Creating an original event that interests your students is no easy task. That’s why Iowa State University Book Store decided to get creative. As a way to encourage their students to have some fun, they recently hosted a Duct Tape Fashion Show.
“The bookstore often gets an evil, bureaucratic label placed on it because students see us as the place they come to spend too much money on textbooks; but that’s just not the case,” explained Amy DeLashmutt, marketing manager. “We’ve been trying to offer more student-driven events as a way to change that perception and this is just one example of how we’re reaching out!”
To spread the word, the store implemented a cross-channel marketing strategy.
“We put an ad in the newspaper, hung flyers near apparel merchandising classes, asked faculty to plug the event before their classes, advertised on our website, and posted about it on our social media pages,” she said.
They also received extra advertising from a dedicated student employee.
“We have a student that’s responsible for visual merchandising in the store so this event was right up her alley,” DeLashmutt added. “She did a great job of both generating positive PR for us and increasing awareness about the Fashion Show by posting to her personal Facebook page, sharing our posts, and even talking to students in the store!”
Making it easy for interested students to register, University Book Store directed them to a form on their website where they had the option to enter as an individual or a two-person team. For a ten dollar registration fee, participants also received six rolls of duct tape, an X-ACTO knife and a free t-shirt.
“We wanted to give them some materials to get started but when we first crunched the numbers, it was going to be more expensive than we’d anticipated,” she said.
In an attempt to make the promotion less costly, Shandra Van Berkum, UBS art and supply buyer, reached out to 3M who agreed to sponsor the event, donating the funds to reimburse the store for the supplies.
“It was wonderful!” DeLashmutt added. “The event was meant to drive exposure, rather than revenue, so our goal was to incur minimal cost to both the store and our students; I think we really achieved that!”
The store then organized a pick up day for participants to collect their supplies.
“They had a chance to select the color duct tape they wanted on a first-come, first-served basis. It created a sense of urgency and brought them into the store,” she said.
Their extensive promotional efforts paid off in the end with nine teams submitting entries for the Fashion Show.
“There were some really impressive garments; our students are very talented!” DeLashmutt added. “One of them used twenty rolls of duct tape!”
Once they were turned in, the garments were displayed in the store as a way to both drive traffic and offer recognition to the participants. Although judges determined a first, second and third place winner during the actual show, the store created a special People’s Choice category that could be voted for both online and in store.
“We set up a station in the store where students could vote for their favorite garment,” she explained. “Plus, we posted pictures of each outfit on our Facebook page and collected votes there, too!”
With over fifty attendees at the Fashion Show, participants strutted down the aisles of the bookstore in their duct tape garments and the winners were announced at the end of the event!
“Students loved it,” DeLashmutt said. “Quite a few even asked me when the next one was going to be, so it’s obviously not going to be a ‘one and done’ event!”
In fact, the store’s staff is considering expanding the idea into a bi-annual event, with a show both in the Fall and Spring.
“It’s a great way to get students involved and make them feel like they’re a part of the store,” she added. “It was a great success and I can’t wait to see how it grows in the years to come!”
