Why Gen Z at Freshers?

This audience presents a significant opportunity for brands thanks to these key factors: 

📣 High Receptivity 

With no fixed habits or loyalties, students arrive open-minded and eager to explore. This is a rare window where they are actively looking for new products, services, and routines – and are highly responsive to brands that show up early. 

🔁 Consistent Influx & Easy Targetability 

Every September, a brand-new cohort enters the same life stage: living away from home, spending independently, and building habits from scratch. This creates an endless cycle of next-generation consumers arriving annually and staying for a minimum of three years. 

It’s a stable, repeatable opportunity for brands to build long-term visibility and relevance – especially when they’re front and centre in the safe and familiar place students spend most of their time: home. 

Understanding Gen Z’s Spending Power & Loyalty Potential 

Beyond their openness and consistent arrival, this Gen Z audience is a powerful consumer group, primed for both immediate spend and long-term loyalty. Their influence also directly shapes the consumption behaviors of other generations. 

Immediate Needs & Spending Power: The Freshers’ Rush 

New university students face a unique situation: 77% arrive still needing to buy essential items. This immediate demand drives significant initial spending on everything from kitchenware and bedding to study materials and tech. This freshers’ spend extends beyond necessities, with students also allocating substantial portions of their budget to fashion, health and beauty, travel, food, and more. In fact, the average weekly spend of a fresher is over £463 – more than double a typical week’s spend.

Cultivating Lifelong Customers: The Gen Z Advantage 

This crucial period of transition, where Gen Z students are forming new habits and making independent choices, offers a chance for brands to establish enduring relationships. This generation is: 

• Digitally Savvy & Value-Driven: Gen Z are adept researchers, influenced by social media, and actively seek brands that align with their values (authenticity, sustainability). 

• Loyalty-Prone with the Right Approach: While pragmatic, they are willing to commit to brands that offer value, personalised experiences, and engaging loyalty programs. 

Consider how initial choices in their university years often translate into lifelong loyalty: 

• Take telecoms, for example: 

The network they choose when they move to uni – often prompted by a student SIM deal or campus visibility – is likely to stay with them. Switching later feels like effort. 

The same goes for banking: 

• The student account they open during Freshers can quietly evolve into their main account for years. A good first experience creates default behaviour. 

These are just two examples of product or service categories where initial choices made during this formative period often lead to lasting brand loyalty, but the principle applies across many categories. 

So, what are you waiting for?

With our full-motion digital screen network and wide range of creative spaces inside university accommodation, we offer impactful, memorable ways to help your brand cut through during one of the biggest milestones young people will encounter.

If you’d like to chat about planning your Freshers campaign – our friendly team would love to advise!