Blue Chip Marketing Helps O2 Lock Students into the Brand
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When O2 were looking for ways to engage a freshers audience, embarking on independence and keen to start making their own purchasing decisions, two things sprang to mind: shopping and socializing.
Which is why Blue Chip Marketing created ‘The Dog & Bone’, O2’s very own pub that is touring major shopping centres in the UK between 22nd September and 6th October. The experiential stand is in residence for highly popular student lock-in events – where undergraduates get the whole shopping centre to themselves for an evening in order to take advantage of countless discounts and offers.
Any students taking part will be offered a small sample of Thatchers Cider or ShinDigger pale ale, given the opportunity to relax and listen to music in an authentic pub setting, and receive branded beer mats communicating the latest offers to which they are entitled.
“Between now and 10th October, any student signing up to an O2 Refresh contract can not only get 20% off their minutes, texts and data, but will also receive a FREE 16-25 RailCard worth £30,” says Account Executive Sam Fletcher. “We wanted to take this unique deal straight to the target market in a fun and engaging way, so a travelling pub felt like the perfect vehicle.”
An interactive lock and key game offers students the chance to instantly win travel-themed tech prizes, and a large-scale feature wall forms part of a selfie & social media competition that will give the event reach beyond the centres themselves.
Over 35,000 students are expected to attend the student lock-in nights, with many more visiting the shopping centres and Dog & Bone throughout the day.
“The brief was to target a more affluent, higher-flying student demographic”, says account director Linda Issa. “Our research showed that Russell Group Universities attract a majority of students within this segmentation, hence our choice of locations near these establishments. This is also why we brought in ShinDigger as our craft ale partner, to fit perfectly with our target demographic.”
