WEB DESIGNER/PROGRAMMER

START DATE: Immediately

SCHEDULE: Flexible

COMPENSATION: To be negotiated based on experience level

Collegiate Marketing Group is a small and agile marketing and communications agency based in Burlington, ON. We provide strategic marketing advice, direction and execution to companies of all sizes targeting the Generation Y demographic.

The Web Designer/Programmer will assist with with respect to several ongoing projects. The ideal candidate is successfully driven, graphically talented with a flair for creativity. You are energetic, self-confident and thrive on the excitement of a creative environment.

Job Responsibilities Include:

• Development of Collegiate Marketing Group’s Online/Digital Properties

• Creative direction for various projects

• Assist in developing social media strategies

• Keep up to date on best practices with respect to SEO

The Successful Candidate Possesses:

• Great organizational skills

• Graphic Design skills, Fluent in Word Press and social media best practices

• Ability to prioritize and work effectively within a team environment

This Role Requires:

• Some college and or university experience

• Knowledge of web development and programming in a business environment

• Written communication skills

• Proficiency in Word Press, Adobe Photoshop, CSS and PHP

Please email your resume and cover letter to carm@collegiatemarketinggroup.com with Web Developer in the subject line by no later than June 1, 2013. No phone calls please.

An Insight Into Why The Smartest Generation is Hardly Working

Last month, our Blog team ran a series of blogs that discussed Youth Marketing and Generation Y hoping to help enlighten and inform today’s businesses wanting much-needed direction on establishing brand awareness and a social connection to today’s youth demographic.

In the blog titled “What Generation Y Really Wants”, we uncovered the fact that 76 million Gen Yers are storming our small businesses and larger companies with great expectations that include a long list of work-related demands – the most important of those demands being work-life balance.

It’s been discovered that Gen Y workers are in fact willing to lose their jobs if they no longer find meaning in the work they do. But it can also be argued that they’ll quit if their work-life balance isn’t meeting their scaled expectations.

For example, did you know that 39% of workers aged 18-24 say they would rather quit their job if they were told they couldn’t use Facebook while at work?

Which brings us to the following question: Is Generation Y really less productive than older generations?

According to a study and resulting infographic courtesy of Compliance and Safety, those born after 1980 waste an average of 1.95 hours per day while those born in the 50s waste an average of just 0.68 hours per day.

Breaking it down even further, the team at Compliance and Safety found that the average worker admits to wasting three hours out of an eight hour work day (44% are distracted by the internet, 23.4% are wasting time socializing with co-workers, and 1.3% are actually applying for other jobs!).

To see more on how our most educated generation are apparently “Hardly Working”, feel free to view the infographic.

This blog continues our

Please read our introductory blog about this series…

In our last blog, we spoke about Generation Y becoming more career savvy – they know what they want, they believe they can achieve it, and they are actively planning to do just this. Employers the world over need to consider how they can harness Gen Y’s optimism and ambitious drive to get the most out of this increasingly powerful demographic.

Businesses need to recognize that the workforce is changing and make adjustments to manage this change. In fact, employers who have reportedly modified their policies in order to appease their Gen Y employees have seen positive results. More flexible work schedules and new recognition programs have been the main focus. They’ve come to the realization that the way to employ and manage staff is changing.

Simply put, if you want to breed success, you must first establish the right environment.

Please Read our Blog: What Generation Y Really Wants…

Generation Y’s love of a challenge and their adaptability to change make them extremely valuable resources. Gen Y staff bring a breath of fresh air with them to the workplace along with their creativity, productivity and efficiency. They’re an important part of the workforce and more and more businesses are reaping the rewards from their employment.

Young professionals now have a lot more career options and tend to be more transitional; with long term commitment to one business not a priority. Gen Y wants to help your business grow, and even if they don’t plan on staying for very long, their influence over who replaces them and the future customers your business generates shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Growth and success of your business is influenced by your ability to attract and retain staff. If a business is not managing its staff effectively it will remain owner reliant and limit future growth.

