Sunday, December 02, 2007

Marketing to College Students who are "Clueless" about Marketing

There was an interesting article in AdAge recently about 10 things college students don’t know about marketing. The article was titled, “Millennials: Clued In or Clueless” (Nov 19, 2007, registration required). According to the author, Carol Phillips, college students don’t know that the “average household income does not support a cleaning lady” or that “retailers, not manufacturers, set the price.”

The article describes each of the 10 briefly and provides – in one or two sentences – the implications for marketers. It’s a useful piece for a 101 on marketing as well as for getting a better glimpse of today’s college students.

The only one I raised an eyebrow about is the one that says college students don’t know “it’s illegal for ads to lie.” Granted, I am a GenX and am thus highly skeptical of ads. And I majored in advertising – knowing I would never be an advertiser. But come on, no lying in advertising? No stretching the truth even a little? No misleading claims? No pretending the blue blade cuts better or that the right beer can get you girls?

Well, I feel so much better now. I can keep my finger off the mute button when the TV commercials come on. I can even let my kids watch them.

So that’s why the sun was shinning brighter today (cue sappy background music).

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You do know that the sun is shining brighter because you used that new window cleaner?

Christie Goodman, APR said...

And I got two for the price of one with purchase of a set of fondu sticks!