April 25, 2012

Let’s preface with our disclaimer that SUMM is a division of StudentUniverse, the leading student deals provider, so you may think we’re a little biased.

At SUMM, we’re always crafting new ways for brands to get attention from college students in big ways but student deals always rank high in our bag of tricks. Here’s the main reasons why:

It shows you care

College students today are of a generation that loves attention. They want to be recognized and heard. So, they love it when brands do something just for them. Hey, they are working hard in school and deserve some reward for it! Offering a student deal shows that your brand identifies with college students and relates to the point in their life where they are. Plus, it’s cool that they can get a better deal than their parents. Students appreciate this and reciprocate with purchases.

They spread the word

Students are routinely the early adopters and trendsetters of everything from fashion to technology. Look at classic examples like Facebook or even UGG Boots; students adopt the idea or style, pass it to other students and all of a sudden, bam, it’s everywhere you look. Today’s student has already been on Facebook for most or all of high school and is expanding their social networks even faster in college. Tapping into those networks can be very powerful for brands.

They will spend after college

College students are at the beginning of their customer life-cycle and many are making purchase decisions on their own for the first time. If you can hook them with deals while they are in college, they will get to know your brand and continue to choose it for decades. Plus, they will be making significantly more than their peers who are not getting a degree. They remember and appreciate the brands that accommodated them while on a budget in college and become brand loyal after they graduate.

They are a controlled group

Brands can be a little looser with the deals they make available to college students, knowing that only college students can use them. Quick plug: StudentUniverse uses a patented verification technology to prove that its members are currently enrolled college students. Additionally, the college population literally turns over 25% every year with seniors graduating and new freshmen coming in so there’s constantly a new, fresh audience to speak to. In essence, marketing to college students ensures brand longevity.

March 14, 2012

Paul Tedeschi, former Mr. Youth CEO, tapped to lead full service media and marketing agency aimed at college market

Waltham, Mass. (March 14, 2012) — StudentUniverse Media announced today a full range of services and offerings under a new brand: SUMM agency. SUMM is a premium provider of marketing expertise focused on the college market, offering strategy development, digital and online media, as well as guerilla and event marketing services. With an estimated $36 billion in spending during the 2010-2011 school year alone, college students represent one of the most valuable market segments for many brands.

After a year of meeting customer needs and identifying additional market trends, the agency is expanding from a digital marketing focus to a fully integrated marketing provider, serving as a creative partner for brands looking to reach the college market. From coordinating swag to breaking world records, SUMM has proven its ability to help brands engage and interact with students.

General Manager Paul Tedeschi brings more than 24 years of marketing experience to the agency, much of that which was focused on the college and youth demographic. Co-founder and former CEO of Mr. Youth, Tedeschi knows how to work with top brands such as Macy’s, Sony, Starbucks, Victoria’s Secret PINK and Microsoft to create campaigns that engage and activate college students.

“SUMM agency is filling a void in the market as the only agency solely focused on the college market. We understand students and know how to create events and campaigns that appeal to them,” said Tedeschi. “My experience in this market made it easy to recognize StudentUniverse, the leading provider of student deals, as an authentic advocate for its users. Working with the company allows us to advocate as well, pushing for the best deals by connecting students to the brands they know and love.”

Among partners who recognize the importance of targeting the college market is SoBe®. “SoBe is flavoring an important Millennial rite of passage through an integrated Spring Break program that resonates with students, a key target for the brand,” said Patty Montagno, Sr. Brand Manager, SoBe. “SoBe has partnered with SUMM Agency as the experts in scouting Spring Break destination hot spots where SoBe is engaging students through large-scale sampling and a grassroots approach.”

Under Tedeschi’s leadership, the SUMM team launched a campaign with the Panama City Beach Convention and Visitor’s Bureau to spur spring break tourism in Panama City. The team set forth to break a Guinness World Record for the largest bikini parade and beat out previous record holder Australia with an astonishing 450 bikini-clad participants, 93 more participants than the previous record. The parade garnered national attention demonstrating SUMM’s ability to create an event that connects brands with the college market to build buzz, engage students, and increase brand awareness.

SUMM is currently planning another big event: College Day on September 29, 2012 at Fenway Park. This will be the second annual College Day event which coincides with Fenway Park’s 100th anniversary. College Day is a one day event where college students are permitted free entry into Boston’s iconic Fenway Park and have the opportunity to discover and interact with brands while exploring one of Boston’s greatest attractions.