Companies cultures, therefore, need to evolve with each generation. It’s part of changing with the times. And yes, as the song goes, the times they are a changing. Just how much Gen Yers and their employers will accommodate one another has yet to be seen. One thing all workers, regardless of their age, should remember is that any new perks are available to everybody for the benefit of the company.

Technology is largely responsible for the shift in expectations and employers’ willingness to adapt to them. Some of the world’s most visited web sites, such as Facebook and YouTube, made their creators millionaires before their 30th birthdays. For some Gen Yers, this is ammunition when entering the work force.

Companies desperately want to be a part of the Web 2.0/user-generated content/YouTube phenomenon. Who better to guide that shift than Gen Y? After all, they not only grew up during a technological revolution, they participated in it!

It’s an established fact that 90% of Gen Yers over the age of 18 use the Internet. 75% use social networking – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. 60% of them access the Web wirelessly while on the go. 83% keep their cell phones nearby, day and night, awake or sleeping. And two-fifths don’t even have a land line.

Would Apple’s iPad and other mobile tablets have been so successful if it weren’t for Gen Y’s appetite for new tech?

It would be wrong now to say that this Generation is hardwired, when in fact they’re wi-fied!

The economy has no doubt brought a new set of challenges in terms of job security and salary expectations, but if your business is working towards adapting, there’s no reason why it can’t emerge more strong and vibrant. We’re only as good as the people we work with. It’s time to face the truth. Start building on everyone’s strengths – you might be pleasantly surprised by how far it will get you.

For more information about Collegiate Marketing Group and the various services this agency offers, including youth marketing, social media and communications services, please continue to visit www.collegiatemarketinggroup.com and connect via the Quick Connect form.

The study, which was conducted by Visit Florida, the state’s official consumer web site, positions Panama City Beach behind only Orlando, Miami, and Ft. Lauderdale.

“We have some of the best visitors, those folks that have fallen in love with Panama City Beach,” said Dan Rowe, executive director of the CVB.

Despite the immense challenges the beach has faced over the past five years, like 2008′s gas crisis, 2009’s economic crisis, and 2010’s oil spill disaster, Rowe says they keep coming back.

“We saw our tourist development tax collections, which equates to lodging revenue for the entire year of 2010, only fall by 1.8 percent.”

And for the past few years, Rowe says the beach has been back on track and setting records. Now all eyes are looking towards the future. The CVB has set out a strategic plan that includes developing the beach as a year round destination, and establishing public venues.

“Through that diversification, we’ll have a stronger economy and we’ll be able to build to the future,” Rowe said.

For more information on Panama City Beach, including information on Where to Stay packages, please visit www.bookpanamacitybeach.com

MONTREAL NEW YEARS – CYBER MONDAY SPECIAL OFFER:

• SAVE $100: Available on Monday only, every person booking online will save $100 on their New Years Booking. (Not valid in conjunction with any other offer or discount). Must be a hotel and bus booking, and this rate is valid for full room occupancy only (4 people to a room). Use Promo Code BBT-cyber to receive a $100 savings on your trip. Offer expires at Midnight on Monday.

SPRING BREAK: CANADIAN WEEKS – CYBER MONDAY SPECIAL OFFER:

• FOR 24 HOURS ONLY: Save $100 on your Spring Break booking to Panama City Beach, Florida. That means your trip, which includes bus transportation, taxes and the Panamaniac Club Card (a $50 value!), can cost as low as $289! A $100 deposit is mandatory per person to secure this special rate. This booking must be a hotel and bus booking and does not require full room occupancy. At no other time will this trip to Florida’s Spring Break Capital be discounted this much. Use Promo Code BBT-cyber when booking online to receive your $100 discount.

