FEATURE

V
By Sara R. Hillis, Texas^A&^ Univ^ ty-Commerce
Say What?
6 Ways to Create Verbal Buzz on Your Campus
e the feeling of excitement that encapsulates a campus a few
efore a huge program. Students are buzzing with the news
event, asking their friends if they will be there. However, it
seems like there are only one or two times a year when I get the vibe
that students are really excited to show up for an event. Other times,
I hear that students didn't even know about a program and really
wish they could have been there. Word-of-mouth offers a solution to
both problems, providing an avenue to inform more students about
programs and to make your events a stimulating topic of conversation
for students.
28 www.naca.org SEPTEMBER 2007
Campus Activities Programming
Most Powerful Form of Marketing
Word-of-mouth is the most powerful form of marketing
in the world. It is 10 times more effective than other media,
such as television or print ads (Hughes, 2005). That atone
should be motivation to pursue great word-of-mouth
campaigns. Typically, when planning an event, we use many
static forms of advertising. That means that the promotion
is in one spot and the message of what we are trying to
communicate is relayed to one person and it stops there. A
student may see a poster or banner for an event and note it,
so you have affected each person that noticed your poster on
a crowded bulletin board. Imagine if every person who heard
a bout your event or saw your poster told five of their friends.
The potential effect is that word-of-mouth increases your
attendance by five times the normal level! Understanding
this principle can give a program chair an idea ofthe value
of using word-of-mouth to promote an event; however,
it doesn't describe how word-of-mouth works or how to
guarantee a higher attendance at your event.
Something to Talk About
The solution to the challenge of creating great word-of-
mouth campaigns is marketing your events so that the event
and the promotion capture media attention. Articles in your
student and local newspaper and in the local news are free
and will greatly increase the awareness ofyour event. The key
is knowing what people want to read and talk about.
People enjoy talking about themselves or about things
that make them seem "in the know." Celebrity gossip is one
classic example in which people feel the need to know the
latest trends and news stories. When Britney Spears shaved
her head, it was all over the national news and on the cover
of US-4 Today. In a society where knowing the latest celebrity
gossip keeps you a step ahead ofyour peers, Brit's new hair-
do is newsworthy.
Humans are creatures ofthe spoken word. In the days
before presses that could mass-produce books, stories were
told from generation to generation and being known as a
great storyteller was an honor. The storytelling culture is such
a part of our history that it is ingrained in our modern day
culture (Hughes, 2005). Most of us desire the attention of our
peer group. Having a story to share or a noteworthy piece of
news gives you the moment to be the center of attention.
"The entire crux of word-of-mouth marketing is giving
people a great story to tell" (Hughes, p. 26). People love to
talk and your marketing has to get them interested enough
to talk about your event and tell their friends. The biggest
challenge of using word-of-mouth marketing is control.
Word-of-mouth tends to take off and spread like wildfire or
never make it past the front door ofyour programming board
meetings.
Six Conversation Starters
According to Mark Hughes, the author of Buzzmarketing,
there are six conversation starters that will get people talking
about your event, program or idea: The Taboo, The Unusual,
The Outrageous, The Hilarious, The Remarkable and The
Secrets (Hughes, 2005).
So, to get people to share the details of your events like it is
the latest celebrity gossip or news that will change their lives,
use Hughes' six conversation starters to get them buzzing
about you! The fundamental element of word-of-mouth
marketing is not just telling other students about the event,
it is advertising and promoting your event in such a way that
the advertising becomes a story people want to tell.
Word'Of-mouth is the most powerful form
of marketing in the v^orid. It is 10 times
more effective thon other media, such as
television or print ads (Hughes. 200s).
1 . The Taboo (Sex, Lies, Bathroom Humor)
On the college campus, the idea of talking about what
is taboo truly comes to life. Especially with what may be
perceived as a boring program, introduce the taboo and you
will get peopletalking. Shampoo is nota particular thrilling
product, but Herbal Essences has introduced an element of
the taboo into their advertising with images of a woman
in the shower washing her hair in extreme delight. Herbal
Essences played on the closeness in wording between organic
and orgasmic (Hughes, 2005).
Marshall Miller and Dorian Solot have successfully built
an entire program on a topic many individuals perceive as
taboo. Their program "I Love Female Orgasm" is a success on
conservative and liberal campuses across the United States.
