This week, we have one of our favorite agency partners and favorite humans, Ben Varquez, to talk all things college marketing.

We discuss Bama Rush, what NIL actually opened up for brands, Alphas, and what many brands get wrong when they show up on campus.

Enjoy!

Meet Ben Varquez

Ben Varquez is the Managing Director of Youth Marketing Connection (YMC), one of the leading youth marketing agencies in the US. He’s spent 15+ years connecting brands to college students, campus ambassadors, and the next generation of consumers. We’ve worked together for over a decade, and I can personally say, you’ll never meet a better team for the job.

Hit the links to skip to the bits you fancy

04:39 — THREE WAVES // Red Bull to now.

09:13 — ALL THINGS BAMA RUSH // Bama Rush has exploded. But now it’s saturated. Now, standing out is the actual work.

11:02 — NIL CHANGED THE GAME // Student athletes can finally get paid, and that’s opened up integrated campaigns that didn’t exist before. Co-branding versus sponsored posts is where things are going.

15:33 — WHAT POPPI IS DOING RIGHT // Always-on ambassadors across hundreds of campuses. Social content layer. Pop-up moments. Brand-to-brand partnerships. And an in-house team that knows campus.

17:53 — YOU CAN’T JUST ROLL IN // Campus administrators aren’t professional marketers. Food contracts are no joke. Most brands find that out the hard way.

19:55 — THE THREE RULES // Build relationships before you show up. Do the pre-work. Don’t disappear after your pop-up.

24:55 — THE COLLEGE CALENDAR // If you want to activate in Fall, start in April. Ben walks the full year: back to school, rush, football, holiday, spring break, and more.

29:25 — WHAT KILLED SPRING BREAK // Panama City Beach was the spring break capital of America. 350,000 students. Tens of millions in brand spend. Then one city passed a law. And it all collapsed.

34:16 — BUILDING A STUDENT SUB-BRAND // If your brand can’t naturally speak to 18-25 year olds, no campus spend will fix it. Ben’s analogy: don’t build the walls until you have the foundation.

37:57 — THE ALPHAS ARE COMING // They’re building content creator careers in high school. Their parents are submitting them to agency rosters. And they’ve decided doom and gloom is out. Hope is back in.

41:30 — QUICKFIRE // Three things every brand should do. The trend Ben is most excited about. And the mistake that kills most campus programs.

Thank you to Ben for coming on. Reach out to him via YMC at youthmarketing.com or find him on LinkedIn.

And if you’d like to sponsor the pod, please reach out to hello@weareingoodco.com.

That’s all, folx. – Chris

If you listened or read this and liked it, that little heart is there for that. The algo and I appreciate it.

PS — Find us on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube.

Get full access to GOOD THINKING at ingoodco.substack.com/subscribe