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Cut Through To Today's Ever-Changing, Tech-Savvy Students

A One-Day Conference
18 March 2010, The Grange City Hotel, London
www.marketingtostudents.com  

 

08.30 Registration & Refreshments
09.00 Chair’s Opening Remarks

WHO ARE TODAY’S STUDENTS? UNDERSTAND TRENDS, SPEND & INCENTIVES & HARNESS THEIR IDEAS TO SHAPE YOUR BRAND

 

Trends & Ethics

09:15 From Trends To Ethics: Delve Into The Student Mindset & Shape Your Marketing Around The Drivers That Attract Students To Brands

•    Gain a deeper understanding of students: know how to approach them, empower them, and create a
win-win situation where what you offer is ‘that bit more’ than everyone else
•    What makes students feel connected to a brand and receptive to your message?
•    Do students choose brands based on popularity, or is it deeper than that? Are students attracted to an ethical slant, or companies than can offer something a bit different?

Stephen Greene, Chief Executive & Co-Founder
RockCorps
+ RockCorps student volunteers

Followed By: 3 Top Tips: Trends & Ethics – Condensed Session Overview

Are Students So Different?

10.00 Drive ‘Cult’ Products In The Student Marketplace By Tapping Into Young People As A Whole & Letting Your Product & Marketing Do The Talking
•    To what extent can you rely on word of mouth and peer trends to push your product in the fashion and trend-conscious student market?
•    Are students so different to young people? Do they buy the same things and read the same media? Can you target young people and still capture student spend, or do you need a specific student focus?
•    Identify how to effectively cultivate a ‘cult’ product and ensure your marketing really cuts through and speaks to your audiences

Marketing Guest Speaker To Be Confirmed

Followed By: 3 Top Tips: Cult Products – Condensed Session Overview

Idea Share

10:30 What Makes Students Tick?
Take a fresh look at what students look like; what they buy; what they like; and how they’re changing to check you’re on the right path with your approach to this market.

Incentives Focus

10:45 From Standard Discounts To Innovative Ideas, Explore The Relevance & Return Of Offering Incentives To Attract Students To Your Brand
•    Targeting the cash-conscious audience: are students reticent to spend? Do they consider discounts and freebies a right as a student?
•    What offers are most relevant nowadays, and which really draw students in? What innovative ways and tactics can you use to attract students to your brand?
•    Can you target students without incentives?

Andrew Bond, Creative Manager - Global Brands
VK Vodka Kick

Followed By: 3 Top Tips: Incentivise Students – Condensed Session Overview


11:05 Refreshments & Informal Networking

Younger Student Spotlight

11:35 Harness Student Spend & Loyalty: Get To Grips With Student Influences & Encourage Today’s Savvy Students To Part With Their Cash & Stick With Your Brand
•    Identify how to drive loyalty and engagement with students: are they loyal to buying brands or do they just buy what they want, as and when?
•    How much do younger students actually contribute and how much do their parents buy? Does this have an influence on what they buy? Who makes the decision, and who pays - and should you be influencing the parent?
•    Assess whether even younger student consumers are more savvy nowadays: do they engage with your brand marketing or identify marketing as something that’s just money-driven?

Rachel Snary, Head of Brand Development
Simple

Followed By: 3 Top Tips: Attract Loyalty – Condensed Session Overview

Crowdsourcing & WOM

12:05 Use Them, Don’t Confuse Them! Tap Into Your Most Powerful Idea Source: Let Students & Young People Innovate Concepts, Products & Ideas & Generate Powerful WOM
•    How can you get the most out of an outspoken market? If students and young people don’t like what you are doing, or have a better idea, how can you listen to them and tap into the things they really do like?
•    Crowdsourcing and co-creation: explore how brands can partner with engaged consumers to develop exciting innovations and concepts that deliver success and make your audiences really feel connected to the brand
•    Identify how you can harness WOM and student endorsements: benefit from the amount of youth and student purchasing decisions that are based on recommendations


Followed By: 3 Top Tips: Crowdsourcing Focus – Condensed Session Overview

REACH TODAY’S EVOLVING, DIGITAL STUDENTS: COMMUNICATE & CUT THROUGH USING THE CHANNELS STUDENTS REALLY TAP INTO

Students Speak Out

12.35 Students tell you the channels they use, how they buy, what brands should and shouldn’t do…it goes on. But they need something back! Bring your incentives/offers/discounts and give students something for their insight. They might even give some to their friends…


