The Open University
Challenge:
In 2009, The Open University wanted to promote some new courses that it had devised to coincide with the bicentenary of Charles Darwin’s birth and celebrate 150 years since the publication of ‘On the Origins of the Species’. The marketing challenge that The Open University faces is that the more tightly it targets its campaigns from a course perspective, the smaller the budget it can deploy.
Solution:
20:20 Agency quickly realised that a viral marketing social offered the potential to reach a wide and interested audience based upon a relatively small investment. Using digital channels to achieve this also offered the opportunity for a Higher Education establishment to engage with potential students in an unexpected and imaginative way.
20:20 Agency devised, designed and deployed the ‘Devolve me’ web tool, which enabled people to upload photos of themselves and then watch as they devolved back to Neanderthal man or woman. The tool produced highly social results with colleagues, family and friends uploaded photos of themselves and people they know.
20:20 Agency ensured that the tool was seeded carefully around major social media commentators to maximise the chances of it going viral. Stephen Fry retweeted a link to the app, calling it ‘Coolismo’.
Results:
• Devolve me generated a year’s worth of undergraduate science prospectus requests in just 24 hours
• Facebook and iPhone versions were created
• A mash-up with Google maps and twitter was created to enable people to see who was “devolving” around the country
• As it took off the idea was carefully managed and evolved for maximum effect and longevity
Why not try out Devolve Me for yourself? Click here.
