How to snare student shoppers

Flying the nest to start university is a life changing time. Aside from starting a degree in a new city alongside new drinking mates, for many people it’s the first time they’re well and truly in charge of how they spend the small amount of cash that funds their very existence.

And if their studying pays off, it’s also the start of a journey that will culminate in some of them becoming tomorrow’s big spenders. As Warehouse managing director Meg Lustman says: “They’re our customers of the future.” As Freshers’ Week gets under way, there is no better time to build brand awareness among the millions of students roaming the UK’s university campuses.

As yet, their spending power is unlikely to be high, but this is a customer group of high strategic significance. Lustman says: “It’s about making sure, in a competitive and noisy world full of big brands, that we are making the customer aware of the things that will be available to them in the future.”

What’s more, it’s a relatively easy time of life to capture potential customers’ imaginations. Any consumer going through a big change in living habits is likely to also change their shopping habits. And Elizabeth Bone, research manager at NUS Extra, part of the National Union of Students, says the habits formed at this time of life stick. “There’s evidence that habits formed at the moment of change endure much longer than habits formed outside those moments of change,” she says. “It’s a great point to get a brand embedded.”

Time for a tutorial

So how should retailers take advantage of this pivotal moment as students start to flex their buying power? Fashion retailers are often the biggest winners in the student market, but there are opportunities throughout the sector as students set up home and begin studying – with 7 million future customers in the student market, there’s a lot to play for.

The trick is to keep marketing tailored – students like to know they’re being spoken to directly. “Students are very brand savvy and they know what they want,” says NUS Extra marketing and partnership manager Laura Stewart. “They want to be spoken to directly. They want retailers to reference who they are and make their communications personal.”

Topshop is one retailer well versed in producing targeted student communications – part of its most recent campaign involved the use of location-based smartphone app Scvngr. The retailer offers a 20% discount and the chance of a £500 shopping spree to students who win enough points by playing fashion-themed games on the app. It’s a good idea, says James Whatley, marketing director at social media agency 1000 Heads – students are often the group most likely to respond to games, discounts and offers. “Topshop has obviously done its research, and students will respond well on social networks if you work out where they are talking and get involved.”

One misconception is that students are hard to reach – they’re not, as long as you pick the right medium, says Whatley. Lustman agrees it’s all about staying on top of where students are flocking. “Advertising has a place but it’s really around finding the new media our future customer is interested in. She’s far more influenced by friends than what the brand is telling her, and new sites and social networks emerge all the time.”

Asos is, perhaps predictably, another shining example of good student marketing. Not only does it make its student discount clear on the home page, but it offers competitions aimed specifically at them – including its current contest to win a round-the-world trip. Stewart says providing extras for this demographic will help retailers catch their eye. “Increasing your discount around the time loans come in and running tailored competitions for students will all provide added value.” But it’s also a good idea not to focus communications too heavily on the beginning of the academic year when students are bombarded with messages – retailers who make sure they stay visible throughout the year could be more likely to stick in students’ minds and make an impact.

Failing the examination

Some of these tactics are well known to retailers that have been targeting the market for years, but life for young people is changing. Students and graduates have been some of the hardest hit by recent economic woes, and the cost of a degree continues to spiral. The changes in higher education and reduced opportunities in the job market are producing a generation of resentful consumers whose expectations of the world are far greater than what it appears to offer them, according to Richard Madden, chief strategy officer at marketing agency Kitcatt Nohr Digitas. This sounds bleak, but it does in fact provide an opportunity for retailers to play the knight in shining armour role.

Madden says that against a backdrop of “universal disenfranchisement” among young people, graduates want “deeds, not words”. “A big retailer could do a lot for its image by doing, for instance, a very large scheme to help provide low-cost university accommodation for students doing internships during the summer whose parents don’t live in London.”

He adds that traditional marketing also doesn’t always work on them – instead, messages that subvert traditional communications methods and that almost make fun of corporate marketing tend to do well with young audiences.

Times are tough for students and any company that’s seen as being understanding and helpful – or at the very least, entertaining – could be rewarded with a generation’s worth of brownie points. But higher fees don’t necessarily mean student shopping habits are set to change drastically, according to student discount site StudentBeans.com. A spokesperson says: “They are increasingly interested in whether their degrees are value for money, and more of them might be doing part-time jobs or part-time studying. But usually, their disposable income and day-to-day spending habits have not actually changed.”

Now more than ever, retailers will do well to remember that students are a varied bunch – it is an increasingly diverse demographic as changing economic circumstances lead to behaviour shifts. Cynicism is on the rise as well. But students will always be an aspirational group and, notwithstanding the tweaks your approach will need every so often, they look set to continue to be a rich breeding ground for brand building and development.