• by John Gaffney , February 4, 2003

If you’re planning media aimed at the college crowd there’s more than Phish concerts, MTV and campus radio. A new Harris Interactive/Alloy 360 poll says the Internet and grassroots marketing tactics may be overlooked when dealing with this underestimated audience.

The college demo is not underestimated in terms of spending power, according to the poll. Two-thirds (67%) have paid jobs. They represent $53.9 billion in discretionary spending annually. But they are more price conscious that previously thought, more socially conscious still looking to parents for financial approval.

“I think the media business underestimates this audience a lot,” said Samantha Skey, VP of convergence marketing for Alloy 360 Youth. “You can see it in pop culture as much as you see it advertising. Irreverence is very important to college students, but it’s also very important that they maintain a sense of responsibility. They want information from their ads as well as humor.”

“Affordable product cost” won out over humor as the number one desired factor in advertising. And parents till play a key role in brand loyalty genetics. More than half of college students polled said they use the same toothpaste, soap and laundry detergent as their parents. According to Skey, planning ads in publications or programs that share a common audience between parents and older kids is a solid strategy.

Both Skey and Dana Markow, director of and educational research at Harris Interactive agreed that the Internet and non-traditional marketing platforms such as grassroots marketing are overlooked. More than 88% of all students own a computer, three percent more than own a TV.

“One of the take away messages from this whole study is that maybe just focusing on traditional media won’t give you the complete picture,” Markow said. “Yes, they still watch TV but their doing a lot more.”

Several activities among college students play well to internet marketing. In the past year, students have been on the move, spending their money on almost $5 billion on travel, $790 million at the movies, $390 million on attending music and $272 million at professional sporting events.