by Virginia Boswell

Students congregate on the expansive boulevard around the “flagpole” at Southern Methodist University most days of the week.

Members of campus clubs and greek houses sit at folding tables, promoting upcoming meetings and philanthropy events, while students stop by food trucks parked nearby on their way to class.

In recent years, however, one group has become a much more common sight at the flagpole: campus representatives for major fashion brands. On campuses across the U.S., fashion labels, online stores, and public relations companies have turned to college-aged women as part of a marketing strategy. At SMU, lines from the more budget friendly ASOS to the higher end Jay Godfrey have jumped on the bandwagon.

The Job

Some campus brand reps receive internship credit.  They are rarely paid although some girls may receive gift cards or promo codes as compensation.

“I initially became a campus rep to fulfill a college credit, but it is a fun way to get involved on campus,” says former Jay Godfrey rep Morgan Staub.

The most important part of the job for any campus rep is heading up her brand’s social media campaign.  Each rep is given a Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram account to help her represent the brand on campus. The more followers, likes, and retweets a rep gets, the more she boosts web activity for her brand.

Most fashion lines expect their college reps to post on social media a certain number of times per week and steadily increase followers and activity. But reps must do more then get the word out. They must give students an incentive to follow their social media accounts or visit the company website to purchase merchandise.

Meet the Reps 

SMU senior Ashley Gross, a rep for ASOS says, “At ASOS they motivate us to work hard for the brand by giving us extra cash for successful events and posts.  It is very structured and much more like a part-time job.”

SMU junior Shannon Lindee, also a campus rep for ASOS, says that this form of marketing works. “I think campus reps are a good way to get students to interact with your brand or company especially if they have never heard of it before,” she says. “With ASOS their target audience are around college student age, so we are who they want to reach out to.”

Brands have figured out that using college-aged reps to reach out to college-aged  consumers is a logical marketing strategy. “Seeing ASOS gear relevant to things going on on campus such as formals, spring break, and study sessions helps college customers think of ASOS when shopping, ” says Gross.

Brands on Campus

ASOS, the most active brand on campus, currently has three reps working to spread the word about the massive online shop that sells both designer and affordable merchandise. The reps put on creative events and trunk shows to attract students as well as offer student discounts, making the site more college friendly.

Another way brands promote their lines is through contests. Jay Godfrey has had a presence at SMU for several years, and has annually held a Personal Style Contest where one girl from each sorority on campus styles the same dress in a unique way. Pictures are uploaded to Facebook and winners are chosen by how many “likes” they get. This gets sororities involved with the brand through competitive social media sharing. Jay Godfrey has reps at fewer campuses than brands like ASOS, because they are higher-end. By targeting specifically sororities on campus, the brand has a better chance of selling merchandise.

Emilie Tollison, the head of social media for Jay Godfrey in New York, is responsible for choosing and leading campus reps on all nine campuses where the brand has a presence. She contacts teams to set up events like the Personal Style Contest and collaborates with reps about the best times for each campus to do an annual trunk show so students can enjoy shopping without leaving campus.

Another company that has a unique presence on campuses is Rent the Runway. Their reps hold trunk shows that give girls the opportunity to try on dresses they can then rent for formals and events held each semester. Reps also keep dresses for girls to rent in person whenever they like. This unique process provides RTR with an easier route to its customers by letting students skip the process of online ordering and shipping.

All three of these brands have large college followings not only at SMU, but on campuses all over the country. Their marketing tactics to promote the brand, gain more web activity, and get students involved relies on the campus reps who use knowledge of what their peers respond to to promote the brand. Focusing on the fashion forwardness of college students, these brands have found, may be the best way to enhance their social media presence on campus.