VARSITY BRAND Students get marketing experience, prestige as companies' campus reps

Jul. 24--Marc Feher tends to get a good deal of attention on campus. Women interrupt his lunch for an autograph. Frat guys beg for his friendship. And Playboy models come to his parties. For this Ohio State University junior, it's all in a day's work. He's a Playboy campus representative. While the 20-year-old political-science major might seem to have found his dream job, the truth is that this is just the beginning. He and other campus representatives -- students who work for big-name companies such as Playboy, Red Bull, Disney or Apple at universities nationwide -- are looking to get experience, connections and, in some cases, a foot in the door.

Colin Mack, 22, of Centerville, didn't plan to become a campus consultant for Sports Illustrated on Campus.

It fell into his lap last year when a friend who worked as a campus rep for the magazine asked the OSU student if he was interested in the job.

"Sports was never something of an interest to me," he said. "But I applied for it, got it and accepted the challenge."

Since then, he has led a team of eight other reps working on marketing projects and reporting back to the magazine's office in New York.

There's no paycheck, he said, but the experience is invaluable.

"It's allowed me to gain more confidence in myself," Mack said.

And not many people can say they've worked with Sports Illustrated, let alone as an undergraduate, Mack said.

Through campus representatives, companies reach a key advertising demographic, college-age consumers, said Phil Rist, vice president for Strategic Initiatives with BIGresearch, a Worthingtonbased consumer-intelligence company.

"They're trying to develop brand loyalties that (students will) hopefully carry on as they graduate college and have families of their own."

It helps that a sales or marketing pitch is coming from a peer, he said.

Ohio University graduate Ben Lachman describes his four years as a campus representative with Apple as a natural fit.

The 23-year-old had always worked with Macs, and the campus job meant a $10-anhour paycheck for marketing Apple products and helping the Ohio University tech staff with problems.

Another perk was the Powerbook computer the company provided.

Now the Athens resident is starting his own programming and consulting company.

According to Apple's Web site, campus reps are promised an "evangelical" experience.

An Apple rep is an "iPod wearing, concert throwing ... pavement pounding, iLife living, Apple evangelizing, student sales and marketing guru."

That's not too far off, Lachman said.

"For the most part, you tend to have the cool gadgets. There's a lot of opportunity for some glamorous stuff."

While not one to call himself a campus celebrity, Feher acknowledged that he attracts a lot of attention because of his job.

"It's kind of burdensome, but it goes with the territory," he said.

That territory is clubs and bars where Feher, who is unpaid, organizes and hosts events that include Playboy "talent," he said.

He also acts as the "eyes and ears" for the magazine, reporting what's hot on the OSU campus.

Feher's goal is to land an advertising job with Playboy.

"My work will show my character and what I can do for the program," he said.

Playboy has about 250 campus reps nationwide, said Danny Perez, college marketing manager for the magazine.

"These guys are already familiar with our brand, which is a step up," he said.

Like many other campus representatives, Feher took the summer off. He is working as a promoter for a club in his native Cleveland.

Feher said he wants to host five or six Playboy parties at bars next school year and to boost OSU's presence in the magazine.

That also means answering the occasional students who asks Feher if he hangs out with Hugh Hefner.

"I tell them, 'Use your imagination. Do you really think I hang out at the mansion?' "