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Student community becoming more brand conscious

By Lyall Salkinder Sep 20, 2011 0 0 comments

South African students are becoming more conscious of your brands activity within the youth market space. They notice whether or not you are making the effort to engage them on relevant platforms and want to get your full brand experience.

Speaking at a student marketing trends event in Johannesburg, Ronen Aires, CEO and co-founder of Student Village, said recent research in to the market had revealed that students are becoming more aware of brand activity. Brands that addressed their specific needs, and added value stood the best chance of succeeding.

The What’s Hot and What’s Not presentation delivered by Student Village researcher, Anelisa Mzinyathi, revealed insights focusing on 4 key subjects that are fundamental to brand engagement with the youth – What’s on students minds, Campus Events, Consumption habits and Media.

When it comes to what students are talking about, Anelisa Mzinyathi, revealed the 3 themes that dominate students interactions. Experience of what students have seen and done is topical. Conversations surrounding these include relationship troubles, music preferences, lectures and more. Peer Advice is closely tied to Experience discussions as students share information about brands, experiences, and seek new information. Aspirations about the future are topical as well. Students are concerned about what the future holds for them, and the regularly discuss what they hope to achieve, and once they reach that success what products and services they will engage with.

The crux of the 3 themes of discussions is that your product, brand experience, or service is being discussed and an opinion is being formed around your brand. As marketers and brand engineers, these are the important discussions that brands need to pay attention to.

It was revealed that Twitter was hot in the market. The use for Twitter is what made the point interesting, as students live in a ‘Be the first to know environment’. Knowing news before it hits mainstream media is key to students as they seek to be the at the cutting edge of information. The student that knows the information first is seen as the student in the know about everything.

Hip Hop and House music genres are making waves in the market. Each for different reasons, the 2 genres are essential to get the party started. House music is associated with fond memories of the previous night’s party, with 5FM’s The Fresh Drive Ultimix receiving great approval from all the focus groups respondents. With the level of house music production reaching international standards, House music is hot at the moment.

Hip Hop’s tale is one of giving a voice to a youth that wants to express their opinions and experiences. In an interview with a student on Pop Culture trends, Hip Hop music and the lifestyle are eagerly accepted in the youth circles as the chosen way of expressing their opinions. Whilst the respondents admitted that the flashy lifestyle is what they saw in the media, they admitted that the allure of Hip Hop is its raw form, which involves poetry, fashion, lyricism, urban trends, and graffiti.

When it comes to gadgets, RIM’s BlackBerry is the most needed prize giveaway at any Campus Event. The need speaks to being part of the BlackBerry inner circle who BBM each other, have quick access to Twitter and Facebook, and the free internet browsing. To the focus groups, buying a BlackBerry is not just about the device and the brand, but what the device allows you to do: communicate in a cheap and affordable manner, with easy access affordable access to the latest news on Twitter and the internet. As one student put it “why argue a point when you can just google it”.

The respondents revealed that their biggest spend was on alcohol products, followed closely by groceries and toiletries. Heineken was the hot alcohol brand to purchase when it comes alcohol consumption. Bought for the image that one projects when in a club, bar or any other drinking spot, male respondents were willing to spend on the premium beer. Russian Bear also deserves a worthy mention, as it is the choice vodka that respondents secretly admitted they consume.

For more insights on What is Hot and What is Not, click here and get a copy of the breakfast presentation and vox pops. Further detailed insights from the breakfast will also be released onto the sight through Anelisa Mzinyathi’s blog.