SPRING BREAK: AMERICAN PEAK WEEK TRIP (March 2-8) – CYBER MONDAY SPECIAL OFFER:

• FOR 24 HOURS ONLY: Save $100 on your Spring Break Peak Week booking to Panama City Beach, Florida. Your trip could cost as low as $499 if booking five to a room. Must be hotel and bus booking and does not require full room occupancy to receive this special discount. The price of this trip will increase, so take advantage of this special offer and save big time. A $100 deposit secures this rate for you. Also included in this special rate is the Panamaniac Club Card (a $50 value!) Use Promo Code BBT-cyber when booking online to receive your special price.

SPRING BREAK: USA RESIDENTS ONLY – CYBER MONDAY SPECIAL OFFER:

• Save $100 on your regular priced rate on Cyber Monday only! Book online and use Promo Code BBT-cyber and we’ll take $100 off the price. That means Peak Week costs could be as low as $299 per person and non peak costs at $279 per person! You won’t find a better deal than this! Offer expires Monday at Midnight. A $100 deposit secures this rate for you, and is based on full room occupancy only. Must be a United States resident to receive this price.

For more information, please visit www.bestbreaktours.com and book online direct.

This blog continues our Youth Marketing Initiative Series – an exploration of relevant topics designed to help enlighten and inform today’s businesses wanting much-needed direction on establishing brand awareness and a social connection to today’s youth demographic.

Please read our introductory blog about this series…

When they say Generation Y is set to take over the world, it’s no joke. The twenty-something demographic is making its mark on the economy – not only as the buyers of the world, but also as the employees of the world.

What Generation Y Really Wants – As an Employee:

With Gen Xers heading towards the managerial and executive age, and baby boomers heading for retirement, 76 million Gen Yers are storming our small businesses and larger companies with great expectations that include a long list of work-related demands. The most important of these demands is work-life balance.

For Gen Yers, the line between work and home doesn’t really exist. They just want to spend their time in meaningful and useful ways, no matter where they are. They want to be remembered for doing big things and making the world better. Believe it or not, that’s what they really want.

Gen Y workers are willing to lose their jobs if they no longer find meaning in the work they do. Personal fulfillment and work-life balance is the biggest deciding factor when choosing employment, ahead of compensation, benefits, corporate sovereignty and goodwill. Therefore, it is important for businesses to actively engage the younger workforce in order to retain them, as they are indeed the leaders of tomorrow.

One might draw the conclusion that the Generation Y demographic is made up entirely of needy, over-zealous and demanding youths who don’t understand what hard work really is, nor do they even care. But guess what? Generation Y is in fact passionate, talented and highly ambitious – they want to stretch, learn new skills, and contribute to great causes – but they also want a life.

They want balance, to have fun and be part of a great team! But if their managers do not understand what they really need to thrive at work, their ‘I want things to happen fast’ attitude is often perceived as entitled, arrogant and unrealistic.

The key is not to patronize these savvy youths with perceived thoughts that they don’t know what their doing or better yet, don’t want to be doing it at all. On the contrary, these people want to be challenged! This is a generation that grew up with technology in an overindulged culture. They think fast, work fast, and want to be engaged with challenging opportunities.

They’re also quite ambitious. They want opportunities to advance. Ask around and you’ll find that many of them have their sights set on being a company VP or even President someday, and sooner rather than later. They want to work for companies that can partner with them to help them achieve their goals – short and long term.

Generation Y is the most educated generation in history. They love to learn and stretch their minds. They want to know that they contribute to the company’s bigger picture and goal. They want to know that all their work actually counts for something. If your company has a mission and vision, it’s Generation Y that’s quite apt to pay attention to it.

What Generation Y Really Wants – As a Consumer:

When trying to understand Gen Y’s consumer habits, marketers and businesses alike need to realize certain key personality traits that exist. (We like to call it marketing interaction opportunities.)

First: This is a generation who has always known TV stations devoted entirely to them (Disney and Nickelodeon when they were kids, ABC Family as teens and young adults).

