Baby, Won’t You Drive My Car?

EVERYONE KNOWS young people respond to peer pressure. General Motors has been applying that maxim to make college kids aware of their vehicles since 1991.

The carmaker has been doing this through marketing consultancy EdVenture Partners, Berkeley, CA, which incorporates marketing with education goals in college marketing classes for GM and new clients Clairol and Wells Fargo.

“Word of mouth is one of the most important ways college students find out about products and what they do,” says EdVenture vice president Pamela Horick. The company’s student participants spread the word through semester-long marketing initiatives culminating in a promotional event.

Horick notes that her company is welcomed onto more than 100 college campuses by academics because, unlike many firms’ marketing programs, EdVenture’s is not theoretical. “We fulfill the clients’ goal to reach the [youth] market, but we also bring a lot of practical work experience to young people.”

EdVenture’s clients fork over $2,500 to the class staging the program so they may actually execute their plan. With GM, “the marketing objectives are to increase awareness and purchase consideration,” not necessarily to get students to buy a vehicle, Horick claims. A local GM dealer is often the client.

An EdVenture staff member provides direction in person several times during the semester and keeps in touch by e-mail and telephone.

The class forms itself into a mock advertising agency and sets about doing market research through surveys and focus groups. “The point [for those in the class] is to understand their target market, but also what sort of promo would appeal to [prospects] in making them familiar with the product,” Horick says.

Armed with this data, students figure out advertising and public relations strategies, including a campaign theme and slogan. Then they give a formal presentation to the dealer, GM and EdVenture staff.

After approval, classmates throw the promo bash. Along with the food, music and fun, there’s usually a sweepstakes or contest geared to getting campus prospects to fill out a form with their name, address and telephone number so the dealer can contact them for a test drive.

The final step for the students is turning in post-event results-just like in real life.

“That’s what makes this so valuable,” Horick says. “You’re taking what they learn in marketing textbooks and giving them a chance to apply it.”