It's funny how I started off my blogs with Verizon and how now I'm finishing my blogs with yet another guerrilla marketing tactic that Verizon brought to the UT Austin campus. I was walking in between classes when I stopped by the McCombs leadership suite and heard from a couple friends of mine that they had just gotten free shirts and a professional picture taken at the Student Activity Center (SAC). My ears and eyes lit up. I was intrigued to learn who had set up this initiative, so when my other friends were interested in going with me to check out the if they could get free shirts too, I didn't hesitate to tag along. There was a 20+ person line from the entrance of the SAC into the Multicultural Engagement Center Room. It seems like Verizon teamed up with NBC Universal and started a college tour spread awareness that people should stand up for what they don't believe in, whether it be bullying, racism, injustice, hate, prejudice, ableism, homophobia, or violence, to name some that were listed.
Walking in to SAC I soon noticed how they had transformed the room into a media lounge where on one side they had Verizon marketing employees stamping peoples shirts with their choice of what they wouldn't stand for. And on the other side of the room they had a professional photographer taking quick head shots of people so that people could get a hard copy of them posing for what they won't stand for. Verizon was in on this movement to help stop hate and discrimination and prevent dating violence on select college campuses. They even encouraged we share our pictures on social media so that we could further spread awareness with a nice professional picture. And even promoted the fact that you'd be entered into a raffle for a galaxy note tablet if you posted your picture and used the hashtag #CUCollegeTour.
I think this is where technology has become such a beneficial part of spreading awareness of different issues that roam in our chaos-driven world. There are definitely many methods out there nowadays in the advertising world, which we can use to effectively rise above these issues. However, I commend Verizon for their efforts and believe that these media tactics can be transferred to many other brands as well. I think that college campus promo events need to be interactive like this. Yeah, it's nice whenever we get "free swag" but that doesn't always leave an impact. I would've never known Verizon was in on these efforts of going global with your cell phone or their involvement in the "Characters Unite" movement had they not come to campus and formed this relationship with me in person. Brands with a purpose encourage me to be a better person, and having this positive connotation associated with a brand is never a bad thing. I think it's strategy that many companies and brands should learn from if they want to be more socially responsible for their customers.