David Cook
Director and Co-Founder
I have always loved working as an extension of my clients marketing team.
A Fresh take on Freshers
David Cook • 30 November 2023
At Crowd, Student marketing is our be all and end all. The Freshers season of 2023 has been our biggest, most significant yet. We’ve helped a wide ranging and eclectic group of brands to engage with this year's unique student market.
One of the reasons that we love working in this space is because no year is ever the same. Having had our head office team out at a multitude of Freshers events and campus days over the past couple of months, we have first hand insight into behaviour and mindset of today's youth audience. Here’s out top 3 learnings:
1.Generation Sensible is here
With over 40 years of combined experience in the student market we remember the funny old days before the pandemic of 2020 and even before the introduction of GDPR legislation. During this time you would be able to collect the ‘name’ and ‘email’ of literally thousands of students without a single question. Now, in 2023, this does not fly. The youth want to know why, how and where their data is being stored/used. Therefore if retargeting is at the top of your OKR list make sure you give them a reason to opt in and stay in.
2. Maintain the sustainable
The youth market and the sustainability message have gone hand in hand for the past decade, however this doesn’t mean its old news - it's actually the most current news and isn’t going anywhere. One great thing we’ve seen at Crowd this year is the adoption of brands going along with this narrative. We offer all of our clients the option to go “Eco” on their stand or POS and guess what… More times than not they go with it. Our year has been surrounded by recycled, recyclable, eco cardboard stands. Ranging from a fully customised Cardboard bathroom for our wonderful client Lady Garden, to our eco meeting pods for Lloyds, we’re up to our ears in the cardboard stuff.
3. Educate don’t inform
Being able to engage with students face to face it’s clear that they are still young people that are learning the harsh yet wonderful lessons of life. That said, although they still love a freebie, they aren’t looking for handouts - they’re looking to learn. Therefore as a brand creating a campaign that educates rather than patronises will help build an immediate and long lasting connection.
We’ll be honest, there’s probably 101 more learnings that we’ve had but these are the 3 biggest that we’re taking into 2024. If you want to find out how Crowd can help you navigate the next 12 months of the crazy world of youth marketing - drop us a line!
