Kathy Prentice, www.medialifemagazine.com - July 17, 2006

Advertisers seeking to target the college population--16 million strong with $200 billion in their pockets--can send them a message this summer on their cell phones.

To find out how to get your client’s message into the hands of college students before they head back to campus, read on.

This is one in a Media Life series on buying the new out-of-home venues. They appear weekly.

Fast Facts
What
Ads and offers directed at college students via their cell phones.

Who
Campus Media Group, located in Bloomington, Minn.

How it works
In this new program, ads are delivered to college students through their cell phones. “It’s an effective way to reach students in a time-sensitive way,” says media director Joel Eisfelder. “It makes it easier to get in front of students on the go, using a medium they like to use.”

Messages can be simple text or include multimedia aspects like images, audio and video. A text message can be up to 160 characters or about 30 to 40 words. Abbreviations can be used. Creative is provided by the advertiser.

“This is all pretty new. It’s difficult to say how an ad should be designed to be effective,” Eisfelder says. “If an advertiser already has something designed for the web, it would probably translate. You’re dealing with a limited screen.”

Calls to action like contests, coupons and announcements should work best with this type of media, says marketing director Jason Bakker. “The advertising message itself should serve a purpose. It should be something relevant and useful to them like a movie showtime or a promotion.”

An ad will typically be sent out only once. “Some see it as too intrusive to use it regularly,” Eisfelder says. “So we don’t want to overdo it.”

Cell phone messaging can be used in conjunction with other forms of direct-response advertising like billboards, TV, internet and newspapers to direct students to a web site to enter a contest or collect a promotion.

“At this point we see it more as part of a media mix to try to generate a certain action from the student,” Bakker says. “In terms of overall branding to students we’d recommend a long-term strategy paired with other forms of advertising that stick around longer.”

Ads are limited to 30 seconds. The phone notifies the student that the ad has been delivered. Students can respond by texting back or logging onto a web site tied into the program or promotion.

Students opt in through their wireless providers to receive messages. The number of messages sent is limited to four per month. “About 20 percent forward the message to a friend,” Bakker says.

All messages are subject to approval, and restrictions may apply to products and services considered inappropriate for students under 18.

The phone carriers will only deliver messages to phones that are active, so full delivery is guaranteed.

The medium is suited for national, regional and local advertisers, Bakker says. “The local pizza shop could utilize it to reach students with a coupon, while Warner Brothers could use it to notify people of movie releases.” The program is available year round.

Markets
The program is available in any market, Bakker says.

Numbers
At this point, 3 million students have opted in to receive messages under the Campus Media Group program.

How it is measured
The number of students contacted as well the number of responses are tracked.

Research
It’s reported that 80 percent of responses to offers delivered via cell phones occur within the first hour after the student receives it. Campaigns have a response rate of 6 to 9 percent, with some campaigns having responses as high as 30 to 60 percent, according to Ovum 2004, published by Ovum, a telecom industry research group, and College Recruiter 2004, published by Minneapolis-based AdGuide.

Nearly 80 percent of college students send and receive text messages, averaging 115 messages per month, according to a 2006 Student Monitor student cell phone usage study provided by Campus Media Group.

What product categories do well
Entertainment, fast food and retail are top groups. “Fast food and retailers are going to move coupons that can basically be a code for a web site or something actually on the screen of a cell phone,” Bakker says.

Ads for alcohol, tobacco, gambling, adult content and birth control are typically not accepted.

Demographics
Groups are targeted to fit the client’s objectives, Bakker says. “They might want to reach a younger college crowd like incoming freshmen or they might want college seniors only or male only, and that could be worked out.”

Making the buy
There’s a one- to two-day turnaround with creative in hand, Eisfelder says. The cost of most campaigns will be based on a CPM pricing structure.

Who’s already on college students’ cell phone screens
This is a new program.

What they’re saying
“Up until now, from what we’ve seen, most college campaigns have been response-driven. The student first saw an ad and then interacted with the advertiser. This is a second option. You don’t have to wait for the student to contact you because they’ve opted in to receive your message. We’re seeing a different youth market that is more receptive to receiving this type of messaging than other generations. They still might be skeptical, but more receptive because they are so used to receiving and sending messages all day. This is just another one in the hopper. As long as the advertiser stays relevant and gives them something useful, it should be very effective.” – Jason Bakker, marketing director for Bloomington, Minnesota-based Campus Media Group

Web site info
Campus Media Group at www.campusmediagroup.com