Wired makes friends in Greek community

Members of the Greek community are slowly gaining access to a new perk of Greek life: corporate sponsorship.

Wired, Rockstar, Monster, Redbull and even some other lesser-known energy drink brands have all developed relationships with houses in the UW Greek community, and the relationships are proving to be mutually beneficial.

“When Wired first came on campus four years ago, almost none of our products were being carried,” said Mia Abbett, a marketing and promotion specialist at Wired. “Now the HUB carries all of or our products, and we’re getting involved with other parts of the school other than just the Greek community.”

Wired energy drinks, a local company based out of Everett, was one of the first companies to sponsor a Greek community event at the UW about four years ago. Now, other companies such as Monster, which is based out of California, and Redbull, a brand that was started overseas, are coming to campus as well.

“UW was our original starting point as far as getting involved in campuses,” Abbett said. “At the beginning of this year, we only had one sorority and one fraternity that we were sponsoring; now we have five of each approaching us and wanting sponsorship as well. It’s really taking off.”

Originally, energy drink companies were eager to sponsor houses within the Greek community because of their active involvement around campus. Wired provides about 40 cases of energy drinks per month, with 24 cans per case, to houses that it sponsors — free of charge.

The energy drink companies rely on student representatives within the houses to distribute these products and to help them get the word out.

“It’s really a great relationship,” said Jim Denny, a senior in Zeta Psi fraternity and a campus representative for Wired. “It allows us to receive a great product, and it’s always nice to get stuff for free because as college kids we don’t have very much money.”

The relationships that companies build with houses in the Greek community are also useful when those companies decide to venture onto other parts of campus.

“It’s easier for us to have a Greek house for on-campus help,” Abbett said. “We often times call houses that we sponsor and have them help us unload and set up for other events on campus.”

The energy drink companies typically do not actively seek houses to sponsor. They prefer that houses come to them.

“It’s not about marketing for us as much as it is about people coming to us because they believe in our product,” Abbett said.

While energy drinks remain mostly exclusive in sponsoring Greek events, companies have been venturing into other parts of the UW community as well. Wired recently acted as an official sponsor for the Urban Business Festival, and it is also a sponsor of the School of Engineering.

Since some companies unofficially sponsor houses, no specific dollar amount could be determined for how much energy drink companies invest into the Greek community as a whole. Wired, however, disclosed that in addition to devoting one fifth of its marketing efforts in the region towards campus events, it typically puts on one or two campus events per month at a cost ranging from $500-$1500.

With energy drinks looking to market more to the college demographic and competition intensifying, their presence on campus is sure to increase in the coming year.

“Next year is going to be a very big year for us — it’s really taking off.” Abbett said.