**F*ck It Won’t Cut It**

The quick pitch:

What happens when an International University opens its gates to having students on-campus amidst a global pandemic?

In Fall 2020, despite a pandemic, Boston University decided to resume in-person class. In order to stay on-campus, students needed to realize that they can’t afford to say “f*ck it” to small rules. They needed a MAJOR LIFESTYLE CHANGE!

See the full case study below!

Why you should care?

FIWCI was a finalist for Best in Community Relations at PR Week Awards where it was recognized as an Honorable Mention coming 2nd in a non-student category.
The campaign is a Platinum Award Finalist at the Case District-Excellence Awards.
The campaign has been recognised by the American Marketing Association (AMA) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC).

Background:

During the Summer of 2020, once COVID-19 had well established itself in the United States, Boston University established an unprecedented set of public health and safety guidelines to resume classes and on-campus life by Fall 2020.

Challenge: BU needed to find a way to get students who weren’t at high risk for COVID-19 by virtue of their age to take responsibility and modify their behavior in ways that would be consistent with best public health practices.

See it live!

Quick preview:

Objective:

We continue to educate students about the best COVID-19 public health and safety practices, and motivate them to modify the way they conduct themselves on and off-campus so that they and the entire BU community can have a successful semester.

Target Audience:

We are talking to undergraduate and graduate students who are smart, independent-minded, socially active. These are Gen Z individuals who are well-educated, social media savvy, and looking to live their life to the fullest.

Insight:

“Gen Z-ers are the savviest generation when it comes to risk, creativity, and invention”. -Sylvian Labs

Since Genz is young, they feel that Covid-19 won’t directly affect them. They are known to take small risks and cut themselves slack for them. So what is stopping them from doing the same with Covid?

Big Idea:

It’s time to CALL STUDENTS OUT ON THEIR BULLSHIT and remind them that saying "F*CK IT" to the SMALL RULES CAN LEAD TO BIG CONSEQUENCES.

How did it come to life?

Social Media:

We’ve received over 6.2 million impressions.

INSTAGRAM

5,500+ followers since August '20
800,000+ accounts reached
24,000+ engagements received

TWITTER

800+ followers since August '20
750,000+ accounts reached
1,000+ engagements received

TIKTOK

300+ followers since August '20
70,000+ accounts reached
4,000+ engagements received

Content Creation:

We don’t shy away from talking about sex, marijuana, dating, and partying during the pandemic. Our approach has never been finger waggy and we always provide alternative options to our students. We know that everyone isn’t going to stay cooped up in their rooms.

We cover a lot of taboo, urgent and relevant topics like:

Marijuana

Masks

Academics

Dorm Life

Safe Sex

Social Life

Mental Health

Travel

We also debunked common myths with the help of B.S. Meters!

Out of Home:

While the campaign started out on social, it soon took over the Boston University Campus.

Swag & Brand Ambassadors:

We didn’t just educate and entertain students but involved them in the campaign through a BA program with 75+ Brand Ambassadors. Students repped the campaign on-campus and encouraged peers to stay safe. Swag became a huge hit with the students with 5000+ items being given away so far.