Out of Home
Your client in Vegas with college kids
By Kathy Prentice
Feb 12, 2007, 01:05

Spring break is just around the corner, and reaching the college crowd in party mode is big business for brands targeting young adults.

The emergence of Las Vegas as a March vacation destination is generating programs designed to reach this slightly older and presumably more sophisticated college crowd.

To find out how to get your client’s product into the hands of consumers who are in the process of developing brand preferences, read on.

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

Fast Facts

What
Advertising and brand promotion in Las Vegas over spring break.

Who
Brand Connections, headquartered in New York.

How it works
Advertisers use a variety of marketing and sponsorship programs to reach college students spending their spring break in Las Vegas.

Product sampling in hotel lobbies and rooms, ads on in-room TV as well as live events are used to target the 21- to 25-year-olds who favor Vegas as a destination, says CEO Brian Martin.

Specific programs include:
-Product samples packaged into gender-specific “survival” packs that are distributed at check in;
-Ads and logos displayed on in-lobby billboards, elevator wraps, floor graphics and key cards;
-Branded amenities like towels, pillowcases, shower curtains, beach umbrellas and coasters placed in hotel rooms and common areas;
-Sponsored events like lounge parties for age-eligible students;
-Ads on digital screens in hotel rooms and other locations.

Creative is often specific to spring break, Martin says.

“We recommend a message that says, ‘We know why you’re here, what you’re looking for, and how our brand it going to fit into that.’ One I really liked was an eye-drop brand that associated itself with spring break with the slogan, ‘This eye drop is strong enough for people who party at the Palms.’”

Typical Las Vegas spring break programs range from sponsoring oxygen bars in hotel lobbies to invitation-only cocktail and pool parties, Martin says.

What makes Vegas different from other spring break destinations?

“College students go on spring break to let loose, party, to connect with one another,” Martin says. “Without question, the greatest night life concentrated in an area of a 10-minute cab ride, and it goes on all night long.”

Numbers
Anywhere from 200,000 to 300,000 students visit Las Vegas over their spring break vacation, according to Martin.

How it is measured
Hotel registrations, numbers of samples distributed and attendance at live events are used to estimate impressions.

Data is collected from guests prior to seeing brands in the environment through online registration for a sweepstakes trip for next year’s spring break. Follow-up on brands introduced over spring break is conducted through email two months later.

What product categories do well
Health and beauty aids, confections, beverages, automobiles, financial services and telecommunications are top categories.

Demographics
In the U.S. there are 17 million college students and their discretionary purchases total $46 million per year according to a 2006 College Explorer Study conducted by Harris Interactive for Alloy Media + Marketing.

Las Vegas attracts a little bit more of an upscale demographic, Martin says. “It’s also a slightly older college demographic.”

Making the buy
Lead time is contingent on the program, but turnaround for digital screens and product placement is generally a couple weeks, Martin says.

Who’s already sponsoring spring break in Las Vegas
Gillette Razors, Secret deodorant, Bic Razors, Ice Breakers, Axe, Sunsilk, Rohto V and Crest are 2007 Las Vegas spring break sponsors.

What they’re saying
“It’s rare that you can control the environment of a consumer for this many days, where you can reach them in an environment where they need to use your product. I remember a sample of mints from the first time I ever went to Las Vegas and still associate the pleasure of that time with the product.” – Brian Martin, CEO of New York-based Brand Connections

Web site info
Brand Connections at www.brandconnections.com