Whether around the world or outside our front door, the leaders and best kept in touch in July. See what the month had to offer across our platforms.
On Thursday, July 8, Pokemon GO was released. By the end of the weekend, it had been downloaded more than 7.5 million times, becoming the top-grossing app on the iTunes App Store, along with raising parent Nintendo’s stock by 33 percent. Individuals who might otherwise have been on the couch were walking miles, phone in hand, on the search to “catch them all.”
We took advantage across multiple platforms, focusing first on Snapchat by posting a story about Pokemon GO: the essentials for Pokemon hunting, basic how-tos for the game, and location features around campus (like how, for instance, the Block M is a PokeStop). We also planted UMSocial t-shirts for viewers to find at various locations throughout Central Campus and the Arb.
We also partnered with DPSS and sent safety tips to our Wolverine Pokemon trainers.
This was a perfect example of real-time marketing. We identified a trend and its impact on our audience, and factored it into our social execution for the day. We engaged with our followers in tangible ways, relating to them in a fresh and exciting manner, and attracting individuals in our community ranging from alumni to prospective students.
Pokemon Go isn’t just fun and games at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital Children’s Hospital. The Mott team enlisted Pikachu and his friends to motivate #LittleVictors out of bed and encourage them to start exploring. This video garnered 1,307,667 impressions, along with 2,225 total shares and a reach of 843,525.
Another #WolverineSummer continued, with messages from students near and far. We introduced our #WorldWideWednesday series posts with “Go Blue!” in different languages. Our audience never fails to take us with them wherever they Go Blue.
On July 15, we were joined by students from around the world who were kind enough to share their #WolverineSummers with us. Panelists included McKenna Eisert, Class of 2018, Communication Studies and Biology, currently a sales intern for Qualtrics in Dublin, Ireland (@myeyesert); Tracy Scherdt, Class of 2018, Residential College, intern at James and Grace Lee Boggs School in Detroit (@umtracyscherdt); Charles Wilkes, graduate student, LSA’s Department of Mathematics (@CharlesEWilkes); Rachel Hai, Class of 2019, intern for LSA Internships Program (@rach_hai); and Kim Chan, Class of 2018, LSA Chemical Science (@umkimchan).
Each student brought something exciting to the table, discussing summer experiences that ranged from studying in Spain to interning at a school in Detroit.
To read more of the conversation, check out our recap here.
Snapchat
Third-year U-M medical student Lynette Wynn took over the UMSocial Snapchat in the first of an upcoming series of Medical School Snapchat takeovers. She introduced us to other students from her program and showed us what her typical day looks like.
Bitmoji partnered with Snapchat this month to include users’ Bitmojis in their snaps. Interns Kelly and Aerielle showcased how to download and create your own Bitmoji. We also featured some of our audience members; we asked users to snap us their own Bitmojis, and we added them to our story.
Thanks for following along with us this month, and keep an eye out for more exciting content coming in August. Stay social and, as always, #GoBlue.
