Outraged consumers recently prodded Congress to launch a study of why the cost of college textbooks has ballooned 186 percent since 1986.

In the meantime, though, an online publisher has come up with one solution: publishing textbooks online and letting advertisers subsidize the cost. Advertisers have the opportunity to snag student goodwill while re-enforcing their brands with young adults at a time in their lives when they are forming brand preferences.

To find out how to get your client’s message in front of college students as they study, read on.

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

Fast Facts

What
Advertisers sponsor the publication of online textbooks for college students.

Who
Campus Media Group, headquartered in Bloomington, Minn.

How it works
Ads are placed in downloadable college textbooks. Each ad campaign is customized, says marketing director Jason Bakker. “There’s no set ad size, though in most cases, they take up a full page.”

“Ads are placed at natural breaks within the book,” Bakker says. “At chapter beginnings and endings, at the index, the answer guides at the end of the book, and the homework sections.” An advertiser can also sponsor an entire book. 

Campaigns vary in length. “It can go for just a couple weeks or stay as long as an advertiser wants to,” Bakker says. “Ads can be swapped out and refreshed.”

There’s a timing aspect to the program, says Campus media director, Joel Eisfelder. An advertiser might want one message at the beginning of a course and a different message at the end. “With an electronic version it’s easy to change those out.”

Creative is provided by the advertiser. The message can tie into the medium and refer to the text or the course.

“Ads can be interactive,” Eisfelder says. “The student could be clicking through to something else, or the click could enable video or other content playing right within the reader.”

The ad automatically refreshes when the student logs onto the book.

The ads will also be included in print versions of e-textbooks that students can purchase, or they can print the downloaded book themselves at no cost.

The series' titles were created for the e-textbook program. Colleges opt into the e-textbook system. However, students at non-participating schools can also download the books. “They don’t have to be part of the class to get the book,” Bakker says. “They could, say, be taking a general math course and want another perspective.”

Supporting materials like course supplements, readings and labs are also sponsored.

Ads can be placed on a national or regional basis, with schools in different regions targeted.

“It can be used both as a national branding effort as well as a recruiting effort. Corporations could recruit students using this as a tool,” Bakker says. “Advertisers can be matched with subject matter. A book on finance might be a perfect match for a company that wants to recruit finance students.”

Topics currently include principles of accounting, financial management, college algebra, psychology and computer applications.

Markets
The e-textbooks are available anywhere that they can be accessed via the internet.

Colleges and universities that have signed on to the program include the University of Michigan, Georgia Tech, Fordham, Clemson and Carnegie Mellon.

Numbers
Some 100 titles are scheduled to be ready for students to download. The e-textbooks will be available on 150 campuses, potentially reaching 250,000 students.

How it is measured
The number of downloads and the number of clickthroughs will be used for measurement.

What product categories do well
Top categories will be entertainment, electronics, sports items, beverages and clothing of appeal to the college kids. “Impulse things would work too,” Bakker says. “When kids are ready for a study break it would be a good place for a pizza ad or fast food.”

Advertisers whose products tie into the subject matter would also do well, Bakker says.

Demographics
The general demographic is 18-26-year-old college students. “There’s a little bit of crossover to reach part-time older students, who may be living off campus and on their own,” Bakker says.

Making the buy
Lead time is five to 10 days to place an ad in the electronic version of a text book. Pricing is on a CPM basis. Product exclusivity is available. The ads also appear in the limited-run print versions.

Who’s already on the pages of e-textbooks
Culver’s Restaurants and FedEx Kinko’s both advertised in the e-textbook pilot program.

What they’re saying
“We’re learning as we go what students like and a few things are surprising. One is that they don’t mind ads. And in response to a question by an advertiser students said they prefer a variety of types of ads. We’re also finding that they’re comfortable using only an online version of a textbook. The advertising goes in both the online and print versions, but what we’re finding is that students are just fine with the online and are not needing a printed copy.” – Joel Eisfelder, media director for Bloomington, Minn.,-based Campus Media Group

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