With lectures finishing up in a few weeks, our month off is getting closer. In UCC our 'spring break' is something no one looks forward to because it means long days in the library but in colleges in the United States Spring Break is the most eagerly anticipated week of the year!
From doing a bit of research and talking to friends in America I have put together a list of the most popular Spring Break destinations in America-any of which I would happily go to;
1) Cancun, Mexcio
2) Miami, Florida
3) Bahamas
4) Jamaica
5) Las Vegas, Nevada
6) Daytona Beach, Flordia
7) South Padre Island, Texas
We can't really complain though, we did just have a week full of madness-UCC's most anticipated week of the year, RAG Week. Marketers use Spring Break as a clever way to market their product- it makes sense as it is the perfect opportunity to reach thousands of college students with a back pocket full of money ready to be spent...thanks to the Bank of Mum and Dad.
Coca Cola for example run the "Coca Cola Isla Grand Beach Resort", where bottle of Coke and associated merchandise is given away to the students. Their name is everywhere and is such to get captured in the background of the students photo's which will more than likely end up on their Facebook pages-its like free product placement. Handing out free products is a much more powerful marketing tool than your usual Flyer-the customers actually have your product in their hands and especially like something like a cold can of Coke, something you would chug down on a hot beach!
One particular Marketing scheme I found to be quite funny as well as smart was by tooth-paste company Crest who set up tooth-brushing stations outside the popular nightclubs in Miami. Since so many companies use Spring Break to advertise they must be unique otherwise their strategy will fail to be remembered, although being I say the week is fairly blurry memory for most of the college students that attend! :)
Ash,
ReplyDeleteWhat a great topic!!!!
Marketers in the US are trying to lure (or lure back, to be precise) the great college crowds and cash you speak of.
One even addresses all of your top 7 list of desinations, by pointing out:
Miami isn't too Cool!!
Padre Island is too Far!!
Mexico is way too Dangerous!
Daytona Beach has Bike Weeks & Nascar....No Room !
And Jamaica, & Bahamas are too Expensive!!
So, Hundred of Thousands of Spring Breakers are traveling to Fort Lauderdale!!!
Yes; it's all part of an effort to bring college students and cash back to the former and orginal Spring Break great escsape - Fort Lauderdale, FLA!
Spring Break started in Fort Lauderdale 56 years ago in 1955. But the movie "WHERE THE BOYS ARE" made way back in 1960 helped start the craze. Starring Dolores Hart and George Hamilton, the film spread the myth throughout the nation (and then the world) of the epic journey of college-age men and women to Fort Lauderdale, to find fun, sun, and true love. With the title song by Connie Francis promising where the boys are, college students began finding their way to Florida in droves, seeking to escape the challenges of their studies in a place where romance and good times were always close at hand!
Over the years, Spring Breakers have traveled to Fort Lauderdale by the thousands.
In 1989, more than 350,000 students spent their Spring Break in the Fort Lauderdale Area.
After 1989, the City of Fort Lauderdale made a concerted effort to NOT atttract the students and crowd, and pretty much adopted the slogan "Kick The Spring Breakers Out of Town."
It worked, and students and their cash stayed away as the Spring Breakers traveled to many parts of the world to gain new experiences.
Mising the revenue, local marketers have started "THE SPRING BREAK CAMPAIGN."
The City of Fort Lauderdale and Don C. Meyer Marketing & Promotions initiated a marketing and promotional program to bring the college and university students back to Fort Lauderdale for Spring Break.
In 2002, the Spring Break campaign brought over 80,000 students back to Fort Lauderdale, representing over 250 million dollars into the local economy in a 10 week period.
Over 100,000 students came to Fort Lauderdale for the 2003 Spring Break season.
Estimating that there are nearly 6 million college and university students getting ready to celebrate Spring Break 2011, this year, the City and marketers hope to bring more than 300,000 to Fort Lauderdale!
Who knows what the next few weeks will bring, but Fort Lauderdale, the original Spring Break capital of the world, wants you - and they're only a brief flight to the sun away!
Thank you cnfxz for your feed back. Fort Lauderdale sounds like a great spot from what you tell me!! Having never heard of FLA i am very interested to read more about about, thanks for your comment!
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