• Forbes CMO Network, Friday, September 11, 2009 10:42 AM

P&G is paying about 100 "ambassadors" to pitch brands such as PUR, TAG deodorant and Herbal Essences hair products at 50 colleges and universities through a program it calls ReadyU, Laurie Burkitt reports. About 65% of the reps are women; they earn up to $2,500 a semester.

Students work about 15 hours a week. P&G and RepNation organize daily conference calls and require ambassadors to file reports every two weeks that include 25 pictures of their academic advertising attempts. Some of them are rather imaginative.

Once football season is in full swing, Justin Breton, a 21-year-old senior public relations major at Boston University, says he's thinking about promoting TAG deodorant by holding a body odor contest to find the stinkiest college athletes. "This was a big risk to put the branding power in someone else's hands," says a P&G spokesman, "but we know it'll be successful."

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