Starting out in Advertising right out of college is no small feat. In addition to the things you need to learn every day in the office, you need to be able to prepare for the dreaded session after work and on weekends. And yet, all these efforts prove to be particularly valuable, especially when you have to manage bringing different campaigns to areas of interest to students. Dorina is our veteran in implementing these types of projects, so we invited her to answer a few questions about what student-targeted campaigns are all about.

1. Hi, Dorina. College, job in Advertising. All that’s missing is being in a student association. Were you? If so, what was the experience like, what were you supposed to do?

Hello, I think that studenthood is not experienced to its fullest if you are not part of student associations. I volunteered in 2 associations during my undergraduate degree and I can confirm that they had quite an impact on my development. For the most part I was in charge of promoting the association to other students and served on the recut team after my first year as an active member. Then I helped organise events, get partners, made posts for the association’s SM channels. Being a member of a student association means connecting with others, being empathetic, open to new things and ready to get involved wherever help is needed.

2. We, at Minio Studio, have had several campaigns that had a student targeting component that you’ve dealt with. Can you tell us about one of them?

Yes, the Acne OFF/Positivity ON campaign with the CeraVe House brand experience. The campaign had students as the main audience and I was in charge of communicating with them.

One of the components of the CeraVe campaign was to offer free dermatological consultations within the Polytechnic University of Bucharest and the University of Architecture and Urbanism “Ion Mincu”. 

In order to reach as many students as possible, and to communicate this opportunity to them, it was necessary to contact the student associations. Thanks to them we were able to offer dermatological consultations to quite a large number of students.

3. What did you have to take into account when implementing this campaign? Did you have any insights from your experience as a student?

Regardless of the target audience, in Advertising we take into account the needs and desires of consumers. The insight from my experience as a student was that, compared to other consumers, students have fewer financial resources, so in campaigns we can offer them solutions: free consultations, product samples, prizes, experiences.

4. How do you think your experience in student NGOs helped you to implement the campaign(s)?

I think my experience in student NGOs helped me to implement these campaigns by being in their shoes, knowing how to communicate with them, listen to them and be involved.

In some of the years, I was in the team organising the Homecoming Ball event and the association needed partners to organise an event that met the expectations of the new students as well as the others. It wasn’t easy to find partners, we were basically going door to door and presenting what we could offer as an NGO in exchange for the potential partner’s support. So when we started communicating with student NGOs we knew clearly what we needed to ask them (event presentation map, social media activity, other partners they have). We also knew how to pose the problem when something wasn’t going exactly as expected, so that we could find a solution quickly and both the brand and the student NGO were happy.

5. What did you like most about these campaigns?

For student associations, the most difficult times are when an event is to be organised and partners are needed.

I liked most that we gave something back to the students. As part of the CeraVe campaign we helped young people get free consultations from a dermatologist, which we all know can be very expensive, especially when you are a student, not working and have no income of your own.

After the consultation each student received samples, which certainly helped, so they could test whether the products in question suited their skin and were spared other unnecessary expenses.

6. Should students be employed in industry while still in university? If so, what is your advice for them?

My answer is clearly yes, despite the fact that it’s not easy. You learn how to organize yourself, how to keep up with everything and the best part, you won’t end up wondering what you do next after graduating from college.

You can discover more of the campaign materials in the case presentation here.