New Kiosk Network Taps Colleges With Video and Coupon Offers

Marketers trying to penetrate the lucrative college scene will soon be chanting "I Like IKE" if Campus Interaction has anything to say about it. The company is rolling out its Interactive Kiosk Experience (IKE), a four-computer, three-section kiosk offering updated college activities and sports information plus advertiser messages, videos, coupons and premiums. The system is now on 16 campuses, company officials say, with more than 50 contracts in hand for the fall."Today's college students have money to spend, but in order to reach them, you have to reach out to them," says Jeff Scult, interactive marketing director for Campus Interaction, the Coral Gables, Fla.-based subsidiary of InterAction Media Corp. "The key is to reach them one-on-one using a medium they'll understand and appreciate."The college market represents about $93 billion in annual buying power, with students typically having monthly discretionary budgets that are higher than the average American family of four, according to research by Strategic Marketing Communications. In addition, says Roper CollegeTrack research, college students typically haven't adopted many brand preferences. More than 70 percent are also using credit cards.IKE is designed to tap that market in ways that traditional media can't achieve, says Scult. Standing 8 feet tall and 9 feet wide and formed from Kydex plastic, IKE is located in each campus' student union, offering a dominant attraction as students walk by. "It's the mother of all kiosks," he says. It features three overhead 27-inch monitors that play 30-second videos touting special offers and coupons available through the kiosk.Campus HubThe system consists of three 3-foot-wide sections, with both outside sections angled back to create wings for easier access. The center unit features college information, while the outer two units offer advertiser information. The kiosk runs on four separate IBM and Macintosh computers, using a Mac platform. They are connected via a Local Area Network (LAN) so they can operate together, and they're also part of Campus Interaction's Wide Area Network (WAN), which connects all kiosks nationwide via a high-speed ISDN line. The WAN allows Campus Interaction to create a central networking hub to update information, run diagnostics and monitor how often different messages are being accessed at each kiosk.The system was created via "strategic alliances" with Lockheed Martin's Communications & Exhibition Services group, based in Orlando, Fla., which produced the outer shell, and TRG Inc., a software company based in Phoenix. The company has also entered into an agreement with AT&T Network Services to handle the kiosk installations, on-site servicing, and networking capabilities for LAN and WAN applications.The advertiser sections feature space for 10 national advertisers, who are promoted on all kiosks nationwide, plus five local advertisers, who are solicited by the local campus officials and generate income for the schools. This provides an additional incentive for campuses to accept kiosks, which are offered free of charge. National accounts already using the kiosks include American Express, Electronic Arts, Specialized Bicycles, The Wall Street Journal and Warner Music Group.As students arrive at the advertiser section, they see a touch screen directing them to new music releases, movie previews and each of the advertisers. Each ad is customized to that client, incorporating any videos, sound, music or other elements desired. The system uses an M-pegboard video card that allows the company to digitize any supplied videotape, producing a broadcast-quality image on the computer screen, Scult says. This allows the marketer to incorporate existing television ads or other promotional pieces already available, keeping production costs low.The music section incorporates this same technology, featuring recent compact discs by 12 different artists. When one is selected, the viewer sees a 30-second clip of a music video by that artist and then is presented with options for learning more about the artist's life, concert dates, information on entering a contest about the artist or a coupon for a discount on a CD. Most advertisers also feature special premiums and coupons, and the system includes a laser printer at each of the three positions to print out information and coupons.The center portion features touch screens for general campus information, a campus map locator with directions to any location, college activities for the day, and schedules for sports teams. It also includes a direct-dial telephone with an interactive directory that lets students dial a specific building or professor's office with a touch of the proper pad.Above this section is a 3-foot-wide LED scroller screen that continuously provides news and sports information. Campus Interaction provides each school with the software to update its section on its own computer, while providing the news bulletins in its WAN.By August, when students are heading back to school, 38 kiosks will be on campuses nationwide, and 50 in all will be up and running shortly after. By December, Scult expects to have about 92 kiosks in operation, with 135 targeted for Spring 1997. That would result in a reach of three million students.

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