Reaching new students can earn brands loyalty before competitors get a chance
University freshers are eager consumers without established brand loyalties, so gaining their love at a formative time can lead to lifelong relationships.
You may not have heard of Dig-In yet, but ask almost any UK student or recent graduate and they’ll tell you that they have.
Dig-In is a partner to 185 universities and higher education institutions, through which we reach close to half a million new students every year. From multinationals through to innovative startups, we connect brands we believe care about and want to understand Gen Z.
In September alone we placed over 5 million samples into the hands of students, and through the Dig-In app they provided us with over 1 million survey responses.
Our Freshers Bags are a core part of the first day of university for nearly every UK student. Dig-In and our brand partners touch students on one of the most memorable days of their lives.
A student arrives at University as a brand-new consumer, yet to have formed meaningful brand relationships.
Our research proves that when a student starts university their minds are most open to trying new brands as they experience their first taste of financial independence.
In other words, this is when they make their first and lasting brand choices.
This open-minded attitude decreases from this point forward as their longer-term behaviours and habits start to form.
Dig-In data also tells us there are many products students will be buying for the first time. They are leaving their family households and their parents brand choices behind them.
Household brands should be focusing their efforts on winning over these young consumers, in order to:
- Reach Gen Z before your competitors
- Win their custom early
- Build a strong relationship from this moment to form your future loyal customer base.
Understanding what makes this generation tick and reaching them before your competitors gains early loyalty on which brands can build lasting relationships with the student market.
It doesn’t stop there. Dig-In gives our brand partners exclusive access to half a million students at any point in the academic year, with regular sampling campaigns and millions of engagements on our app.
2020 has emphasised the importance of real-life engagements in young consumer’s lives, with 80% telling us they miss tangible brand experiences.
Human decisions are driven by emotion. Don’t stop at one: engage as many emotions and senses as you can. Students can see, feel, smell,and even hear and taste the Dig-In Bags and sampling activities we put on throughout the year.
The position we sit in comes with a great deal of responsibility and with what we are seeing and hearing from our student members and university partners our role is more important than ever.
Over 100,000 students have taken part in our ongoing mental health study now entering its third year and the trend is deeply concerning. Early indications from the 2020 intake suggests a significant acceleration in the number of young adults suffering from mental health conditions. It’s a pandemic within a pandemic.
Dig-In is often the first friend students meet at University, and we are there for them every step of the way keeping student wellbeing at the heart of everything we do.
After the success of Freshers 2020, there are more opportunities than ever in 2021 to reach and understand Gen Z.
Our clients recognise that it’s far easier and more cost effective to build brand loyalty and affinity with new consumers, rather than trying to change purchasing habits once they’ve been established later in life.
It’s simple. It’s cost effective. And it’s proven to deliver immediate and long-term results.
Get in touch to find out more: enquiries@digin.co.uk