Miller and Solot help campuses that bring their program get
word-of-mouth marketing started by providing a certain
number of free buttons and shirts with "I Female Orgasm"
printed on them.
When bringing this program to campus last spring, as soon
as we had students wearing buttons and shirts on campus,
students were in my office asking where they could get their
own shirts or buttons. We also ordered additional buttons
and gave them out with flyers with information about the
event. Miller and Solot suggest when giving the buttons out
that you require people to put the buttons on immediately
to ensure that they are seen by other students. At Texas A&M
University-Commerce, their program was a huge success with
more than 300 students in attendance and students raving
about the program afterwards. The sheer power of word-of-
mouth in promotingthisevent was evident on our campus
and it is due to the taboo aspect ofthe program's title.
Don't be afraid to make a boring program taboo. While
Female Orgasm falls right into this category, think about
programs that may not be as outrageous and consider ways,
like the Herbal Essences commercial, to promote them in a
taboo manner.
2. The Unusual
The Unusual is one ofthe conversation starters that
programming boards tend to grasp quickly and do regularly
to promote events. One ofthe most popular trends right now
is having programming board mascots, which are separate
from the university mascot. Having someone dress in the
costume ofyour mascot and walk around campus handing
out flyers and taking pictures with people is a great way to
get conversation going. If you are on a campus where you
cannot brand yourself with your own mascot or don't have
Campus Activities Programming SEPTEMBER 2007
www.naca.org 29
the budget to purchase the costume, see if you can work with
your school to use the official mascot once or twice during
the year to promote events.
Other unusual ideas include decorating an office golf cart
and driving it around campus to tell students walking to class
about the event. Having the members ofthe programming
board car-chalkthe windows of their cars about an event also
makes an impression. There are hundreds of unusual things
you can do to promote an event.
The solution to the challenge of creating
great word-of-mouth campaigns is
marketing your events so that the event and
the promotion capture media attention.
Articles in your student and local newspaper
and in the local news are free and will
greatly increase the awareness of your event.
The key is knowing what people want to
read and talk about.
3. The Outrageous
When creating promotions around something being
outrageous, be cautious not to be outrageous Just for
the sake of being outrageous. Make su re there is some
connection to your program. If not, someone may remember
that they saw water balloons being launched across campus,
but not remember that it was to promote a movie festival.
Now, combine a water balloon-volleyball tournament
with an outdoor viewing of The Waterboy ar\d you have an
outrageous stunt that ties in with your program.
4. The Hilarious
The truly hilarious is one ofthe hardest conversation
starters to achieve. However, with most campuses bringing
in several comedians a year, there should be numerous
opportunities for using the hilarious to promote an event.
I had heard an idea from one school in which they put a
student out in a general mall area sitting on a toilet holding
a campus newspaper that had an advertisement for an
upcoming event on the back ofthe paper. At a university
where I previously worked, I kept trying to get a student
brave enough to use this as a way to promote their event. The
coordinator for the comedy committee finally bit. The day of
the event, he was found sitting outside the student center,
paper in hand for the event that night and sitting on a toilet.
! could not help but watch people's reactions. The students
on the comedy committee took it a step further. One of them
heckled the student sitting on the toilet. While we knew that
this was staged, the students walking past did not. For a few
days afterthe event, you could hear students still talking
about the guy sitting on the toilet outside the student center.
5. The Remarkable
For a college campus, the appearance of a celebrity is
always remarkable. People are drawn to those they have seen
on TV or heard on the radio.
While I working as a graduate assistant at the University
of Arkansas, the programming board decided to bring Mr.
Beldingfrom Saved by the Bell io campus. I had grown up
watching Saved by ihe e//and loved the show. Even as I
got older, I was always excited to find the show in reruns.
However, I was doubtful ofthe appeal Dennis Haskins, who
played Mr. Belding, would have to college students. Although
I jokingly made fun ofthe program, as we went to various
student leader sessions and gave them a list of events
the programming board had planned for the semester, I
discovered more and more excitement was building around
Mr. Belding's pending visit. Word spread about the event and
advertising was supplemented with posters and banners.
When the night of the program arrived, the ballroom in
the student center was packed with more than 600 students.
They filled the chairs, were sitting on the floor in front of
the stage and lined the walls ofthe ballroom. It was truly
standing room only! Beyond that, students were dressed as
characters from the show and even waited in line for up to
two hours for the chance of a brief meeting with Mr. Belding
and to take a picture.
