Promotional Imprinted Products For The College Student

Either this month or next month, college students will be returning to their campus & getting ready for the school year ahead. There is no greater school spirit than at a university or college, especially among the Freshmen.

Does your target audience include college students or universities? There's a multitude of promotional custom products you can offer them. And I'm willing to bet that most of them are available in the school's colors. If not, they can be imprinted in the school colors.

Now, depending on what type of business you have, there are two routes you can go with this. If you're a distributor like I am, then it would be very lucrative to sell directly to the school book stores & the students purchase them showing off their school pride. Fraternities, sororities & other groups on campus also purchase products promoting their organization or school. Parents' week-end, homecoming, class reunions......all are occasions when items showing the school insignia are used.

If your business is in another field, then promotional imprinted products are a great way to get company recognition. Find a way to distribute the items with your name & logo among the students on campus. You'd be giving them out & saving them the added cost & burden of having to purchase them. Your logo will be on the items, but it could be beneficial to do it in the school colors.

Here's an example: when my daughter enrolled as a first year law student at the University of Minnesota, a local bank had booths conveniently located for students to open new accounts. With each account opened they got a pen & an insulated mug for hot drinks. If they opened up a savings account with a certain amount or an investment account, they'd get a flash drive with plenty of memory. The customized promotional items had the bank's name on them, but the students were thrilled to get them because they were something they could definitely use.

Some promotional imprinted products that would appeal to students are:

LAPTOP BAGS

Buying a laptop has become a rite of passage for college students, making backpacks with a protected sleeve for the device extremely popular. A separate padded laptop cover that can fit in a backpack is another, more versatile, option. Laptops are a costly investment & they need to be protected.

 FLASH DRIVES

Speaking of laptops, all of a student's work will be in that computer. Not just his work for the semester, but also everything else that his life revolves around will be in his hard drive. So what if his computer crashes, gets lost or something else happens to it? A flash drive is as important as his laptop.

FLEECE BLANKETS

This is a popular item among college students whether it's folded at the end of their bed & they use it on cold nights while studying in their room or they take them to football games & they're used as lap blankets in the stadiums.  Many students want blankets showing the Greek letters of their fraternity or sorority.  Bookstore shelves are stacked with these.

DRINKWARE

Whether it's a stainless steel water bottle or an insulated tumbler to keep drinks hot, students carry these wherever they go. This is a tried & true customized promotional item. These, too, can be imprinted with the fraternity or sorority letters.  Many have the university team mascot on them.

PENS

Students may use their laptops, but pens are still needed on a daily basis. They'll be stashed in their desk drawers, backpacks & yes, even their computer cases.  And like all of us, they can never have too many.  The pen can be a very elusive item.  Where is it when you need it?  Believe it or not, a pen is not an antique......it's used often.

FLYING DISCS

What college green is complete without the Frisbee-style flying disc floating in the air? They can even be used as holders for paper plates at the food stands during a fall football game & then later used as a flying disc.

SWEATSHIRTS

This is, hands down, the favorite of all promotional imprinted products for college students. All styles are popular: the crew neck, zippered jacket or the hooded sweatshirt. This resonates with members of any school group whether Greek, sports related or independent student chapters of organizations like Habitat for Humanity.

STUFFED ANIMALS

These 4" - 12" stuffed animals can be found on beds or bookshelves in the dorms or sorority houses with either the school name or sorority letters on the miniature imprinted t-shirt.  If the team mascot is an animal, they are really popular with the students.  For example if the mascot is a tiger, then stuffed tigers sell faster than the other animals at that school.




These are just a few ideas that can be sold to the college student......the list is exhaustive.  Don't overlook this group. Their enthusiasm makes them good candidates for promotional products.

IT'S YOUR COMPANY........SHOW IT OFF!!!

Ronni Sherman