YouthWire: the student-only desktop tool

Much of the media and technologies that students use we are all familiar with, because we use them in our lives as well. From Facebook to iPhone apps, e4 to Google Scholar – we know them all.

You probably haven’t heard of YouthWire, because, like Facebook until a few years ago, it is exclusively used by students. It exists on the desktops of 87,000 PCs in over 135 UK universities and colleges, reaching an estimated 1.4 million students.

YouthWire is a platform of aggregated content that looks something like a mini iPad sat on your screen. It can run all sorts of applications.

Included on the platform that universities and students can choose from are favourites like YouTube and Wikipedia, as well as branded content apps from the likes of The Times. But YouthWire’s main applications are functional ones that support institutions and their departments. There is also a scrolling message bar at the foot of the platform.

Marketers have an opportunity to reach students through the YouthWire platform. Either they can develop a bespoke, branded application – as National Express did recently – that provides a realtime service to the user. Or they can place a simple MPU format ad on the platform’s display.

The Youth Group, who have been working with institutions since 1999, are behind the innovation. Their managing director, Justin Smith, told me about its performance so far.

“Clickthroughs and the usage of applications are incredible. The typical conversion rate for an application or display ad, ranges from 0.35% to 0.97%, so they are well above industry average. We’ve just finished a campaign that delivered 6,500 clicks from 30 different unis in four weeks, so volume isn’t an issue and we can segment campaigns too.

“We’re also monitoring a wealth of user data, which we share with institutions. It’s fascinating and gives us powerful insights into the user behaviour of young people.”

To find out more, contact The Youth Group.