Also fitting in this category are programs featuring
distinctive people or others who have accomplished
remarkablethings. Make sure when marketinga lecturer
or someone else who has made contributions to society to
ensure that their accomplishments are pointed out in your
promotion. Don't Just list their name. Many students may
not identify with the name of a particular person, but they
may well be drawn to hearing a former director ofthe CIA
speaking on campus.
6. The Secrets (Both Kept and Revealed)
One ofthe best examples of using secrets as a conversation
starter on a college campus can be found in the article "1
Love It When a [Marketing] Plan Comes Together" in the
November/December 2004 issue of Programming. Author
Adam Peck shares how a school where he previously worked
successfully implemented a secrecy campaign.
" ... my students and I once spread a rumor that the fire
marshal had limited the number of chairs to be placed in a
given venue to 600 and that anyone who arrived after the
capacity had been reached would be turned away. This was,
in fact, truethe posted capacity on the wall (set by the fire
marshal) was 600. We expected a strong interest in the event,
but an attendance of 600 would have been almost double
our normal crowd. On the night of the event, nearly our
entire on-campus population, almost 600 people, turned out
for it. Some came as much as two hours early! By creating the
perception that not everyone would be able to participate,
we were able to greatly increase interest in the event" (p. 76).
At the university where I am currently employed, the
programming board decided to sponsor a concert six weeks
after my first day on the Job. Forthose of you who have done
any concert planning, you know this is a brief period in which
to work out all the specifics of such an event. We spent a
few days talking to our students to find someone in our
price range who would get the student body interested and
committed to coming to attending. We knew the group we
chose would attract a significant interest from our student
body, but we were not able to proceed with any formal
advertising since there was not a signed contract yet.
Not wanting to waste any time, I dropped the news to
a few students that the band would be here and on what
32 www.naca.org SEPTEMBER 2007 Campus Activities Programming
date, but that I could not say anything because we were
not holding a signed contract in our hands. We were able to
get students talking about the event and our phones were
ringing with people wanting details about the concert before
we ever put out a poster or flyer. The night ofthe event, we
had more than 1,500 students show up for the concert!
Secrecy campaigns can be highly effective. Just keep in
mind that while you might only release part of a rumoras a
secrecy campaign, make sure the rumor or secret is true. Also,
be cautious not to use the secrecy campaign with every event
and do not use the same type of secret each time.
A Word of Caution
Before you dive into word-of-mouth marketing, though,
here is a word of caution. Make sure that no matter which
conversation starter or idea your group pursues, be aware of
your campus climate. The last thing you want is a negative
view ofthe programming board. If you don't handle things
appropriately, everyone may be talking
about you, but perhaps not in a way
that is going to increase attendance at
your events. Also, remember to push the
boundaries, but keep in mind the need
for ethical behavior, if you are ever in
doubt, seek the advice of your advisor.
"One ofthe secrets of word-of-mouth
is that you're speaking face-to-face,
which gives you what tons of marketers
are trying to get everyday: attention.
Face-to-face attention competes with no
other media, grabbing undivided mind
share" {Hughes, p 25).
Face-to-face attention is the key to
word-of-mouth marketing. College
students are much more likely tocme
toan event if they feel they have been
personally invited. Tell the people in your
classes about events, the people you
walk to class with, and whoever may
sit down at a table next to you in the
cafeteria. If you are offering interesting
and quality events, students are going
to be glad to know about them. I hear
repeatedly that students did not know
about events until after they happened.
By using a more deliberate word-of-
mouth campaign, more students can be
reached on the limited marketing budget
you may have for an event.
About the Author
Sara R. Hillis is coordinator of New Media & Programs at Texas A&M
University-Commerce. She previously served as a graduate assistant
for marketing/programs in the Office of Student Involvement and
Leadership at the University of Arkansas. In NACA, she is currently
serving as the Graphics Competition coordinator for the 2007
NACA Central Regional Conference Committee. She has presented
educational sessions on the national and regional levels and was
the winner of several NACA Central Graphics Competition awards in
2005.
References
Hughes, Mark. (2005). Buzzmarketing. New
York: Penguin Group.
Peck, Adam (2004) "I love it when a marketing
plan comes together," Campus Activities
Programming, 57(5), 72-77.
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