A dose of college humor

College students, albeit a small demographic, are among the most sought-after by marketers.

They also have definite ideas about some brands, writes Advertising Age, citing data from the annual GenX2Z College Brand Study, released earlier this month by Anderson Analytics (via MarketingCharts).

"They have huge impact on what their parents buy, and then they have their own money, more than any other generation before them, and of course they are the consumers of tomorrow," Tom Anderson, managing partner Anderson Analytics, is quoted as saying.

College students have an insatiable craving for Apple:

• The company was ranked No. 2 overall best brand by 17 percent of students surveyed.
• It ranked No. 1 and No. 2 for the most-anticipated products (the iPhone and new iPod versions).
• It also ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in product recommendations (iPod, followed by Apple products.
• And it ranked No. 6 in most-popular commercials.

College students' favorite brands among various product categories (see table, below, for No. 2 rankings and additional categories): The iPod is cited by 65 percent as their favorite MP3 player; their favorite book, Harry Potter (20 percent); soft drink, Coke (17 percent); mobile service, Verizon (17 percent); fast-food joint, Taco Bell (13 percent); website, Facebook (12 percent).

See MarketingCharts for additional findings.