Tuesday, May 09, 2006
mtvU
I want my mtvU!
Unbeknownst to me until recently, MTV and its advertisers and partners are targeting the 18- to 22-year old college audience with mtvU--a television network for college students that broadcasts to more than 700 college campuses across the country.
Touting itself as "your channel for everything college," mtvU features "music you won't see anywhere else, updates from MTV News and CBS News produced exclusively for the college audience, information on how to score killer jobs and internships, the 411 on traveling abroad and everything else that makes college...well, college."
So, I had to ask myself if this had existed when I was in college, what (if anything) would have made me watch it? And while I don't know how successful the effort has been for MTV, I have to commend them on the effort. They're certainly trying to encourage viewership by making expansive college tours. Wouldn't you watch for the opportunity to see yourself or your friends on TV? After all that's what's led to the success of reality (or as I like to call it TMI) TV. mtvU also offers plenty of opportunities to win prizes, cash, scholarships and such. And that's certainly a motivater for a college student looking for beer money.
So, I guess only time will tell if the network's marketing efforts pay off.
And speaking of marketing, mtvU--following in the footsteps of the Apprentice and others--uses its show Quad Squads to pit two teams (in this case, of students) against each other to take what they've learned in the classroom and apply it in real world scenarios. The network recently challenged a team of students from Auburn University and the University of Alabama to create a marketing campaign for their client, Snickers.
In the six-week academic challenge, the 4-person teams comprised of PR, marketing and mass com majors were charged with creating an event on campus that tied the Snickers into the tagline "Snickers Satisfies." Executives from Snickers chose the winner after each team made a presentation. The winners each received a $2,500 scholarship and a year's supply of Snickers. (I guess that's better than Ramen Noodles.)
If anyone has any questions about which team of brilliant, well-educated students won the competition (as if there would be any question), let's just say that the winning team worked with the school's architecture students to construct a replica of the Toomer's Corner oak tree out of Snickers bars and used the wrappers in lieu of toilet paper to roll the tree--a true Auburn tradition after any victory, especially one over 'Bama. :-)
Unbeknownst to me until recently, MTV and its advertisers and partners are targeting the 18- to 22-year old college audience with mtvU--a television network for college students that broadcasts to more than 700 college campuses across the country.
Touting itself as "your channel for everything college," mtvU features "music you won't see anywhere else, updates from MTV News and CBS News produced exclusively for the college audience, information on how to score killer jobs and internships, the 411 on traveling abroad and everything else that makes college...well, college."
So, I had to ask myself if this had existed when I was in college, what (if anything) would have made me watch it? And while I don't know how successful the effort has been for MTV, I have to commend them on the effort. They're certainly trying to encourage viewership by making expansive college tours. Wouldn't you watch for the opportunity to see yourself or your friends on TV? After all that's what's led to the success of reality (or as I like to call it TMI) TV. mtvU also offers plenty of opportunities to win prizes, cash, scholarships and such. And that's certainly a motivater for a college student looking for beer money.
So, I guess only time will tell if the network's marketing efforts pay off.
And speaking of marketing, mtvU--following in the footsteps of the Apprentice and others--uses its show Quad Squads to pit two teams (in this case, of students) against each other to take what they've learned in the classroom and apply it in real world scenarios. The network recently challenged a team of students from Auburn University and the University of Alabama to create a marketing campaign for their client, Snickers.
In the six-week academic challenge, the 4-person teams comprised of PR, marketing and mass com majors were charged with creating an event on campus that tied the Snickers into the tagline "Snickers Satisfies." Executives from Snickers chose the winner after each team made a presentation. The winners each received a $2,500 scholarship and a year's supply of Snickers. (I guess that's better than Ramen Noodles.)
If anyone has any questions about which team of brilliant, well-educated students won the competition (as if there would be any question), let's just say that the winning team worked with the school's architecture students to construct a replica of the Toomer's Corner oak tree out of Snickers bars and used the wrappers in lieu of toilet paper to roll the tree--a true Auburn tradition after any victory, especially one over 'Bama. :-)
# posted by Anonymous @ 8:45 PM 
