How does a brand reach a college student with their message these days? With multiple outside stimulants - cellphones, Facebook, studying - and the fact that most college students are doing away with e-mail and TV’s, an advertiser needs something to grab the buying eyes of students. And in 2011, digital signage is quickly shaping up to be the most effective and desired way to reach students - according to students themselves. A new study released by Northern Sky Research, more than 2,200 academic campuses (totaling over 13,000 screens) will add digital signage in 2011. That’s up from roughly 1500 campuses who added screens in 2010.

According to ecampusnews.com, students have actually let their schools IT department know that they want to receive their information from broadcasts on screens across the campuses. The ability to customize information per screen (in certain buildings) is a great advantage to having screens on campus... and making college campus screens more desirable for advertisers.

rVue recently unveiled a new way for advertisers to search out target demographics, taking the traditional impression search one step further by leveraging the audience mindset of certain types of consumers. How does this work? rVue has done extensive industry research and has determine the top ad spending categories. We then determined the types of audience mindsets, or ways of thinking, which pertain to a particular type of brand; because while a consumer may fit your demographic of age, income and gender, they might not be in the right mindset at the right time for a brands ad.

A college student is one of the most desired target audiences and rVue helps advertisers zero in on the right time to reach them. A quick look at the University of Central Florida’s newspaper (my alma-mater), the Central Florida Future, quickly reveals what types of brands are trying to reach this coveted demographic - but if they were advertised on digital signage networks, would they be speaking to the right audience mindset? Let’s take a look at a few of the brands:

American Apparel: This falls in to the Retail category within rVue’s Mindsets, offering over 72 million impression to brands. A brand like American Apparel, who offers a popular line of both men’s and women’s basic apparel, is a great fit for advertising on college campuses, especially if there is a location near the school. In addition, consumers can be directed to americanapparel.com through the use of QR codes, coupons or other interactive features.

BlueCross Blue Shield: The Insurance audience mindset in rVue offers more than 60 million impressions. Advertisers may make more of an impression on college students in health clubs, pharmacies or on billboards, though. While students are on campus, they’re likely focused on one of two things: class/study or socializing. The mindset while on campus is probably not geared toward, “Is my insurance deductible too high?” In addition, most college students are still covered under their parents insurance plans, so this may not even be a mindset a college student is likely in, altogether.

Groupon: Groupon is a goldmine for college students. Local deals on everything from food, services, drinks and just about anything else that falls under rVue’s Lifestyle Services mindset category. There are almost 78 million impressions geared towards the everyday life services category, with college campuses being a premier location for advertisers within this category to get their brand noticed.

Quizno’s: Quick service restaurants are always looking to reach college students, especially if there are locations on campus. The Dining audience mindset in rVue offers over 75 million impressions to consumers who are likely to be considering stopping for food within a short time frame. In addition to college campuses, nightclubs/bars, malls and digital billboards are ideal ways to reach hungry consumers.

With the help of rVue’s audience mindsets, brands can better reach the right audience at the right time. And in 2011, college campuses are a great place for brands geared towards students to advertise to.

Ashley DiVeronica - Digital Media Strategist