Full Frontal PR Report
Ryan A. Schradin

Setting aside images of Animal House, companies now recognize what Anheuser Busch and Dominoes have known about for years: The college market is one of the most profitable targets for public relations and marketing efforts.

So get your number 2’s sharpened…it’s time for a lesson in effectively reaching this (spending) group!

Freshman Orientation

Thanks to the Net, getting started is the easiest part of PR outreach to colleges. Using your favorite search site, do some preliminary research into which colleges and universities are ripe for your messaging. You’ll find information about campus size, student enrollment, demographics and campus history in the Admissions or About sections of any campus’ Web site. (This is also a good place to sneak a peek at the academic calendar—more on that later.)

While perusing the site, stop by the Student Life page for information on the student-run newspaper. If you’re lucky, it will include a link to their homepage and the editor’s name and contact info.

Once you identify the schools right for you, it’s time to construct a pitch or release.

Infamous One-Page Paper

When deciding to write a release or pitch letter to college media, consider:

1) Is this hard or soft news?
2) Is there a legitimate actionable item (interview opportunity, product demo)?

If you are pitching soft news requiring a reporter to interview an executive or take a product demo, write an interesting and concise pitch letter. If you are pitching hard news that doesn’t require an interview or other action by the editor or reporter, just give them the release.

A hard news release is likely to receive ink in college media because it keeps an editor from having to assign, and a reporter from having to research or write, the actual story (news flash: they’re kind of lazy). College students have a ton on their plates, what with school work and social “obligations,” and so giving them pertinent news in a form that can be pasted onto their publication gives them more time to work on a research paper, pledge a fraternity, or sip a 40 while watching The Golden Girls on Lifetime.

Keep pitches concise. Sounds banal and you’ve heard it before, but face it, when the editor has to read all of Machiavelli’s The Prince in five hours for Humanities 101, a short pitch is truly appreciated. Try to incorporate humor and even, dare we say, a bit of youth into your headline. If you’re a little square, have a younger, cooler and more in-touch colleague give it a try. Remember that college folks want to get your brand. They want to feel like you getthem, too.

Final Exams & (Applause) Commencement

Since students have to be on campus to write an article, check the academic calendar (Web site, remember?). This calendar displays when breaks, holidays, major exams, and even hard-to-prepare-for parties are going down. Don’t send out releases and make follow-up calls on these days, or you risk being berated by a post-party animal.

If school is in session, best to fire off story ideas and/or releases via e-mail to the editor and follow up by phone.

Contacting college students at the school paper’s office can feel like trying to nail tapioca to the ceiling. Remember that college types keep way different schedules than professionals. Follow-up calls in the morning are probably not going to result in more than a machine message, and students are in classes in the early afternoon. Call later in the evening, after most classes end, and be persistent. Weekends work.

When contact is finally established, be sure your pitch is centered on how students at that school will benefit from knowing about your company, organization, or product. And using it! Knowledge of trends is invaluable, as is specific knowledge about a campus. Knowing that a school has won a berth in the Final Four will make your pitch about a computerized basketball shoe more appealing. Being aware of U2’s upcoming concert might incite a joke in your pitch about Bono’s newly-announced clothing line. Just as you tune your pitches to any journalist according to their environment, so with college media.

When all is said and done, reap the benefits of increased student awareness, allowing you to take advantage of enormous buzz and buying power from this cliquey and influential cadre. Ask for a digital copy of the paper, and request some be sent in the mail (if students know what the US Postal Service is).

Oh, and good luck with that persistence thing.

Ryan Schradin is an account executive at Rho Lamda Mu (RLM) and is right now lovingly sipping a ‘40’ while watching reruns of Golden Girls.