Trendy Print Advertisers Are Going to School With Dorm-Decorating Collegians
Jennifer Ozaki has something in common with most college students: a tiny budget for decorating her digs. That’s why her off-campus apartment at USC is mostly decked with inexpensive black-and-white photos.
But earlier this month, when Ozaki and her roommate decided to spiff up the place, they didn’t just buy another cheap photograph--or even an old movie poster.
They bought an ad.
It is actually a poster of a print ad for high-fashion clothing designer Donna Karan. The two young women ordered it from a catalogue that was mailed to their home. “It doesn’t look like an advertisement,” explained Ozaki of the ad that shows a woman luxuriating in her bathtub. “I think of it more as a fine photograph.”
The often-eclectic art of decorating college student dorm rooms is taking a decidedly commercial twist. And marketers are behind it. Beside Donna Karan, marketers including Levi’s, Timberland and Coca-Cola are coaxing college students into buying copies of their print ads in poster form. Many posters are being sold in a new mail-order catalogue, Beyond the Wall. Its motto: “If you like the ad, you’ll love the poster.” And pay about $10 for it, to boot.
Beyond the Wall began distributing the catalogue for its posters this month on 80 college campuses, including such Southern California campuses such as USC, Pepperdine and UC Riverside. The catalogues--which have 23 posters for sale from 18 different advertisers--are usually inserted into college newspapers and sometimes mailed directly to students.
“We’re repositioning advertising as something artistic,” said Dennis Roche, co-founder of Beyond the Wall.
Marketers are still discovering the massive size and buying power of the nation’s college students--who number 7.5 million and possess an estimated $30 billion in annual buying power. Advertisers are keenly aware that one of the best times to attract future customers is when they are just leaving their homes and making their own buying decisions. That’s why credit card companies like Visa and American Express market so heavily on college campuses and why many magazines are willing to sell subscriptions at a loss simply to get college students to start buying them.
“College students are still forming product preferences,” explained Dave Stewart, marketing professor at USC. “Advertisers know that once preferences are formed, it’s very hard to get them to switch.”
What’s more, college students are notoriously hard to reach because they typically have limited spare time to read magazines and watch television. But with the poster ads, marketers have found a way to not only advertise to them--but to get the students to actually pay for the ads.
“As far as the kids are concerned, these are modern works of art,” said Irma Zandl, president of the New York youth-marketing firm, Xtreme. “Keep in mind, advertisers like Absolut and Calvin Klein use the very best photographers in the country.”
What’s more, the college students who order the ad posters--and hang them in their rooms--are making a strong statement about themselves, said Julie Edell, professor of marketing at Duke University. “It says, ‘Hey, this ad is neat enough that I want to be associated with it.’ ”
The concept of selling ad posters to college students was devised when one of the co-founders of Westport, Conn.-based Beyond the Wall was still a college student.
Two years ago, when Brian Gordon was a political science major at the University of Pennsylvania, he was always searching for things to hang on his fraternity’s walls. After one university basketball game, he ran off with a banner in the school gym that advertised ESPN network. “I remember thinking, ‘I wish I could buy one of these things.’ But since there was no place to buy it, I just took it.”
Today, he’s selling ad posters--via his company’s catalogue--for profit. “Most advertisers have never even thought of their ads as posters,” Gordon said.
Perhaps they should. Gordon, who met partner Dennis Roche while working in the marketing department at Procter & Gamble, recently surveyed 450 college students about their attitudes toward advertising. More than 70% of those responding said they often ripped ads out of magazines and hung them on their walls.
A surprising number of top marketers have bought in to the first Beyond the Wall catalogue. Pepsi, for example, is selling three different posters in the book--including one featuring its top “spokesjock,” basketball star Shaquille O’Neal.
“If you look at the psychology of college students, the only way to reach them is on their own terms,” said Amy Sherwood, a Pepsi spokeswoman. “Students view popular advertising as a creative expression.”
But there is a limit to this corporate commercialism. College students may be willing to purchase ad posters--but they generally want the ad messages to be very subtle. What’s more, just because students buy the ads, doesn’t mean they’ll buy the product. “I like the Donna Karan poster, but I’ll never buy her clothes,” said Hillary Jenks, who is Ozaki’s roommate at USC. “I can’t come close to affording them.”
Briefly . . .
The U.S. Coast Guard has contacted a number of West Coast agencies about handling its $3.5-million national ad account. . . . Veteran Los Angeles adman Paul Keye has opened Paul Keye & Partners with start-up client Century Council, a group run by alcoholic beverage manufacturers to promote responsible drinking. . . . Los Angeles agency Stein Robaire Helm has parted with client Clarion Car Audio of Gardena. . . . Creative Artists Agency has been asked to produce more Coca-Cola commercials. . . . The Western States Advertising Agencies Assn. has named Steve Hayden, chairman of BBDO/Los Angeles, as “1993 Leader of the Year.”. . . The National Assn. of Hispanic Publications will hold its national conference Jan. 27-30 at the Hanalei Hotel in San Diego. . . . Levi Strauss Co.’s “Levi’s for Women” campaign has been named the top ad campaign of 1993 by the trade publication Frohlinger’s Marketing Report.
College Marketing Maze
Marketers are eager to reach college students, but they have historically had a tough time figuring out how. While college students are desirable targets, advertisers find it’s hard to get their attention:
Why College Students Are Desirable Targets . . .
* More than 7.5 million 4-year-college undergraduates.
* More than $30 billion in buying power.
* More than $11 billion in discretionary income.
* Most college students are making purchasing decisions for the first time.
* Most college students are just starting to establish brand loyalty.
. . . But Tough to Reach
* They watch less TV than non-college students.
* They read fewer magazines than non-college students.
* They listen to less radio than non-college students.
* There are fewer ad vehicles available to reach them.
Sources: American Passage Media Corp.; Nielsen Media Research; Radio Advertising Bureau