13:05 Lunch & Informal Networking

Media Frenzy Panel

14.15 Media Crackdown: What Works? What Doesn’t? Which Channels Do Students Use? From Traditional To Print & Mobile, Harness Relevant Channels To Target & Reach Today’s Students
•    From face-to-face to online, social media and mobile, which channels do students consume, and where should brands be? Identify the most effective channels for targeting and engaging with students
•    Is reaching students different to reaching young people in general? Does that fact that people are at college or uni open other avenues and media channels?
•    Which routes are the best ways to get your message across without it being too cluttered with everything else?
•    Is there still a valid case for joining the freshers bandwagon, or is the market saturated?
•    Explore means of effectively engaging students through the communication methods you have available, such as email and intranet, and examine whether it is essential to invest time and money in social networks

Panellists include:
Andrew Robertson, Head of Marketing
16-25 Railcard
Matt Locke, Commissioning Editor for Education
Channel 4
Paul Vaughan, Business Operations Director
Rugby Football Union
Simon Collinson, Marketing Director for Western Europe
Motorola

Resonate & Engage

14.45 You Know Which Channels To Use, But How Do You Communicate & Engage With Students? Ensure Messages Resonate With The Student Market, From Tone Of Voice To Content
•    How can you challenge old ways of marketing to students and do something that is current and fresh?
•    How do you communicate and connect in a way that actually means something to students? Make the language you use theirs, not yours
•    How can you (and should you) encourage and cultivate a 2-way conversation: what are the potential benefits or downfalls of this for you and your brand?


Followed By: 3 Top Tips: Communicate To Students – Condensed Session Overview


15.15 Powervote: Anonymously vote and compare your thoughts against your peers'.

 

15.25 Refreshments & Informal Networking Break

HARNESS, DON'T HIJACK, CHANNELS THAT TECH-SAVVY STUDENTS ARE INTO, FROM ONLINE TO MOBILE & TWITTER: DON’T JUMP ON THE BANDWAGON WITH NEW CHANNELS

Savvy Social Media

15.50 Break Down Social Media And Use It To Connect In A Way That Means Something To Students: Harness The Right Platform For Your Brand & Cleverly Cut Through With Relevant, Enticing Messages
•    Twitter? Facebook? YouTube? Decide whether social media is right for you, and which channel will cut through to your target market
•    It’s easy to jump on the bandwagon but you’ve got to get it right: engage and incentivise students rather than intruding on their online space
•    What are the limitations? What do students expect brands to talk about in the social space, and where would they expect brands to be talking about these things?
•    Harness and integrate social media as one part of your marketing campaign; make it something
that strengthens your marketing, rather than a standalone channel

Célia Pronto, Marketing Director
STA Travel

Followed By: 3 Top Tips: Social Media – Condensed Session Overview

Online Focus

16:20 How Can You Effectively Cut Through To Students Online?
•    Do students really buy or source information online? What do they look for online?
•    Use consumption insights to effectively target and capture the attention of students and young people online
•    At a time when students are aware of companies exploiting the power of online, ensure you are working creatively, not doing it for the sake of it


Followed By: 3 Top Tips: Cut Through Online – Condensed Session Overview

Mobile Snapshot

16.45 Is Mobile The Way Forward For Student Marketing?
•    Is mobile the next step to cutting through to students: amongst all the clutter online and in print, can you send a relevant, targeted message to mobiles that grabs people's attention?
•    What about iPhones; can you target the student market through the increased reach offered by smartphone applications?

Followed By: 3 Top Tips: Mobile Marketing – Condensed Session Overview


17:10 Chair’s Closing Remarks & Close Of Conference

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Speaker Confirmations & Changes

Please note that we arrange our conferences up to 6 months in advance and whilst our speakers agree to present at our conferences in good faith, sometimes as the date of the conference approaches, they are prevented from doing so for personal or business reasons.  We endeavour to find suitable replacement speakers from the same company in the first instance if possible, or of a similar calibre and experience (and subject matter), depending on the notice we have been given by the speaker.  We are passionate about the quality of our events and presentations and each speaker is carefully researched as a specialist in their field  - therefore often a direct replacement cannot be found in good time or in time for the replacement speaker themselves to prepare a quality presentation.  With the increasingly challenging market conditions facing us all, unfortunately we cannot guarantee any particular speaker or case study as our speakers themselves cannot guarantee their attendance to us.  Your understanding in this matter during these challenging times is much appreciated.

Speakers