Creating buzz, one peer at a time

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Students help companies bring guerrilla marketing to campus
By SARAH SCHWEITZER
THE BOSTON GLOBE

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In an age when the college demographic is no longer easily reached by television, radio or newspapers... a microindustry of campus marketing has emerged. Niche firms have sprung up to act as recruiters of students, who then market products on campus for companies such as Microsoft, JetBlue Airways, The Cartoon Network and Victoria's Secret....

"There is a paradigm shift in the way that corporations are marketing to college students," said Matt Britton, a managing partner of Mr. Youth, a New York-based firm that specializes in college student marketing. "The student ambassador tactic embraces all the elements that corporations find most effective: It's peer-to-peer, it's word of mouth, it's flexible and it breaks through the clutter of other media. For all that, it's growing very quickly."

By the estimate of leading youth marketing firms, tens of thousands of students work as campus ambassadors nationwide.

The students selected tend to be campus leaders with large social networks that can be tapped for marketing. Good looks and charm tend to follow. Many are specially trained, sometimes at corporate headquarters, Gossett said, as in the case with Microsoft....

Students are compensated with the products they hawk, and some are paid a small stipend. The bigger attraction appears to be the resume-worthy experience and a possible inside track for a job with a company after graduation....

Colleges and universities say they have little say over student marketers on campus and are often unaware they exist. Although many schools bar companies from setting up shop or sending non-student representatives to approach students on campus property, administrators say many campus spaces are difficult to restrict to students.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/printer2/index.asp?ploc=t&refer=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/246065_onenote27.html

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1. posted this late last night.... but thought it worth a kick for comment

one of the great things about college is that you get the honest opinions of your classmates... but this suggests you now have to be careful that your buddy in the dining hall isn't being paid to hype that song or software or sweater or whatever.