TV and media experts tie up for student promotion

VPSurf and SubTV have announced a collaboration that will give advertisers a new way to promote their products and services to 1.65 million British university students every week.

The first advertiser to promote its products to this key audience is Advanced Payment Solutions (APS), the leading provider of prepaid cards in the UK.

SubTV is an interactive TV channel operating Britain's largest out-of-home television network in 97 of the UK's student union bars.

Its media network has the ability to reach 32% of all Britain's 18-24 year olds every week across all regions of the UK.

VPSurf is a creative media company that develops engaging and fun games and advertising content, in this case specifically for the SubTV channel.

Central to this collaboration is the relationship that SubTV has already established with both their viewing audience and each of the 97 university student unions in the network.

Each union in the SubTV network has on average seven large plasma screens and high-quality sound, showing a mix of terrestrial, satellite and bespoke programmes.

Each union bar is researched separately to allow for intelligent programming to coincide with the busiest times and changing atmosphere of the bar throughout the day.

SubTV provides teams of promotional staff in each venue who are on hand to give out samples and application forms.

They talk to the students to gain their feedback on the brands, products and services being promoted.

Such human interaction means that other static promotional material in the venue, such as beer mats and posters, are unable to compete.

The new approach is being launched with the 'Golden Kicks' football game and APS' Cashplus prepaid product.

The collaboration provides great branding opportunities, not only in the advertisements but also within the actual creative of the game, including the billboards on the barriers around the football pitch.

The game will be shown at the busiest times in the individual bars in SubTV's network every day for two months.

Students will be encouraged to play the game via their mobiles using low-rate text messaging.

As students participate, they are encouraged to collect a product application form and the on-site marketing team will also actively distribute material to the students in the bars.

The real benefit for the advertiser is that the revenue generated from the text messaging covers the cost of the game, creative and content development.

Tim Dean, head of market development at Advanced Payment Solutions, said: "Our Cashplus product is a great fit with the student market reached by this approach." "The prepaid card gives students a 'virtual' bank account which they can use to shop online and in-store, withdraw funds from ATMs and accept incoming payments - such as last minute top-ups from parents." "And as the card is prepaid, it's a great budgeting tool because students can only spend the amount they have loaded into the account, so there are no late payment fees or interest to pay." "We were attracted to this approach because we can reach many students at once for a surprisingly low investment." "Crucially, the Golden Kicks game is really good fun and students enjoy playing it, giving them a positive impression of our brand." Content can be delivered to the SubTV channel in real time so that news, sports results and even the results of university bar games and SMS votes can be shown as they happen.

Other content that VPSurf has developed and can brand includes extreme sports, travel and adventure, music and lifestyle programming.

EPOS and SMS data give precise information on specific sales and promotional results.

George Butler, director at VPSurf, said: "This is a great opportunity for any marketer who wants to reach the student market." "SubTV's extensive network, combined with our creative content gives marketers the opportunity to engage fully with the entertainment on offer." "Whether it's a promotion, sponsorship or advertising, we will work together to create innovative and compelling games and content." Craig Harris, sales director at SubTV, said: "We're really excited about this collaboration." "Our trials of using this medium for marketing in our network of student bars across the country have had really positive responses." "Working with VPSurf, we believe we've developed an interactive and cost-effective approach to advertising that will be hugely appealing to companies who want to reach this audience now and in the future.".

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