About SUMM Agency
SUMM agency is a nontraditional media and marketing agency that specializes in college marketing. SUMM brings brand college marketing goals to life through exceptional experiential and digital marketing strategies. The agency helps brands foster relationships with the adopters, the leaders, and the key to future market share; students. SUMM Agency is a division of StudentUniverse, the student deals leader for over a decade.

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Contact:
Greg Wind
Matter Communications for StudentUniverse
studentuniverse@matternow.com
401-393-9560

March 6, 2012

It’s official. Today, the Guinness World Record for the Largest Bikini Parade was broken in Panama City Beach, Florida. 450 bikini-clad women completed the parade, smashing the previous record of 357 set last year by Australia’s Gold Coast. With a lead of 93 over the previous record, Panama City Beach Spring-Breakers secured the title for the USA. The crowd of participants and onlookers broke into roaring chants of “USA! USA! USA!” as the paraders arrived back to the grandstand. Philip Robertson, official judicator and representative of The Guinness World Records made the official announcement that the record was broken.

The Bay County Tourist Development Council (TDC) hired SUMM Agency, formerly StudentUniverse Media, to produce the event. City officials, including the Mayor, were present at the event and proud to bring the title home to the USA. The bikini parade generated tremendous buzz in the news as well as social media. “It was a great event,” said Paul Tedeschi, General Manager of SUMM Agency. “In all my years of Spring Break Marketing, I think this was one of the most authentic activations that I’ve worked on. It really connected a lot of young people and gave some great exposure to the city. The Spring Breakers and locals told their friends and showed up in droves, excited to participate. It was a great use of event marketing to drive social buzz.”

SUMM Agency worked in collaboration with Collegiate Marketing Group to get the word out about the event. Sponsors included the Panama City Beach TDC, Gildan, and SUMM Agency’s parent brand StudentUniverse. StudentUniverse promoted the event and invited Spring Breakers to come out and win the title and hosted the official event on its Facebook page.

SUMM Agency has been present in Panama City Beach for the past week working with PepsiCo brand, SoBe, and its activation agency, Motive, to assist with a variety of Spring Break venue partnerships. SoBe representatives were present at the bikini parade event providing cold full-bottle samples of SoBe Lifewater.

In addition, SUMM Agency managed sponsorships at the Top of Gulf Resort in association with SandBlast, a live beach party including an event stage, a variety of daily activities, and brand sponsor activations. Sponsors of SandBlast, which continues for 3 weeks of Spring Break, include StudentUniverse, SoBe, Flashnotes, Uno Momento, and the National Volleyball League (NVL).

January 12, 2012

The Bay County Tourist Council (TDC) is gearing up for Spring Break 2012. TDC is working with StudentUniverse Media to attempt to break the record for the world’s largest bikini parade during this year’s Spring Break.

The record attempt is going to take place in Panama City Beach, Florida and more than 357 women will need to parade. The Guiness Book of World Records will be present and the new record will be official. In an interview with a News Herald writer Pat Kelly, Dan Rowe of the TDC said; “It’s a way for the students to come down and participate in a fun activity. It is something that is good clean fun.” [Read full story]

Paul Tedeschi, General Manager of StudentUniverse Media; “StudentUniverse Media will be at Panama City Beach this year and we are looking forward to some fun events. The parade will put the beach on the map and working with the TDC has been great.”

The current record holders and one of the world’s bikini capitals, Australia’s Gold Coast, are welcoming the competition and are prepared to fight for the title. Gold Coast Tourism boss Martin Winter said he welcomed the competition — it was good for business. “It just means we have to come out bigger and better. And if they beat us we’ll just have to do it again and beat them,” said Susie Douglas, Surfers’ Councillor and 2012 Mayoral Candidate. [Read full story]

In addition to the record attempt, StudentUniverse Media is managing Spring Break Marketing promotions for a handful of brand clients. “Expect to see some great sampling initiatives and fun activities on the beach,” Tedeschi said. Join us at the Top of the Gulf for Sand Blast presented by StudentUniverse, a live beach party featuring daily activities and entertainment.

July 15, 2011

Last night, StudentUniverse Media hosted the first Student Marketing Meet-Up in Boston. The event was a great success with marketing professionals who target students from all facets coming out for drinks and networking using hashtag #SUMM11. Marketing professionals and executives joined us at Sonsie from Edhance, CampusLIVE, Textbooks.com, MediaMate, Campus Entertainment, Boston.com Deals, Hill Holiday, Edvisors, United Planet, AMP Agency, TeenLife Media, 451 Marketing, 360 Public Relations, Ski.com, and of course, StudentUniverse.com.

