Costco, Texas A&M team up for Back-to-College Roadshow

ISSAQUAH, Wash. — Beginning this week, Texas A&M University will partner with collegiate apparel supplier, Knights Apparel, to launch the Costco Back-to-College Tailgate Roadshow featuring Aggie Gameday apparel.



Texas A&M and Knights Apparel will utilize the reach of Aggie connections via social media channels to promote the Costco Back-to-College Tailgate Roadshow event and drive traffic to the 20 participating Costco locations that will exclusively carry the merchandise.



In addition, the Center for Retailing Studies at Mays Business School and Ramkumar Janakiraman, associate professor of marketing, will lend academic analysis to the project by exploring social media on ROI. After the promotion ends on Oct. 10, Janakiraman will evaluate the impact of engagement from Texas A&M’s official Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn channels on product sales.



“Dr. Janakiraman’s strategic analysis of the effect of social media marketing on sales offers valued business insights for the retailer. By correlating weekly point-of-sale data with a concentrated social media campaign, we provide the retailer with scientifically derived metrics on the value of online engagement. We expect to provide added value to store traffic and sales, and therefore justify larger floor space for next season. The more floor space, the greater possible sales for the vendor,” stated Kelli Hollinger, director of the center.



Hollinger added: “We hope the Roadshow at Costco research partnership will develop a road map for how businesses can uniquely partner with university brand and academic researchers.”