brennan angelThe University Union Plaza was busier than usual on Thursday during UU Hour. Booths with names of streets in San Francisco bordered the Plaza while students listened to the live music, filled out scavenger hunts and got free food in celebration of the new Honda, the “Fit.”
The event, “Life in the City,” was put together by a group of 18 marketing students as their senior project. The students worked with ASI, campus clubs and local businesses to make the event as popular as it was.
“If we didn’t have the donations, this would not have turned out as well as it did,” said Brandon Littlefield, one of the students who planned the event.
The group was one of 18 other campuses to work with Honda. It was a competition, Littlefield said. All of the schools involved made their own marketing campaign for the new car.
“All the proceeds made during the event were to be donated to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD),” said Jessica Hickey, another marketing senior involved in the project. “We wanted to tie the event to a good cause, and MADD was what made sense.”
The students made themselves a mock agency, Hickey said. They also worked with a real agency, Adventure Partners, as the “liaison” between the students and Honda.
Along with the event, the students made an entire ad campaign for the car. Their catch phrase,”This life, my fit,” was posted throughout the UU.
“There was a lot of flexibility for these,” Littlefield said. “We worked with graphic arts students on them.”
Hickey explained that the Honda “Fit” was made to be urban and retro for this generation. “It’s supposed to be metro-funky . . . the city life was the image we got from the car,” she said.
In order to get free food, students had to complete a scavenger hunt that had participants searching for various things and features located in the “Fit.” Questions such as “How many different configurations can you make with the seats?” were used to puzzle the participants. The questionnaire was bright orange and could be seen throughout the UU.
The scavenger hunts were not only for the free food, but for a raffle. Students who turned in their bright orange papers were entered into a raffle to win gift certificates, T-shirts and even an iPod Nano.
The band playing was The Clarks, a band that uses the words “American. Guitar. Rock.” to describe themselves, according to their Web site. Students surrounded the stage and moved along with the music for the entire UU Hour.
The event went from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. and there were representatives from Honda to answer any questions and to observe the event, Littlefield said.
Other students were impressed with the idea. “It was a great way to spread the word about the Honda ‘Fit,'” said Danny Passon, business and psychology senior. “Using a crowded area was a great idea.”
Students were obviously interested in what was going on, said Jaci Brownlee, nutrition sophomore.
“The set-up was very impressive, with the red carpets and stars and booths with the street names. They did a good job of drawing attention to the event,” she said.
Littlefield said he was pleased with the event.
“We got very lucky with the weather,” he said. “It is supposed to rain tomorrow. It worked out perfectly.”