We’d like to thank all those who joined us. We certainly learned a lot from all of you. There was a lot of great synergy in the room and we hope you all will have the opportunity to build on it. Boston is such a great hub for the student market and it was wonderful to be able to connect and share ideas and insights.

So what did you all think? Was this an event worth doing again? Please share your thoughts below.

June 20, 2011

In a time when the typical person is exposed to 5,000 advertisements per day, it’s hard to sort out which ones are relevant. Search engines remember your browsing history to try to give you results that are relevant to you and entire industries have been built on targeting users based on their purchase history. But let’s face it, ads are ads. What you really want is for someone you know and trust to recommend something to you; people that know you, have had real conversations with you, and have even met you for that matter! Word of mouth is by far the most powerful form of marketing. This is the reason that Bing is showing which of your Facebook friends ‘like’ links in their search results and the reason Google has invented the +1 button. But, we’re not all Bing or Google, are we?

Viral marketing refers to marketing that encourages word of mouth spreading of marketing messages. If you can get your audience excited about your message or properly incentivize them to share your message, the message “goes viral”. Viral marketing to students and youth can be extremely effective. They have a ton of friends and love sharing.

It’s all about the sweepstakes

Wait, so you want your users to do your job for you, effectively, and you want to give them what for it?! Offering students and youth a compelling reward for sharing your message is key. The good news is you don’t need to give something to everyone. You just need to give them a chance to win something awesome. That’s what sweepstakes are all about – entering to win a prize. Here’s the kicker though: you need to give them some control over their chances of winning that prize to motivate them to work for it. In fact, if a user has a chance of winning a prize, why would they want their friends entering to win it as well? That would only decrease their chances of winning, wouldn’t it?

Full disclosure: This is where we plug our services, but we think you’ll like them.

StudentUniverse has developed viral marketing software that rewards students and youth for sharing a sweepstakes with their friends by giving them additional entries into the sweepstakes. When sharing a sweepstakes can actually increase your chances of winning it, students and youth are incentivized to spread the word, and the sweepstakes goes viral.

Your marketing message spreads rapidly through the social graph. Relevant consumers learn about your brand from people they know and trust. Students and youth get excited about your brand and build an affinity towards it. And all the while, you’re gaining new leads.

Contact us today to get viral with your marketing!

June 16, 2011

Please join us for the first Student Marketing Meet-Up in Boston, MA. Our goal is to get marketing, advertising, and business development professionals that target the student and youth market in the same room. There will be a chance to mingle, exchange best practices and have a drink or two with some interesting people. We are not giving any presentations or selling anything and it is completely free.

Join us at The Wine Room at Sonsie on Newbury Street

To RSVP, join the event on Linkedin or fill out the form at the right

June 1, 2011

Today’s college students are one of the most ad-savvy generations ever. By the age of 18, today’s teen has seen, on average, 300,000 ads. And that’s just on television! So how do you cut through the clutter and get them to engage with your brand? Here are some insights from a recent study by e-Dialog, which looked at what motivates someone to make a connection with a brand via email, social or mobile opt-in.

It’s probably no surprise that the number one driver of opt-ins to email was a discount or offer. Giving a percentage or dollar amount off a purchase for a new email subscriber has shown to be pretty effective, and what consumers have become accustomed to. But think about what else would be valuable to your audience. How about exclusive info, like early access to this season’s looks or a preview of the next version of your game? Some of the top reasons survey takers told us they signed up for emails were to get original content not found elsewhere, and because the brand related to their lifestyle. They were motivated by curiosity about the brand, so think about the types of content you can share that educate or entertain to build an affinity for your brand.

If your goal is to gain fans or followers in social media channels, the good news is that the motivation is the pretty much the same. On Facebook or Twitter, consumers we surveyed said they were looking for discounts from brands, but also stuff they couldn’t find elsewhere. That includes videos, games, and other interactive content. One interesting finding was that for people who subscribed to email and followed a company on social sites, they said they signed up for email first. So it’s a good idea to include links to your social profiles in your emails, or even promote why someone might want to become a fan to your email subscribers.

For mobile marketing (SMS), it was very clear from the responses to our survey that consumers are generally not ready to be marketed to via text message. For today’s youth, their phone is an extension of themselves and goes with them everywhere, even to bed! So marketers really need to have something of value other than ads if they want access to a consumer’s cell phone. Things like reminders or alerts ranked high on list of the types of content people want to get on their phone. The good news is, once you convince someone to opt in to mobile marketing, they are not likely to unsubscribe.

These are just a few of the insights gleaned from the survey of consumers and their marketing preferences. We will be releasing a full report in the near future. Check www.e-Dialog.com for updates.