Ad Reps on Campus

By Joseph Forte

Campus representatives, a special breed of marketing agents at work at Santa Clara and other colleges across the country, have become a powerful mechanism for companies to discretely promote their products across college campuses.  

Campus reps are college students employed by a company to promote their product or service on a college campus. One Blackberry rep working at Santa Clara described the job as "every college student's dream. (I get to) throw promotional events with funds allocated by the company." 

At these social events "the brand is obviously present and promoted, but the object is to create a fun environment for the participants to enjoy," a rep, who chose to stay anonymous,  said. "If they enjoy their time at the event, they will think more highly of the brand."

But a college rep's duties don't begin and end with the parties. Students are hired for a variety of purposes, including consumer education, community outreach and even conspicuous use of the product. Another Santa Clara rep working for the Vineyard Vines clothing line says, "For Vineyard Vines, my job is to wear it as much as I can, and get Vineyard Vines involved in some local charity events or other campus events."

College campuses represent a lucrative market for many businesses. An O'Donnell and Associates report reveals that college students devote about 40 percent of their budget to discretionary spending (money spent on personal purchases after the necessities have been paid for) about $600 to $1,100 a month. This is possible in part because the average college student today is in his or her mid  20s, several years older than in previous decades, and working a part-time job in addition to receiving funds from home. This has led to a surge in the purchasing power of college students in the past decade. Collectively, college students now spend about $60 billion a year.

A wide spectrum of companies use campus reps to tap into this market – one online job posting listed Playboy Enterprises, Apple, and even Disney as potential employers. They all billed the job as an opportunity to gain experience and build one's resume while getting a foot in the door of the employing company.

The Vineyard Vines rep (who also reps for Monster Energy Drinks and Blackberry) considered his jobs an investment, "Being a campus rep has actually set me up with a lot of experience that I would like to use to start my own marketing firm that sets up campus rep programs for companies," he said. "With all the brand experience I have had, I want to do something with it and see if I can make it into some sort of career." 

In October of last year, the administration of Columbia University banished a planned "Rebel Underwear Run," sponsored by Nike and organized by campus reps to the adjacent Barnard College. The problem lay in the unauthorized corporate nature of the event, not the semi-nudity. Columbia Spokesman Robert Hornsby explained in an email to TheVillageVoice.com: "This proposed event is not sponsored by a registered student group, nor is there a contract signed with Nike for campus access for a non-affiliate event, and thus, this event will not be taking place as publicized."

Hornsby's qualms are unlikely to disappear anytime soon. As long as college students retain their purchasing power, campus reps will likely remain on campuses across the country. So the next time you're given a free beverage at a swinging party, know that the host's generosity may not have been entirely selfless. 

Contact Joseph Forte at jfforte@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4849.