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M.A.R.V.
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Welcome to College
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After building Welcome to College an awesome site, it was time to help them spread the word, and we wanted to make sure everyone was as excited about the site as we were.
We, of course, appreciate a creative and original idea like Welcome to College, so when we were brainstorming a marketing campaign for their kick-off, we felt it should be just as fantastic. And, the idea of MARV was born. What is MARV? A Mobile Automated Research Vehicle, or in this case, a promotional vehicle used to connect students and their parents with universities across the country.
A road tour was always in the back of our mind. But not just any road tour. One that would be somewhat of a spectacle. We needed a fun and unique way to get in front of the target audiences and to generate as much media coverage as possible.
How does one accomplish this? By creating an RV that is not only the smartest one around, but also has a personality as big as the RV itself. And that’s exactly what we did when we turned a 1973 GMC RV into MARV.
We made sure MARV was safe and looked awesome, but we also gave him some features that would make him hard for any college student to resist:
- Sight: An X-Box Kinect system allows MARV to call people over, play dancing games and record interviews with college students.
- Personality: By using Flash and Arduino to connect digital interface interactivity with real electrical and mechanical interactivity, MARV is able to engage with each user based on their individual interactions with him.
- Interactive Display Screen: MARV’s rear windshield doubles as a projected monitor.
- Prize Door: Every interaction with MARV is a chance to give away a prize. When you win, all you have to do is reach behind his license plate to retrieve your spoils.
- A confetti cannon, lights, a fog machine, and rear airbags are just a few ways MARV likes to show he is having as much fun as the students who are visiting him.
We began getting the buzz out about MARV and the college tour through existing social media channels and partner school channels. We also created a microsite that allowed visitors to select MARV’s destinations, track Marv’s whereabouts and keep connected to the team while on the road. In the end, we knew MARV would create plenty of buzz about himself all on his own.
Watch MARV in action on Vimeo.
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