CMOs Target College Students with Digital Marketing

More than 90 percent of College Students Use Digital Media to Interact with Brands

Cupertino, Calif. – July 12, 2012 – DigitalMediaIX, a company specializing in digital brand marketing, announced a new report indicating that 91 percent of college students rely on some form of online media to engage with brands.  CMOs have started to take note, increasing digital media spending to establish their brands among this important market segment.

The report, titled “The Digital Generation: College Students, Brands, and Engagement with Digital Media,” is based on a survey of more than 2,000 students from Big Ten universities.  The survey was conducted to better understand how online media has changed the way that students develop brand affinity and buy products and services.  The report also includes the “DMIX Top 100 Digital Brands for College Students.”

“College students spend more than $40 billion each year and offer the perspective of one of the most important demographics relating to digital media,” said David Bunzel, the author of the report and CEO of DigitalMediaIX.  “They have grown up with online media, they surf the internet and seek out information like no other market segment.”  ”They are also more particular about what types of digital media they use and they know what they like and what is not worth their time.”

Some of the key findings of the report include:

• Facebook is used by 96 percent of students; YouTube, 71 percent; Twitter, 64 percent.
• Pinterest is used by only 31 percent of students, but 55 percent of these are women.
• 84 percent of students rely on company websites to engage with a brand.
• Smart phones are much more popular with college students than the general population: 84 percent
• The iPhone dominates, with 58 percent of the college student smart-phone market.
• 71 percent of students shop online with their smart phones.
• Apple, has three of the top five digital brands; Red Bull and Coca Cola also rank high.
• Starbucks, VW, BMW, Diet Coke, and HTC round out the top 10.

“Trying to understand how a consumer shifts from brand awareness to buying a product is the Holy Grail of marketing today,” noted Bunzel.  “Because college students rely on online sources for so much of their media consumption, marketers must recognize this opportunity to build loyalty and establish customers for the future.”

Brand marketers are starting to recognize how important online media will be in establishing a connection with the next generation of consumers.  Developing a digital marketing strategy, based on actionable data, will be critical in effectively allocating ad spending dollars.

About DigitalMediaIX  

DigitalMediaIX provides timely and accurate primary research, market analysis, and perspective on digital media and how it contributes to brand affinity and customer acquisition.  Digital media, which includes company websites, search engines, social media, electronic communication video and photo (YouTube and Flickr), and mobile apps, is the fastest-growing segment of corporate ad spending.  For more information and a free executive summary, please visit www.digitalmediaix.com.