It’s that time of year again at UBC when booths are lined up in a row one after another, and along with it comes roll up banners propped up against each one and eager club representatives ready to snatch the attention of the next passerby. With Business Week having taken place two weeks ago and AMS Clubs Days that just wrapped up this past week, students have been bombarded with a plethora of propaganda from all these clubs that want you.

So how do these clubs do it? What is their strategy in promoting their cause and attempt at making it stand out from the hundreds of others? Everything from posters and banners to rehearsed selling pitches to free swag and snacks, and social media; it’s all a part of the marketing plan.

The club that stuck out to me the most both this year and last was the Chinese Varsity Club (more commonly known as CVC). Their signs are posted along the roads in every route coming into UBC; with that they’ve secured their presence amongst all the commuter students (who make up a vast majority of UBC’s enrollment). But it definitely doesn’t stop there. Balloons branded with their logo, loud music, humorous promotional videos and eye catching swag are only a few ways they attract mass crowds of students around their booth.

However, asides from their annual back to school marketing campaigns, there is definitely more to the club that makes CVC so successful. It has to do with the club’s long term establishment of 80 years and the distinctive impression it has developed over time. Like an established and trusted brand in a specific consumer market, CVC is a well established and renowned club amongst the UBC community.

With the club’s target market reaching out to all students of all ethnicities and backgrounds along with its interactive involvement with the members and its “focus on promoting student social wellness to all UBC students” (About) over the years, it’s no wonder that it continues to the be the largest social club on campus.

Works Cited
About Section. Web. 26 September, 2011.
<http://ubccvc.com/?page_id=264>