Scrolling through Instagram, students have recently noticed the sudden bombardment of posts promoting obscure companies such as Wave and Fin and Serengetee.
Although only high-profile social media figures have been recruited to endorse these brands in the past, companies that are not yet established enough to hire celebrities have recently started reaching out to college and high school students in an effort to advertise to a larger audience.
Senior Anna Zhou was recruited by Wave and Fin, a small clothing brand looking for more publicity, as a campus representative in August. Through the Instagram account @waveandfinreps, Zhou contacted Wave and Fin via direct message and asked for an opportunity to be a campus rep to receive free apparel, as she often wears their merchandise.
Since Zhou had never previously promoted any brands, she was interested in the idea and took advantage of the opportunity.
Soon after Zhou became a rep, she posted a photo on Instagram publicizing the brand’s discount code.
“It’s pretty cool having everyday people advertise instead of high-profile fashionistas because we really advocate a honest opinion, whereas the high-end Instagrammers are required to say certain things,” she said.
After almost three months working with the brand, Zhou said that she is interested in continuing to be a rep for the company and in seeing what other opportunities arise in the future.
“I’d definitely be interested in other brands, since a lot of the brands that have reps are mainly directing their funds to charity, which is an awesome way to support others, while buying cute items,” Zhou said.
Like Zhou, junior Jingyi Wang also received a sponsorship from a clothing brand. Wang was chosen to be a campus representative from over 3,000 applicants for Serengetee, a company that takes imported fabric and incorporates the prints into apparel. Not only do they sell shirts but also backpacks and sweaters.
Wang initially discovered the company from a friend, and after Wang saw Serengetee’s posts on Facebook recruiting high-school reps, Wang applied. Aware of the company’s philanthropy, Wang was further motivated to seek this opportunity.
“Since the company donates 10 percent of its profits to countries in need, I thought it was inspiring to bring a bunch of different cultures’ artistic features to America while being able to help them financially as well,” Wang said.
Wang hopes to gain more experience marketing while help increase donations to third-world countries.
As a high-school campus rep for Serengetee, Wang is responsible for promoting sales on social media and spreading awareness of the needs of third-world countries such as electricity, education and housing. Section leaders often pose assignments in the Facebook group for campus reps to complete; the most recent one asked the influencers to post a photo on their Instagram with a discount code to publicize the brand.
Because most brands have been wary of seeking minors to advertise their products, companies like Wave and Fin and Serengetee are traversing an unfamiliar path by recruiting younger representatives. Although reps like Zhou and Wang are not paid and only given discount codes and free merchandise, this marketing strategy could benefit charities and other philanthropic organizations in the future. By allowing these groups to reach out to a large audience through social media, awareness of global issues can be spread more effectively to the millennial generation.
“Knowing that the company I rep donates money in turn, it inspires me to continue promoting the company,” Wang said. “It feels good to be able to promote a company with such a good message and goal.”