Olympia Media Group is building a business to reach a lucrative and coveted consumer segment: fraternity and sorority members. The company is expanding its weekly lifestyle newspaper The Odyssey from 22 schools to 90 by the 2011-12 school year. “It was started as a reaction to the lack of Greek exposure in Indiana University’s [main] newspaper,” says Olympia Media Group’s Catherine Brooks. The company launches at schools with at least 3,500 active members. Smaller, but still Greek-heavy schools are introducing online-only versions.
Each school’s The Odyssey is tailored to the university’s Greek system and is written by a staff consisting exclusively of fraternity or sorority members. Universities must contribute $10,000 to introduce the publication to a school; most of the funds come from fraternities rather than sororities. Each issue mixes campus issues with national affairs and is distributed for free to every house, where it’s primarily placed in the dining areas.
Olympia is seeking both local and national advertisers to reach this niche segment, noting that sorority and fraternity members tend to come from middle to upper class families, possess a higher level of disposable income than the average college student, and are viewed as trendsetters or influencers by their peers. Thus far, local advertisers have included restaurants, salons, lawyers, and apartment complex managers. National advertisers skew to educational categories, including distance education programs and class notes providers.
The company has also aligned with Teach for America for an outreach effort that will serve as a recruitment tool as well as feature the traditional print and online advertisements. It also introduced a sampling program that provides products to select members that runs alongside a print and online campaign. [Publishing/Education]
Source: Olympia Media Group, Catherine Brooks, National Sales Representative, 5201 W. 86th St., Indianapolis, IN 46268; 317-721-1283; cbrooks@olympiamediagroup.com; www.olympiamediagroup.com.
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