Question

Topic: Student Questions

Wi-fi What? Maketing Campaign (credit Best Answer)

Posted by Anonymous on 6/4/2008 at 10:33 AM ET 125 Points
I need the most creative and strategic thinkers please. I am working on a marketing plan for small Wi-fi company, my target market are students who use the library and wifi cafes. I want to sell convenience by accessing the internet from anywhere in the area.

I cannot market through mediums like tv, billboards etc.. What creative ways can I reach these students and what sought of message should we send out. By the way we offer our wi-fi at most competitive prices that students can afford. Credit to person with best answer..
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  • Posted on 6/4/2008 at 11:07 AM Author
    Hi guys,

    Thank you for your response, lets keep in mind that this is a global network and not specifically American. I am in South Africa where we still charge for wi-fi and it is not available everywhere..

    Internet is slow here, and wi-fi is in, we even have big local network providers offering much more for wi-fi.
    With your advanced knowledge, I bet you can help even more.

    I know you are all knowledgeable and intelligent which is why I ask for your help. Thank you
  • Posted by steve_erdal on 6/4/2008 at 11:34 AM Accepted
    I'd say you need to involve students in a marketing campaign to make it successful, and the easiest ways of doing that are events and competitions. For instance, you could tie your campaign around the idea that you can do all your work from bed with wifi, and have a bunch of bed-themed events. You could sponsor a pyjama party at a local club, or have a website or Facebook group called “When I wish I stayed in bed” where students post embarrassing stories. Offer a prize for the best and you’ll get a lot of stories, which you can then use in your marketing materials (“sometimes it’s best to stay in bed”) – you could use them as the basis of a viral email, for example. If you can offer a prize that a whole college can enjoy (such as a celebrity coming to their campus), then you might even different colleges competing against each other for the prize, and then you won’t need to do any more marketing - they’ll spread the word for you. A couple of campaigns aimed at students in the UK have had a lot of success this way.
    Combine this with advertising in cheap places where students might see it while wishing they were still in bed (the obvious one being the bus they take to lectures).

    Just one idea, but the general concept of involving students so they generate word-of-mouth is very important.
  • Posted on 6/4/2008 at 12:29 PM Accepted
    Definitely hit the net! Find out where these kids "congregate" and get the word out. Visit school/university web sites and post advertising there. Visit local social web sites as well.

    Try the viral route: consider giving the service away to a select few people and let them spread the word. Give them free access for 3 or 6 months. If the service is good, chances are really they will tell their friends, who'll tell their friends and so on....

    Another option with the free service...Give members their own email address and embed the link to your web site with a small text-based ad in any emails they send out. Whenever a member sends an email, recipients will see the ad with the link and click on it and go back to your site to sign up.

    Give students a compelling offer in order to make them click on the link, some sort of discount or incentive as mentioned earlier.

    Best of luck!
  • Posted on 6/4/2008 at 3:08 PM Author
    Thank you all very much for your extremely helpful contribution, I must say you people are sharp gosh. I think this would have taken me a month to brainstorm. I will take it all on and must give credit where it is needed, the stay in bed campaign idea is ingenious.

    I will keep you all posted but most of all I would like to continue to communicate this with you and let you know how it goes.
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