Give me an L!

At last month’s Association of College & Research Libraries conference, attendees shared convention center space with a cheerleading competition and a meeting of Mary Kay independent beauty consultants (which probably had cheerleading too). This was a marketing opportunity! Certainly for the Mary Kay reps, and surely the top ones saw it, but for libraries also. Top marketers like Procter & Gamble and PepsiCo are going after cheerleaders as teen influencers.
According to an article in last week’s Wall Street Journal, these companies recognize that cheerleaders can be among the most popular people in school (still!?), able to influence opinion on deodorant, shampoos, or other products. How about reading and library programs? A quoted cheerleader shows how it works: “If there is a new scent that I really enjoy, I’ll share it with them and they will be ‘Oh my gosh, what is that?’ and I’ll be, ‘It’s Secret’s new jasmine scent’ or whatever it is.”

Word-of-mouth is seen as an effective way to reach teen consumers. What clever ideas do you have for getting cheerleaders talking up the library?