The Freshers Playbook: How To Win Students’ Most Free-Spending Month

For students, Freshers Season is a blank slate. For brands, it’s a high-stakes battlefield. 

Students don’t go out socialising as much as previous young generations, yet they crave IRL experiences. They’re financially constrained, yet they spend a lot. It’s a maze out there. 

From Sephora and Foot Locker to Domino’s and Argos, how did the winners of Fresher’s 2025 actually break through? 

And what can we learn from these campaigns going into 2026? 

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The Impact of Capturing Students When They’re Finding Their Feet

The first rule of Freshers 2025 was simple: Timing is everything, but intent is king. 

Gen Z doesn't just shop for products; they "curate" their new life. From decorating their new accommodation to finding their go-to coffee shop to exploring the nightlife with new friends… Fresher’s is THE time for firsts.

That includes first introductions to new products and brands.

This creates a massive window of opportunity: reaching students before their Fresher’s Week starts.

By moving away from generic discounts and leaning into high-value bundles—think MacBook Airs and TV/Soundbar combos—tech brands like Argos and LG justified the premium price tag.

Meanwhile, in the beauty sector, Sephora UK and Boots treated Freshers like a red-carpet event. By timing generous student discounts to hit exactly during move-in weekend, they became the go-to “glow up” destination.

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Fashion: Foot Locker’s Authentic Creator Strategy

Style cannot be bought. It needs to be curated. 

While other brands stuck to glossy, high-production hero shots, Foot Locker partnered with Pion to promote their student discount on our marketplace Student Beans. Leaning into the "Get Ready With Me" culture, the brand leveraged Pion's Creators to gain traction. Moving beyond traditional ads and embracing relatable, creator-first storytelling, they built genuine brand trust.

Bastin’s GRWM video framed his sneaker journey - from collecting sought-after pairs seven years ago to becoming a content creator - in a way that strongly resonated with students, making him the top performer. His storytelling reinforced authenticity and relevance, driving both visibility and action.

When you stop acting like a corporate entity and start acting like a trusted style curator on social media, the numbers follow. 

Levi’s saw a staggering 327% increase in transactions and a 291% YoY revenue surge. Talk about creator influence.

They proved that for Gen Z, the best ad is the one that doesn't feel like an ad at all.

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Beauty: Sephora’s “Uni Glow-Up” Offer

Everyone wants to reinvent themselves for the first week of university. 

And Sephora understood the assignment. Following Pion's guidance, they positioned their beauty products as an essential part of starting the university year right: feeling good and looking good.

By timing aggressive 20% discounts on Pion's marketplace Student Beans to hit exactly when students were stocking their new bathroom shelves, Sephora leveraged the student desire for a fresh start perfectly. 

Sephora ensured each piece of media promoted the strongest discount, and focused on keeping imagery fresh on the brand page but also in emails and socials. This led to a competitor advantage: Sephora gained market share whilst three other major beauty brands lost it.

This precision timing secured them a massive 58% market share and a 184% revenue increase compared to the previous year.

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Tech: Argos’ Student Survival Kit

Tech is a high-value, high-anxiety purchase. Students need it, but rarely have the money for it.

To win here, Argos focused on the pre-arrival stock-up window, right before university classes start. Partnering with Pion to promote their offers on our marketplace Student Beans, they justified premium hardware by creating a bundle that focused on essential student tech, like the MacBook Air:

• £50 off MacBook Air from mid-August to mid-September
• £15 off £150 Spend for two weeks in September

By offering valuable deals as students are still getting ready to start university, Argos became the top-of-mind destination for all things hardware. 

The result was a powerhouse performance: +70% revenue and over 35,000 code redemptions. 

Argos didn't just sell a laptop; they sold confidence and preparation for day one.

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Food & Drink: Wagamama’s Affordable Dining Milestone

Food and drink brands live or die by the "moment."

Working with Pion, Wagamama mastered the art of the secondary peak by aligning their offers with GCSE results week; a time when younger students and families are out celebrating.

No matter what results young consumers got, they could be rewarded for the achievement of finishing school with a delicious, affordable meal out!

By boosting their Student Beans offer to 25% during this specific milestone, they drove a massive wave of footfall that others missed. The numbers are a masterclass in event-based marketing: over £485k in revenue, a 224% increase in covers, and 40,000 new sign-ups. 

They proved that owning the moment is the fastest way to turn a hungry student into a loyal diner.

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Travel: FlixBus’ Aggressive Offer Boosting

Students are constantly urged to “book flights” or “grab their train tickets” in advance, before prices go up and before seats get filled up. For travel brands, the challenge is cutting through the endless noise of booking options. 

FlixBus partnered with Pion to win students by meeting the, exactly where they were at the end of the first month of Fresher’s: on a budget and planning their first trips home or weekend getaways. 

By boosting discounts during peak travel dates on Pion's marketplace Student Beans and utilizing omnichannel advertising, they became the go-to for student mobility.

This wasn't just a UK success story, either; while overall transactions jumped 176%, they even saw a 97% increase in French transactions, proving that a strong, well-timed offer translates across borders.

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How to Win in 2026

The data from Freshers 2025 is clear. To dominate this demographic, your brand needs three things:

Aggressive Offers 

10% is a gesture; 20% is a conversion driver.

Omnichannel Reach 

If you aren't in their push notifications on a Thursday night, you don't exist.

Relatable Content

If it looks like an ad, they’ll scroll. If it looks like a creator, they’ll click.

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