Second: The digitalization of the music industry has trained them to listen to and purchase only the songs they want.

Third: Shopping sites like Amazon let them buy just about anything, whenever they feel like it.

Lastly: Generation Y was practically born with a cell phone already clutched in their hand and iPod headphones attached to their ears. Those early flip phones and iPods have now morphed to become smartphones.

Gen Y has been taught to expect customization.

Please Read Our Blog: Branding to Youths – How to be Effective…

With every passing month (it would seem), marketers are gaining more opportunities to reach this seemingly elusive audience. It just requires some outside-the-box thinking. But, just because they’re open to many types of these ‘interactions’, don’t bombard them.

Be relevant with your approach and your brand will have many opportunities to interact with this coveted demographic.

Be strategic. Smart marketers will remember that Generation Y wants to choose the companies they hear from on Facebook and subscribe to email and text alerts. And in order for that to happen, marketers have to offer something of value.

Remember, Generation Y is savvy to the world of marketing. They’ve been actively marketed to for as long as they can remember and they get why it has to happen. But, what they won’t tolerate is marketing that doesn’t make any sense to them. They may be open to several forms of communication from companies, but only if they’re relevant and speak value.

For more information about Collegiate Marketing Group and the various services this agency offers, including youth marketing, social media and communications services, please continue to visit www.collegiatemarketinggroup.com and connect via the Quick Connect form.

Hotels Are Offering Limited Time Early Bird Discounts

It may just be November, but hotels in Panama City Beach, Florida are open for Spring Break business – offering early and cheaper rates to those who book now as opposed to January or February.

This is great news for students who are looking for bargain prices but don’t want to compromise on their location on the beach or their actual rooming accommodations. Stay at a great place and pay a great rate! It’s that simple.

“The strategy is to generate early excitement for the Panama City Beach Spring Break experience,” says Patrick Hazard, General Manager of the Sandpiper Beacon Beach Resort. “We encourage those making their reservations early to tell all their friends about Panama City Beach, where they are staying, as well as what a great deal they got.”

The early booking discount at the Sandpiper Beacon, a beachfront hotel and Tiki Bar, offers rooms starting at less than $210 per person if booking a room for four people for the entire week. And in addition to paying a significantly reduced rate, the hotel staff are sending guests a ‘Spring Break Party Package’, containing items designed to get college students in a spring break frame of mind, including items such as T-Shirts, Coozies, Mardi Gras beads and Leis.

Over at Seahaven Resorts, which manages Origin Condominium, Seahaven Beach Hotel and The Reef Hotel – all next to the infamous Sharky’s Beach Club – students who book by December 15 are offered a 15% discount off the already low rates. This offer also includes a free Seahaven Party Pass for each guest.

By the Sea Resorts, which manages the Beachbreak, Beachcomber, and Legacy Hotels, is offering early rates from $37.99 per person per night at Beachbreak By the Sea, plus free Glow Paint Party tickets to Hammerhead Fred’s on Friday nights. These rates are only available if booking six people to a room and by calling the 888-627-0625 number and mentioning the rate code: SBBE. The booking window is available now through December 25 and is valid for stays on 3/2/2013 through 3/22/2013.

The Chateau Motel, next to Harpoon Harry’s, is offering a 50 dollar savings on a five night stay if booked by December 31. Stay longer and save even more.

Please Read: Panama City Beach: The Spring Break Capital of the World…

Typically, the majority of Spring Breakers begin making plans shortly after the Thanksgiving break. Booking inquiries intensify immediately after Christmas, and interest continues to grow leading all the way into March. As Hazard points out: “With this (early booking rate promotional) strategy, the intention is to create excitement and hype sooner, all while offering increased value to our guests. It’s a win-win for everyone”.

For more information on any of the above mentioned hotels and to learn more about the early bird rates for Spring Break 2013, please visit the official Spring Break in Panama City Beach website at www.pcbeachspringbreak.com and visit the Where to Stay page. And for all the up-to-date news and promotions, be sure to follow the official Facebook and Twitter profiles.

