In addition to the Montana State University Bobcats , Anderson Management Group also supports the University of Montana Grizzlies , hosting up to three tailgates per year .
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2017 Issue 1 | THE SCORE
Education
Continued from page 23
as a whole . Managers note that at the JK & T Wings location near Michigan State University , townies and young professionals often fill the restaurant during the day and when school is not in session .
“ There is a delicate balance between not alienating the students by being too family-friendly and not alienating the families and professionals by being a college bar filled with students ,” said Aaron Weiner , general manager for the Michigan State location . “ Our marketing tactics are geared mostly toward the non-student population , but we don ’ t ignore them either . We are so close to campus that our student crowd will always be there . Our biggest area for growth is outside the student population .”
Other operators have a different approach and one that ’ s pervasive in college culture – target the freshmen .
“ Every year we get a new chance to grow our customer base through the incoming freshmen at the universities ,” said David Moorhead , director of marketing for Anderson Management Group , which owns a location near the University of Montana and another near Montana State University . “ It provides us with the opportunity to create wing-loving fans and hopefully create lifetime customers .”
And Anderson Management Group isn ’ t alone in that sentiment .
“ We feel it ’ s important to engage with freshmen on college campuses . It ’ s a great way to bring in new guests and create a habit of continued visits ,” said Lauren Parish , marketing manager for World Wide Wings , LLC , which owns locations near California State University - Bakersfield and Oregon State University . “ We attend freshmen events to meet and expose new students to our brand and locations , and we invite them to our restaurants with a great coupon offer .”
Coupons are an ideal way to appeal to the college crowd , which tends to be price conscious .
“ A restaurant with this kind of customer base needs to put a focus on specials on food and drinks , since most college students are on a tight budget but still enjoy going out with their friends ,” said Thomas .
Nearly every location within a college town puts a lot of time and effort into making sure students know about value days such as ½ Price Wing Tuesdays and Boneless Thursdays . While some locations put most of their resources into promoting these days , other locations , such as the one near Yale , offers a student discount of 10 percent .
Still others create additional value days and promotions to drive students into the restaurant . The Yale location also runs an “ Any Wing Wednesday ” promotion , and the Baton Rouge BWW offers late night specials catering almost exclusively to hungry and thirsty night owls .
“ We have one of the best late night happy hours in town , and that really caters to the college students in the area ,” said Thomas . “ With a dollar off tall beers and $ 3 shot specials , there