Coveted College Consumers Get Social With Bing, Intel and Her Campus

Aug. 31, 2012 - PRLog -- BOSTON - The lights inside a lounge in New York’s Meatpacking District were dimmed. The bar freshly stacked with free drinks, while waitresses readied trays of hors d’oeuvres in a nearby kitchen. Outside, a gaggle of college women lined the street, dressed to the nines in party attire.

If this seems like your ordinary night out in the big city, think again. The midsummer soiree was part of a “Get Social” campaign between Her Campus Media, the parent company of HerCampus.com (www.hercampus.com), #1 online community for college women with chapters at 200+ colleges across the country and Bing, Microsoft’s search engine, looking to showcase its latest social features to an audience that statistically speaking, checks Facebook and email before going to the bathroom each morning.

“Here at Her Campus, we live and breathe college 24/7/365, so we’re knowledgeable about how our audience thinks about, interacts with, and utilizes technology in their day-to-day lives,” said Her Campus Co-Founder, President and Publisher Windsor Hanger. “If there is a growing trend, we’ll be the first to know. If there is a new social site gaining prominence, we’ll be the first to activate on it. At Her Campus we understand how to talk to college women about a brand or product in a way that is compelling and that will resonate, since our readers look to Her Campus as their authority and ‘big sister’ when it comes to navigating college life."

That means companies known for innovation will take innovative tactics, like throwing social soirees that double as tech parties.

“Social search on Bing integrates the best of search with the best of social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and more,” said Kari Dilloo, Group Product Manager, Bing. “With the help of Her Campus, we were able to put our unique experience in front of their community in a way that really made an impact.”

Another leading tech company, Intel, wanted meaningful, educational event experiences when it employed Her Campus’s services to connect the brand with more than 3,000 socially over-indexing Her Campus student ambassadors from colleges across the country.

Intel was the presenting sponsor for the first Her Campus Intercollegiette Conference, which brought together chapter members from across the United States for a day of networking and community building. This event, held at New York City’s Sentry Center, was outfitted with the latest Intel Ultrabook technology and equipped with extensive Intel branding throughout. Attendees were treated to a series of dynamic keynote speakers including etiquette expert Anna Post and Seventeen magazine Editor-in-Chief Ann Shoket, panels and workshops designed to enhance their careers, raffles (including an Intel Ultrabook), a catered lunch and an after-party. Intel also sponsored one ‘Ultra Collegiette’, providing her access to the conference, airfare and accommodations free of charge, via an online essay/YouTube contest. The #UltraCollegiette hashtag was also used to showcase event happenings, with Intel technology used to showcase select tweets at the event.

Intel also worked with Her Campus to host “Mobile Manners” breakfasts on five college campuses last fall, leveraging Her Campus’s network of 200+ campus chapters, touting the importance of tech etiquette while also promoting the Intel brand. Intel provided laptops to give away to one student at each breakfast. These innovative events were supplemented by sponsored content on the Her Campus micro-sites of these chapters. In addition, Her Campus representatives at the five campuses handed out Intel flyers and distributed Intel door hangers to students on campus.

“Partnering with Microsoft and Intel, two leaders in pioneering not only technology, but also its applications to our professional and personal lives, could not have been more appropriate, timely and successful,” said Her Campus Co-Founder, CPO and Creative Director Annie Wang. “We take pride in being able to genuinely and seamlessly present their products to our avid audience of tech consumers as an integral element within the savvy collegiette's life.”

Bing and Intel are just the latest to leverage Her Campus and its coveted readership of more than one million college women each month. Victoria’s Secret PINK, LOFT, Merck, Target and Contiki are just some of the many to seek the company out for its diverse array of marketing services including offline events, sponsored digital content, market research, social media campaigns, email campaigns, contests, on-campus sampling opportunities, focus groups, site takeovers and much, much more.