The student-run discount site CampusCred has arrived on the UCLA campus, but student and business reception to the site is still largely to be determined.
Originally started at UC Berkeley last August, CampusCred is a business that works to get university students, staff and faculty members discounted prices at local restaurants and vendors.
Since its founding at the start of this school year, CampusCred has expanded to UC Santa Cruz, UC Davis and has recently begun its enterprise at UCLA.
“CampusCred is for the students, by the students,” said Brian Campbell, one of the original founders of the business in Berkeley who is now helping the startup at UCLA. “The bottom line is, we want to get the best deals for students, because we’re students ourselves and we realize how much students like saving money.”
In return for attracting more customers, CampusCred asks businesses to offer their products at a reduced price, said Campbell, a fourth-year business and mathematics student at UC Berkeley.
Students who hope to use the discounts will have to pay per coupon, although the discounts received are worth more than the price of a coupon, Campbell said.
Although still in its infancy, the UCLA chapter has high goals. CampusCred has upcoming deals with Bibigo, Red Mango and Fat Sal’s, all local Westwood eateries that are popular among students, Campbell said. The group was also working to land a deal with the quintessential Bruin hangout, Diddy Riese. However, the management of Diddy Riese cookies said they will not work with the new business site.
The group plans to eventually expand beyond Westwood into the broader West Los Angeles and Santa Monica area. This ambition to grow is what attracted the business of Bibigo, a Korean restaurant that recently opened its first U.S. location in Westwood and also hopes to expand to a wider market.
“They represent what we want: social media networking and marketing and also the expansion into bigger markets,” said Daniel Choi, marketing director for Bibigo. “Our visions are just the same, so that’s why we decided to work with them.”
According to Choi, since Bibigo and CampusCred are both new brands to the UCLA area, their working together seems beneficial for both.
“What works out well for them will work out well for us too,” Choi said.
CampusCred started advertising on campus this week by placing fliers on school buildings and inside classes, a promotion scheme that many students said they have noticed.
But only a few students said they would look further into the deals being offered. Some were apprehensive about the marketing scheme, and others said they needed to know more about CampusCred before they would purchase any of their deals.
Some students said they were confused because the fliers were not usable coupons, only advertisements for students to go redeem their vouchers online.
Charmaine Campbell, a first-year pre-business economics student who is not related to Brian Campbell, said she was intrigued by CampusCred’s approach.
“I picked up a flier because I’ve always wanted to try Red Mango, and if they’re going to offer me a coupon for it I’ll become a customer,” she said.
CampusCred hopes to provide discounts that are not limited to eateries. The Berkeley chapter has offered discounts to winter resorts and rock climbing venues, and the UCLA chapter hopes to offer similar services, said Nick Hanoian, a second-year American studies student at Berkeley who is taking the semester off and is helping the startup at UCLA.
The members of CampusCred said they are working to incorporate students’ feedback into their business plan.
“We take all the suggestions we get from students seriously, even if it’s just our friends saying “˜Hey you should get a discount for this place,’ we’ll go out and do it,” Campbell said.