The student tours company’s ‘experience travel’ team is looking for enthusiastic ‘Brand Ambassadors’ to help us promote and run its most popular trips.

If you’re a sociable person at school, an active and avid Facebook user, and perhaps use other social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, then you could really help out and, best of all, you’ll be rewarded!

The payoff is that you’ll not only get to travel for free to places like New York City, Panama City Beach, Florida (The Spring Break Capital of the World), Montreal and New Orleans, but you’ll also have the chance to make some money along the way.

Brand Ambassadors will be responsible for the following:

• Generating new leads and contacts in your area
• Acting as a responsible representative for bestbreaktours.com on-destination and off-destination
• Help generate new “Likes” and followers for bestbreaktours.com’s Social Media Accounts
• Must be knowledgeable of the destinations and trips offered, and help communicate any promotions or giveaway campaigns via your personal social platforms.

Every successful Brand Ambassador will receive the following benefits (based on results):

• Travel to the most popular destinations for FREE
• Have your expenses paid while on destination plus CASH!
• Possible full time employment opportunities
• Great way to travel and meet new people
• All on-site events and activities are included
• Cash Incentives

If you’re looking for an unbeatable Co-op experience, this may be the job for you!

Ultimately, this is the perfect opportunity if you’re looking to travel for free, meet new people and make some extra money.

Contact bestbreaktours.com via their Rep Form and visit their website at www.bestbreaktours.com for more information.

This blog begins our Youth Marketing Initiative Series – an exploration of relevant topics designed to help enlighten and inform today’s businesses wanting much-needed direction on establishing brand awareness and a social connection to today’s youth demographic.

Please read our introductory blog about this series…

Big and small companies alike are constantly scratching their collective heads when the subject of youth marketing pops up in the meeting room. The youth demographic, which spans an age range between young teens and early thirties, is a complicated segment with contradictory values and preferences.

Finding the ‘silver bullet’ solution to your company’s youth marketing program will require invested research and will challenge traditional marketing methods which are most likely no longer efficient in understanding and captivating the youth audience.

These days, youth consumers have access to such a wide range of information about the products in the market, and thus, the choice options are massive. Purchase decisions are influenced greatly by social and digital media which forces market trends to become so volatile that yesterday’s trendy innovations are perhaps common goods today but run the risk of becoming old news next month.

Companies and researchers need be alert, inventive and creative in their approach to foresee the constant changes in the market.

Unless every company is employing youths in their marketing divisions who have the decision-making power (which is actually becoming more likely by the day), to actually think that the elder corporate statesmen know how the young generation behaves today is not to know much at all.

A major key to finding that silver bullet mentioned above is identifying the influencers who set new trends for their peer groups. Understanding the current aspirations, motivations and behaviors of these influencers is paramount, and will provide the information for future trends.

To capture the influencers, companies need an in-depth understanding of their needs, lifestyle and aspirations. Today’s youth are always seeking new experiences, and this attitude will affect your business, so it’s important to keep up with the latest trends and to develop a sharp eye for the developments in music, technology, fashion, design, graphics, media and arts all helping to seek out the opportunity areas for your company or brand.

So how would the team at Collegiate Marketing Group execute a comprehensive youth marketing program for your company? While there’s no magic formula we use, a good place we start is with a well-integrated, multi-channel plan of action that addresses every imaginable opportunity to engage your audience. Here are some check-off points we incorporate in order to execute a productive youth marketing program – and it’s what we encourage you to do for your business brand:

• Execute social media campaigns and leverage them with traditional marketing – Establishing a social media presence is only a beginning. Engage your audience and make an emotional connection through listening and response. Create different ways for young members to interact with your brand. This can be through contests or challenges. Leverage these efforts with traditional marketing strategies to ensure a full-out experience. Implement the holy trinity of social campaigning: Make a Connection, Engage with your audience, and encourage Participation. Connect, Engage, Participate.

