Case study
How a skincare brand used anonymous student polling to understand campus behavior.
An unbranded poll campaign helped the team collect student response across hundreds of campuses.
Plan a student insights campaign
The marketing question
The skincare brand wanted to understand how college students describe their routines, what influences purchase, and where education could improve the message. The study needed broad campus participation while avoiding a branded prompt that might lead the response.
The campus polling approach
Yik Yak ran unbranded, brand-safe poll concepts across 505 campuses. Structured vote options made preferences comparable, while open comments gave students space to explain routines, barriers, and language the original questions might not capture.
The student response
The campaign generated more than 160,000 votes and 2,400 comments. Together, the quantitative response and qualitative conversation gave the team a broader picture than either signal could provide on its own.
How the response was measured
Vote and comment totals were counted from the Yik Yak poll placements included in the campaign. The campus count reflects the schools where those placements ran. The results describe this campaign rather than a forecast for another brand, audience, or flight.
How the findings can support marketing
Poll results can help a team compare priority messages or behaviors, while recurring comment themes can inform product education and creative briefs. The strongest use of the research is to connect each finding to a decision about the next message, offer, audience, or test.
What other marketers can learn
Start research with a business decision, keep the question neutral enough to produce useful response, and give students both a simple choice and a way to explain it. Compare patterns by campus where appropriate, then close the study with specific owners and next actions.
Measurement note: Vote and comment totals are Yik Yak platform counts from this individual campaign across 505 campuses. Results are not a guaranteed benchmark.