They've been seen on national television. They've been seen in newspapers. They've been seen by players and coaches, fans and reporters, and casual onlookers. They've been seen by 16,000 blue-clad Kansas fans at Allen Fieldhouse for the past few years. But Andrew Stanley ran into a problem with the blow-up images he and his buddies made of Kansas Jayhawk basketball players and coaches faces that had become a mainstay in the Allen Fieldhouse student section.
The "KU Heads For Victory" received free food for
allowing 23rd Street Brewery to put its logo on the
back of their blown-up faces of Kansas basketball
players. Photo courtesy of Andrew Stanley
"They kept falling apart," Stanley said. "They were hard to make and expensive to print.
Stanley needed more durable blow-up faces before it broke his bank. That's where 23rd Street Brewery came in. The local restaurant offered to make Stanley and his friends in the "KU Heads for Victory" group more sturdy blow-up faces, as long as the brewery could stamp its logo on the back of the heads for all of Allen Fieldhouse to see.
With Stanley and the KU Heads for Victory, 23rd Street Brewery found a marketing campaign far less expensive than constantly running television commercials or newspaper advertisements. This trend of businesses using college students for advertisement is peaking a face of its own onto the University of Kansas campus in tough economic times.
In return for displaying its company logo to thousands of hungry fans, 23rd Street Brewery gave Stanley and his friends $50 to use at the restaurant after every home men's basketball game as well. Stanley said the KU Heads for Victory also received pizzas while they camped at Allen Fieldhouse for front-row seats in the student section.
Stanley's crew isn't the only group of students at KU that have been used as marketing tools lately. When the KU Swim Club hosted its annual home swim meet at Robinson Gymnasium this year, they found themselves in a predicament. The club was in charge of hosting a horde of swimmers from Missouri, Nebraska, and Texas who had built up an appetite after competing in the meet. Jamie Padzensky, a member of the KU Swim Club, came up with an ambitiously simple plan to feed the group of famished swimmers after the meet.
Businesses have utilized college students in Lawrence for cheap advertisement in a tight economy. Video by Scott Pelan.
"I went into Chipotle and asked for free burritos," Padzensky said.
The store's assistant manager, Taylor White, saw the perks of the deal and agreed to donate 100 free chicken and steak burritos, nearly $700 worth of food, to the swimmers. In return, fans and athletes at the meet not only saw the large Chipotle banner draped across the high-dive, but got to taste the product first-hand. For White, it was a no-brainer that fit perfectly with the company's advertising schemes.
"This is our target market, college students," White said. "What we've decided to do as a company is to spend our advertising money very wisely. We're not running television commercials."
While 23rd Street Brewery and Chipotle have been relatively new on the scene of using college students as cheap advertisement, Francis Sporting Goods has been using KU students as walking billboards for more than 60 years. According to Brent Hill, Store Manager, Francis Sporting Goods sells around 1,200 t-shirts per year with its company logo across the front predominantly to KU students for $5 per shirt. Hill expects sales of the t-shirts to surge when the new crop of KU students arrive for the fall semester.
Crocs gives KU students free apparel in return for running
events like this around campus. Photo courtesy of Maria Beg.
"Here in about another 3 weeks, we'll have people coming in that don't even know who we are or what we are, but they've seen them up on campus and they've got to come in and get one," Hill said.
Thanks to those t-shirt sales, the store's logo has been seen throughout the world. According to Hill, John Francis, the store's founder, went on a family vacation to Hawaii and found his store's logo on the t-shirts of each player in a sand volleyball game. Francis Sporting Goods' marketing plan has worked well.
"People are paying $5 to advertise for you," Hill said.
While not every company has as perfect a set up as Francis Sporting Goods, many are finding the benefit to using students to spread the word at a minimal price. For students, the benefits are often worth the work, or lack thereof.
Andrew Stanley and the KU Heads for Victory were perfectly content getting free food and blow-up faces to cheer on their team.
The "KU Heads For Victory" received free food for
allowing 23rd Street Brewery to put its logo on the
back of their blown-up faces of Kansas basketball
players. Photo courtesy of Andrew Stanley
"They kept falling apart," Stanley said. "They were hard to make and expensive to print.
Stanley needed more durable blow-up faces before it broke his bank. That's where 23rd Street Brewery came in. The local restaurant offered to make Stanley and his friends in the "KU Heads for Victory" group more sturdy blow-up faces, as long as the brewery could stamp its logo on the back of the heads for all of Allen Fieldhouse to see.
With Stanley and the KU Heads for Victory, 23rd Street Brewery found a marketing campaign far less expensive than constantly running television commercials or newspaper advertisements. This trend of businesses using college students for advertisement is peaking a face of its own onto the University of Kansas campus in tough economic times.
In return for displaying its company logo to thousands of hungry fans, 23rd Street Brewery gave Stanley and his friends $50 to use at the restaurant after every home men's basketball game as well. Stanley said the KU Heads for Victory also received pizzas while they camped at Allen Fieldhouse for front-row seats in the student section.
Stanley's crew isn't the only group of students at KU that have been used as marketing tools lately. When the KU Swim Club hosted its annual home swim meet at Robinson Gymnasium this year, they found themselves in a predicament. The club was in charge of hosting a horde of swimmers from Missouri, Nebraska, and Texas who had built up an appetite after competing in the meet. Jamie Padzensky, a member of the KU Swim Club, came up with an ambitiously simple plan to feed the group of famished swimmers after the meet.
Businesses have utilized college students in Lawrence for cheap advertisement in a tight economy. Video by Scott Pelan.
"I went into Chipotle and asked for free burritos," Padzensky said.
The store's assistant manager, Taylor White, saw the perks of the deal and agreed to donate 100 free chicken and steak burritos, nearly $700 worth of food, to the swimmers. In return, fans and athletes at the meet not only saw the large Chipotle banner draped across the high-dive, but got to taste the product first-hand. For White, it was a no-brainer that fit perfectly with the company's advertising schemes.
"This is our target market, college students," White said. "What we've decided to do as a company is to spend our advertising money very wisely. We're not running television commercials."
While 23rd Street Brewery and Chipotle have been relatively new on the scene of using college students as cheap advertisement, Francis Sporting Goods has been using KU students as walking billboards for more than 60 years. According to Brent Hill, Store Manager, Francis Sporting Goods sells around 1,200 t-shirts per year with its company logo across the front predominantly to KU students for $5 per shirt. Hill expects sales of the t-shirts to surge when the new crop of KU students arrive for the fall semester.
Crocs gives KU students free apparel in return for running
events like this around campus. Photo courtesy of Maria Beg.
"Here in about another 3 weeks, we'll have people coming in that don't even know who we are or what we are, but they've seen them up on campus and they've got to come in and get one," Hill said.
Thanks to those t-shirt sales, the store's logo has been seen throughout the world. According to Hill, John Francis, the store's founder, went on a family vacation to Hawaii and found his store's logo on the t-shirts of each player in a sand volleyball game. Francis Sporting Goods' marketing plan has worked well.
"People are paying $5 to advertise for you," Hill said.
While not every company has as perfect a set up as Francis Sporting Goods, many are finding the benefit to using students to spread the word at a minimal price. For students, the benefits are often worth the work, or lack thereof.
Andrew Stanley and the KU Heads for Victory were perfectly content getting free food and blow-up faces to cheer on their team.
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