Online vs in-store: How today’s students shop
Students aren’t typically known for being big spenders. Often living on a tight budget of student loans, plus an average of £114.10 a week from parents, many are encouraged to think wisely about their purchases. That being said, Marketing Magazine’s 2013 Fresher’s Marketing Report, found that students aged 18-24 contribute around £20 billion to the UK economy, suggesting the student market is not one to be ignored. For those hoping to market their business to these young, price-conscious and tech-savvy consumers, it’s important to understand how they shop and why.
As a generation that is undoubtedly more in tune with technology, it’s not surprising that many 18-24 year olds find indulging in online shopping on their laptops, mobiles and tablets an easier alternative than heading to the high street. According to Voxburner, around 28% of young people (aged 16-24) buy the majority of their clothes online and via apps, naming ASOS, boohoo.com and New Look as some of their favourites. Charlotte Beasley, first-year medical student at the University of Bristol, finds online shopping much more convenient: “I definitely prefer doing my shopping online, especially since the shops are really far away from my accommodation. It’s much easier having purchases come to my door instead.”
However, despite the growing popularity of online shopping, it seems that the majority of students still take the traditional approach. In fact a recent UCAS Media survey found that from a poll of more than 18,000 students, 70% still choose the high street. Sarah Blake, who studies modern languages at University College London, thinks being able to try on clothes in particular is a big factor: “Whenever I order stuff online, it doesn’t seem to fit or look as nice as it did on the website.” Living in Central London also means that, unlike Charlotte, “it isn’t too much effort getting [to the shops] and back”. University of Cardiff student James Gilbert also prefers shopping in-store to see the items, admitting, “The only time I resort to online shopping is if it’s something I can’t get in store”.
That being said, with more brands offering student discounts through apps such as UNiDAYs which boasts more than 4.3 million users, as well as faster and cheaper delivery options, it’s safe to say that online shopping could become more and more tempting to students over the years. Earlier this year, Amazon introduced Amazon Student Prime, which offers free one-day delivery for all students for a 6-month trial period, meaning students can now get their textbooks cheaper and quicker. Similarly, ASOS, whose 10% student discount and regular sales help make it particularly popular, also offers free returns with most purchases, so customers can easily try things on and return them if they’re not quite right. “If ever I do shop online, it tends to be from ASOS because of their free returns policy,” says Sarah. What’s more, with it being much easier to compare prices and find cheaper alternatives online, 43% of 15-21s with smartphones admit to ‘show-rooming’, i.e. browsing items in-store only to buy them cheaper elsewhere online, according to the 2014 Youth Odyssey Report.
Still, it seems that along with price, convenience is also an important factor for today’s students, which both online and in-store shopping can offer, depending on the circumstances. London School of Economics student Louis Sangan, whose last big purchase of a pair of Bose headphones was from Amazon, sums it up nicely: “Online is less hassle and a lot better for price comparison; shops are good for getting things I need quickly. I tend to go 50/50.”
Even for a generation glued to their smartphones, the high street isn’t quite dead.
BAM wins UK’s student shopping events
