University student Stu Holdren loves his work – and why not?
Since the beginning of this school year, he has organized three different campus events including rides around town in a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, a party at Taylor’s Bar and Grille near campus and most recently an elaborate obstacle course that tested the romantic skills of any willing members of the University community. It’s a lot of fun. And he gets paid for it.
As an “Axe Ambassador” for the deodorant and fragrance company Axe, Holdren’s job description is not typical, but it is a part of a trend that many businesses are using to promote their names or products to college students: He is a campus representative.
“It’s kind of ridiculous when I tell people what my job is,” Holdren said. “I basically throw parties and do fun things for Axe. There is work involved in it, but everything that I do is really fun. A lot of people can’t really say that with their jobs.”
Holdren, a public relations major, began working as a brand ambassador for Axe this fall after hearing about the job through his roommate, who held the same position last year. He said the job is not about pushing products on students; just exposure to the company itself. Everything he does is promotional, he said.
“I’m not selling any products,” Holdren said. “There’s no catches with the events we throw. It’s just to get the Axe brand name out there.”
Several other companies have begun taking the same approach to marketing at the University. Sports Illustrated has used a campus representative to promote its “On Campus” college edition, and the newly founded phone provider Helio is currently using a student representative to organize similar promotional parties.
Most recently, Holdren organized an event for Axe on Saturday called “Axe Play the Field Days” at the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house.
The program was organized as a series of events to test participants’ dating and social skills.
“It was kind of like an obstacle course to see who had the most game,” Holdren said.
The events included a judged pickup line competition, a timed drink delivery relay and a bra unclasping contest using mannequins.
“I own ten mannequins now,” Holdren said.
Bill Sherman, assistant director of employer relations at Career Services in the Lundquist College of Business, said there are advantages for both the employers and the students involved in campus representative programs, mostly in forming a connection between the two.
“I think to the employer the advantage is primarily that it builds credibility for their brand,” Sherman said. “That’s the key concept behind it – that peers listen to their peers first.”
How businesses approach on-campus marketing depends on their goals, he said. Sherman said more professional and well-established businesses like Target are more focused on offering students career opportunities and management jobs, not just name recognition. Often it uses company representatives and a campus presence in collaboration to recruit students.
“I think it’s a combination of the two,” said Diane Marshall, a representative with Target at the University’s Career Fair Wednesday. “One reinforces the other.”
Marshall said Target has been using student representatives for about five years, and the practice has been very successful in recruiting new employees for the company.
Sherman said Target is likely more serious with its marketing techniques because of its future goals for students.
“There’s more at stake for a person graduating from college and pursuing a career in business than there is at stake with someone trying out a body deodorant,” he said.
Still, Holdren said he views the job as a great opportunity.
“I think it’s great going into PR, especially for event planning,” he said. “That’s huge.”
Holdren said he is given complete freedom to decide where and how events are run after Axe provides the ideas, and the romance obstacle course was particularly popular with male students. He said that some female students also participated, and that he hasn’t received any negative feedback about the nature of the events.
“I think people understand that it’s funny, that there’s humor involved in this with how ridiculous it is,” Holdren said. “I think it sends the brand message effectively.”
Holdren said he plans to continue with the job through the school year.
“It’s been an invaluable experience, and definitely will be something that I can show future employers. I think it will help in the future,” he said.
Contact the business, science and technology reporter at [email protected]
Students marketing to students
Daily Emerald
November 8, 2006
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