• Build your brand for the long-term – Awareness campaigns are critical to the long-term success of any youth program. A teen may not be in the market for what you’re selling today, but if he or she has a positive image of your company, the inclination to look to you in the future clearly exists as a strong possibility.

• Offer a continuous stream of content to engage the audience – Fresh content will help generate relevancy, credibility, and perhaps even a little entertainment, all which go a long way towards keeping them engaged. Offer content in as many different formats as possible — online articles, newsletters, magazine, video, pod/vodcasts, blog, music, Youtube channel creation, etc. — and let them decide which they prefer.

• Gear up for events and community marketing – Your target audience lives online, but they also live offline. Get your brand out from behind your website and into the community. Let young members put a face to your message.

• Provide on-campus support – An on-campus program doesn’t necessarily mean you have the attention of the student body. Support your efforts with signage, school-related campaigns, brand ambassador teams and event marketing to become a familiar part of the campus experience.

At the end of the day, your brand needs to make a valuable connection with its intended target. Remember, today’s youth can immediately sense a lack of credibility that your brand may suffer from and thus will reject any marketing message forced upon them. Build your brand’s identity and reputation by asking the following questions:

1. Does your Brand stand for something important?

2. Is your Brand true and authentic? (no one wants a faker)

3. Is your business remembering its core roots?

4. Is your business team focused on the prize?

5. Are you allowing your brand to be discovered? (don’t ever push your brand onto someone)

6. Are you delivering on your promise at every touchpoint?

7. Are you remaining neutral to your own personal beliefs? (Don’t ever take yourself too seriously)

8. Are you inviting the youth demographic in to take co-ownership of your brand?

9. Are you sparking conversations and creating a brand culture?

10. Are you practicing the social holy trinity of Connect, Engage, Participate? (Encourage your targeted consumer to belong to your community and help them express themselves and connect with other like-minded youth, sharing your message)

For more information about Collegiate Marketing Group and the various services this agency offers, including youth marketing, social media and communications services, please continue to visit www.collegiatemarketinggroup.com and connect via the Quick Connect form.

The youth market is critical because of the demographic’s buying power and its members’ influence on the spending of family members. In addition, teens and young adults often set trends that are adopted by other demographic groups.

But is it an easy market to connect with and sell to?

The answer is no. The youth demographic has gotten smarter. Generation Y – to be more specific – has a keen ability to identify and reject marketing messages that, they believe, lack credibility. Many brands market to youth by offering relevant products and services while communicating a brand message in an appropriate voice and tone. Successful brands have an association with key interests and drivers among youth such as music, sports, fashion, video gaming and technology.

In terms of digital and social media, the youth demographic, in many ways, are its defining users. Not only has the multi-billion dollar social industry embraced the youth culture as its ambassadors, but its future has clearly become dependent on them.

Youth marketing strategies commonly include television advertising, magazine advertising and online marketing. Today young people expect to be able to learn about, interact and be entertained with brands or services targeting them online. Other common youth marketing tactics include entertainment marketing, music marketing, sports marketing, event marketing, viral marketing, school and college programs, product sampling and influencer marketing.

Over the next month or so, Collegiate Marketing Group’s Blog team will uncover some hot issues associated with youth marketing. Designed to help enlighten and inform, the 2012 Youth Marketing Initiative series will explore some relevant topics such as ‘How to be Effective in Branding to Youths’, ‘What Generation Y Really Wants’ and ‘The Future of Generation Y: What to Expect’.

Staying relevant should be on the minds of every business; no matter what demographic is being targeted. Through this series, Collegiate Marketing Group aims to help bridge the gap between the potential buyer and the hopeful seller.

For more information about Collegiate Marketing Group and the various services this agency offers, including youth marketing, social media and communications services, please continue to visit www.collegiatemarketinggroup.com and connect via the Quick Connect form.