Your client chilling
on spring break

We’re in the midst of spring break, when a third of college students split for the beaches or ski slopes or elsewhere for a few days of fun before buckling down to study for finals.

With money in their pockets and not much on their minds but having a good time, they make ideal targets for advertisers of products for young adults, from cosmetics to fashions to video games.

Smart marketers typically begin their spring break campaigns months earlier, back on campus, but once everyone arrives at the resort much of their efforts are built around the hotels. And there the options are wide-ranging, from product samples left in rooms and signage in lobbies to the unexpected, such as ads on the bottoms of swimming pools.

To find out how to get your client’s message at spring break hotels, read on.

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

Fast Facts

What
Advertising at hotels during spring break.

Who
A number of companies offer advertising at spring break hotels. For this article Media Life looked at Brand Connections and Alloy Media + Marketing in New York and Campus Solutions in West New York, N.J.

How it works
One of the most popular forms of hotel advertising during spring break is product sampling, which can be done in a number of ways.

Advertisers can set up tables in hotel lobbies and catch students as they go in and out. Or they can have their product provided in a goodie bag that students are given when they check in. Marketers can also do in-room sampling, providing students with product in their rooms.

Hotels understand that during the spring break period the clientele will be younger than usual, and many will allow ad copy that’s a bit more risqué. An elevator wrap ad from Bic running this year involves a suggestive image featuring a guy, a gal and a do-not-disturb sign.

Marketers can also target spring breakers in their rooms through branded shower curtains, bath towels, pillow cases and the like.

One of the keys to spring break advertising is to include the hotel ad or promotion in a larger campaign that begins on campaigns in the months where students are making spring break plans and follows through after they've returned.

Markets
Hotel advertising is available in all of the popular U.S. beach destinations, including Panama City Beach and Daytona, as well as international markets such as Cancun and Acapulco. Students can also be targeted at ski resorts in Colorado and Vermont.

Numbers
About 32 percent of students planned to take a spring break trip this year, according to a survey by Youth Trends, a market research firm. That's roughly 5 million young people.

The study found that students plan to spend an average of $572, up from $514 last year.

How it is measured
Advertisers can measure samples by tracking how many are distributed, and hotel occupancy numbers can be used to estimate impressions for other media. Some providers of hotel media during spring break also use third-party firms to measure things like recall and intent to buy.

What product categories do well
Common spring break advertisers include beverages, health and beauty products, candy, snack foods, mobile phones, military, entertainment and videogames.

Demographics
Spring breakers are typically between ages 18-24, but specific demographics can vary by market. Visitors to Panama City Beach, Fla., are typically from middle class homes in the Southeast and Midwest regions, and skew 60 percent male, according to StudentCity, which sells spring break vacation packages. Visitors to South Padre Island, Texas, are 50 percent male and mostly from the Texas and Louisiana area.

Making the buy
Brand Connections provides hotel sampling, media in common areas and in-room branding at hotels in both beach and ski resort markets. Sampling programs cost anywhere between 12 and 20 cents per sample, with around 2 million distributed in a typical campaign.

Campus Solutions provides sampling and hotel media in Panama City Beach and South Beach, Fla. Pricing varies, but a three-hotel sampling program costs around $2,500 per week for a four-week campaign.

Who’s already in hotels during spring break
Recent or current spring break hotel advertisers include Bic, Wrigley’s, Garnier Fructis, Rockstar Energy Drink, Maxim, American Eagle, MTV, Crest, Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation, Schick, Warner Home Video and Axe.

What they’re saying
"If you compare the recall to other forms of media we track, it’s right up there with campus newspapers and TV spots during their favorite TV shows. Students will always take the free T-shirt or hat, but the highest recall is going to come from a media experience that’s adding value to their personal experience. Add to the conversation, don’t try to interrupt it." -- Josh Weil, chief executive officer and co-founder of Youth Trends.

Web site info
Brand Connections
http://www.brandconnections.com

Campus Solutions
http://campussolutionsinc.com

Alloy Media + Marketing
http://www.alloymarketing.com

Youth Marketing Connection
http://www.youthmarketing.com

Youth Trends
http://www.youth-trends.com