• by Amy Corr  @MediaPostOTL, November 1, 2002

When Virgin Megastore opened a Boston location this past February, its marketing team started revving up ideas to promote its new location as well as its other East Coast stores. In an effort to spread the word about their new location, in a non-traditional way, Virgin decided to get on the bus. It embarked on an six-week, 36-college campus bus tour. Why? To reach out to an audience that spends an estimated 2.7 billion on music, CDs and tapes alone, according to Harris Interactive.

The tour just wrapped. From September 9- October 20, Virgin Megastore’s red, advertisement adorned bus toured East Coast colleges around the Boston, New York, and Long Island areas. Virgin enlisted the help of Hadley Media, an agency that helps clients align their brand specifically with college students, for this campaign.

Tour bus sponsors included MTV, various record labels, and Virgin Mobile, and Radio Free Virgin (sister companies to Virgin Megastore). Company logos appeared all over the Mega bus, and Susanna Concha, Field Marketing Manager of Virgin Entertainment Group, North America, estimates that each city stop delivered millions of ad impressions.

Jon Margolis, partner, at Michael Alan Group, an agency specializing in guerilla marketing, says that targeting college students on campus is nothing new, but the manner in which they are targeted is what constantly changes.

“Whoever comes up with the best, innovative concept, wins. Companies are always looking for that new thing that will provide entertainment to the students and plant the seed for future transactions,” he said. Translated: If you come back with cool giveaways, chances are that your friend or roommate will want some too, furthering brand exposure.

Giveaways included CD samplers, mouse pads, t-shirts, keychains, and magazines (brandishing the Virgin Megastore Boston logo), along with promotional items designed to entice students to actually visit the Megastores. Frequency cards were given away- where if you buy 10 CDs or DVDs, you get the 11th for free, along with ballot entry forms that enter students into a raffle- with the grand prize being a trip to London for Spring Break. Concha says that the company was “looking for an edgy, impactful approach to their marketing campaign”.

Concha also said that Virgin Mega is “new to the Boston market and felt the bus tour was a good way to let people know they are now in the area”.