We deliver Amazing Collegiate Experiences: Events & Promotions
NextGen Event Co. creates end-to-end Event productions, Experiential Brand activations and Marketing promotions on campus for your next University Special event. We specialize in assisting Brands in reaching College-aged consumers, those who are 18 – 24 and the oldest of Generation Z, who should be on every marketer’s mind for reaching and educating on their products.
This generation has never known a world without the internet and they are digital natives who live online, but seek face to face engagement in IRL. Consequently, traditional advertising tactics just don’t work for these digital natives who are a complex audience. If brands want to connect with Gen Z, they should shift their marketing approach to experiential marketing and face-to-face events, especially on college campuses.
Experiential marketing delivers results that traditional advertising can’t compete with, hence the reason so many companies have incorporated the strategy into their marketing plans. Experiential marketing provides many benefits for brands and companies of all sizes, from creating brand awareness to brand loyalty.
College & University Event Types:
College Sporting Events
Festivals & Homecomings
Graduate Events & Job Fairs
Student Unions & Lounges
Back to College Welcome Events (Orientation, Move in)
Pop Ups- Product Sampling Promotions
Brand Activations that Increase Engagement
By creating exciting event activations at your university or college effectively allows you to create face-to-face engagement with your target audience and get your brand in front of your collegiate audience. Some examples of event and brand activations include the following:
Sporting events with Sports Simulators that get all of the college attendees engaged in the activities. Setup can be indoors or outdoors, providing soccer, baseball, football, basketball, golf and more sports activities.
We offer Headshot Photo Lounges that provide professional headshots at Career fairs or Special events for your students and graduates. Everyone needs an updated linkedin headshot for their job search and careers. A company can include their brand identity, logos and promotions within an custom HTML email that is sent to each user with their headshot attached, plus collecting sign up data and lead generation for each participant.
College Sampling Programs
College sampling is one of the best ways to drive consumer action on campus and is a great way to build brand awareness and introduce new products. Students love receiving free items and the majority of students that receive product samples on campus go on to purchase that brand. This is a no-brainer college marketing strategy for food and beverage companies, cosmetic brands, fashion and beauty lines, and other companies that can provide a high-quality sample that represents your brand. NextGen Event Co. offers a wide array of creative College Sampling programs designed for your unique marketing needs.
College Brand Ambassador Promotions
College street teams and brand ambassador promotions are a great way for brands to connect with students face to face. As important as digital marketing is these days, it’s still important to make human, person-to-person connections with students. The best way to do this is with peer-to-peer marketing on campus. Students relate to their fellow classmates as they share in the student experience.
It’s important to hire a company that specializes in creating events and promotions vs. an event staffing company when marketing to college students. This all comes down to authenticity and making genuine connections with students. A niche college marketing agency will have a large network of student brand ambassadors—students who attend the university or college where the marketing promotion is taking place—that are highly-connected members of the student body and belong to a variety of student clubs and organizations. This will greatly help you in your marketing outreach. We pride ourselves at NextGen Event Co. for our large network of staffing resources and ability to deliver in multiple markets for a nation-wide promotional program.
Lead Generation & Data Collection Campaigns On Campus
When creating your Experiential marketing strategy, lead generation is a huge priority for most companies and that’s why data collection and lead generation campaigns are so important to incorporate into your events and campaigns. You can have student organizations, such as fraternities or sororities, set up tables on campus and collect students’ data. It’s important to provide an incentive to students for filling out the data cards, such as free samples, a scholarship entry, a contest, or a promotional offer.
This is also an excellent way to collect surveys or market research from students. Have students complete short questionnaires or have them try your product and then answer a survey. This is a great way to measure students’ reactions to your product and brand. This is a highly-effective strategy for gaining consumer insight on college campuses.
For more information on our University Experiential Marketing Programs & Events, please contact us for a free consultation to discuss all the possibilities for creating a unique program.