The Promotional Idea Showcase - Spring 2001 - Updated Quarterly

As anyone who’s ever tried already knows, Generation X is notoriously difficult to reach via traditional marketing. Not only have its members been submersed in advertising messages literally since birth, but many also harbor distrust and contempt toward advertising. Once they become college students, however, things tend to get a little easier. It’s no secret that, in general, college kids love free stuff.

Counselor Merry Jo King kept this in mind when planning a campaign for Buy ’N Time’s New-Phon, a pre-paid home phone service, in conjunction with Southern Illinois University (SIU). “The athletic department was very disappointed in the students’ turnout for its basketball games, and was looking for sponsors,” she says. At the same time, even though Buy ’N Time’s pre-paid phonecards were already available to SIU students through vending machines on campus, it wanted students to know that it offered more than phone cards – specifically, it wanted to create awareness of its new service. To King, the solution was obvious; both clients could help each other.

By way of explanation, pre-paid home service works similarly to phonecards: Consumers buy a certain amount of minutes and use them as needed. When the time runs out, so does their call. The basic dif-ference is that instead of having the time stored on a card that can be used anywhere, pre-paid home service works directly from a home phone.

King worked with a promotional consultant to devise a program that would work best to achieve both relatively unrelated goals. The promotion was accomplished in three steps. First, it was decided that a pre-paid phone card would be given to the first 500 students to arrive at a specific SIU basketball game. Second, along with the phone card, the students would also get a chance to win cash in a halftime contest. Last, the university agreed to promote the event around campus, both in print and on its radio station.

The contest portion had a phone tie-in, too – students receiving the free phone cards were also given a numbered ticket as they entered the stadium. During halftime, the numbers on three randomly selected tickets were called and the students holding them were asked to come down to the gym floor, where three phones were set up. Each chose a phone and lifted the receiver to reveal a cash prize – $250, $150 or $100.

Not only did SIU enjoy its highest-ever attendance of students at a basketball game and Buy ’N Time create awareness of its new service, but both organizations generated a large amount of goodwill within their key primary audiences.

“The university loved the spirit the promotion generated, the students enjoyed the free phone cards and New-Phon’s new local access benefited from the publicity,” King says, adding that the promotion worked so well, SIU and Buy ’N Time are planning similar programs for future games.

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