Millennials (18-34 year-olds) have a strong desire to associate with genuine brands that have great customer service and reflect their own values. State Traditions--the National Attire Partner of Nextgengolf & NCCGA--epitomizes this modern brand ethos with genuine state-centric logos and company Founders who represent the brand themselves in their daily lives. I had the opportunity to chat with Kimberly Willoughby, a FSU brand ambassador, whose passion for #StateTraditions helped me understand why so many college students chose to associate themselves with this classy, unique, and genuine brand.
Mike: How did you find out about State Traditions?
Kimberly: I got my first State Traditions hat from my brother who was OBSESSED with the brand. His hat was clean and simple, not overstated. I loved it and he bought me my first hat. I started following them on twitter, facebook, and instagram.
Mike: Are there career benefits to being a Brand Ambassador?
Kimberly: I'm a marketing major here at Florida State and wanted to get my foot in the door for internships and jobs and it has proven to be an awesome first learning experience for me.
Mike: I'm guessing social media plays a key part in your role?
Kimberly: The rep program has transitioned over time. At first we wanted to create website for each school so I created a facebook and twitter and would post off of what the main State Traditions facebook would post and try to tie it in with Florida State. Now we don't do our own facebook because we found that it was easier to link everyone to the state traditions page. They have a lot of United States focused gear which makes sense as well and give it a more professional, consistent touch. So as ambassadors we do a lot of promotion of content that State Traditions puts out.
FSU Tailgates are Kimberly's go-to to spread #StateTraditions on campus
Mike: What has been most effective to spread State Traditions on campus?
Kimberly: One of my most successful events is just football on Saturdays. I would get up a couple hours before the game as tailgaiting is huge. I would go to the biggest tailgaiting areas in those designated zones and introduce who I was, where I was from, and have people like the facebook page to get discount codes off product. Surprisingly a lot of people already knew about the brand which makes it fun as everyone is already having a good time.
Mike: What else has worked besides football games?
Kimberly: You can't rent out places normally so you do have to be scappy and entrepreneurial. But starting with baseball this semester I can go and work with local bars to hand out koozies.
Mike: Would you recommend this gig to others?
Kimberly: It's an awesome opporunity. All the people at State Traditions are amazing to work with, a great resume booster. It's a rapidly growing company that is on a lot of campuses, but still has a lot of room to grow which makes it a fun challenge. It wasn't particularly hard work, but more fun work. The stuff they say on the website as being three best friends from Alabama. I met Maury when he came to Tallahassee, he couldn't have been nicer. They remember all of their experiences tail-gaiting and how much fun they had in college. That fun is what they have incorporate into the State Traditions brand.
Got questions for Kimberly about her experience as a State Traditions ambassador? Hit her up on twitter @willowb_