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#OTRisART Keeping Students Engaged

The Art Academy of Cincinnati was struggling to engage students outside of their classrooms. They looked to dooley media to come up with a creative marketing campaign that would get students out of their dorms and into their neighborhood, Over-the-Rhine. AAC happened to be celebrating ten years in the historic Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, and wanted to ensure that students were taking advantage of everything the neighborhood has to offer - from murals to restaurants and everything in between.

The #OTRisArt campaign was developed to invite students to do a little exploring offline, while sharing their adventures online through Instagram. We did this through a scavenger hunt that connected the creative community, local Over-the-Rhine businesses, and the students who live and create in that area. The objective was to celebrate the beauty found in OTR and all of the other interesting businesses, details, and people. Ultimately, we hoped that the visuals and commentary shared by current students would encourage prospective students to take interest in AAC (and its unique location). We incentivized the students by offering free swag, gift cards and the opportunity to do something truly unique on a Saturday afternoon.

Wanna win free stuff through our Instagram Scavenger Hunt #OTRisArt? Visit our Facebook page to find out how.

A post shared by Art Academy of Cincinnati (@artacademyofcincinnati) on Feb 17, 2016 at 2:04pm PST

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With the help of more than fifteen local businesses, we assembled a scavenger hunt that would engage students on and offline. The scavenger hunt invited students to track down and snap photos of local art, posting them to Instagram using the hashtag #OTRisArt. Prizes were donated by local OTR businesses, eager to connect with students in the area. The outdoor experience encouraged students to explore their surroundings and celebrate AAC's ten-year anniversary in Over-the-Rhine. The campaign and event was promoted through email marketing, an online student portal, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and printed materials within the school.

Here’s how it worked:
1. Students followed the AAC on Instagram
2. On the day of the scavenger hunt, we released clues every 10 minutes
3. Students searched for the murals (based on the clues given), and snapped a photo of the art when it was found.
4. They uploaded photos to Instagram, tagging AAC, and using the hashtag #OTRisArt
5. We tracked their progress, the first student team to identify all of the pieces and post to Instagram won the prize

[ #OTRisArt ] FINAL CLUE: Once you've found all five pieces! Take a #selfie at #AAC with your teammate and tag us! Then we can double-check all of your work and announce the winners! Don't forget to tag us in all five photos + your selfie AND use #OTRisArt. 😄 #thisisotr #Cincinnati #artschool

A post shared by Art Academy of Cincinnati (@artacademyofcincinnati) on Feb 27, 2016 at 8:16am PST

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We achieved our goal of engaging students (which can be difficult in itself) in a new way. Local businesses were thrilled to be a part of the event and students were immediately talking about how they might help plan next year’s scavenger hunt. The digital content used in this campaign received more than 1.5k views and 500 engagements. This was a key part of our work with AAC over the course of one year, which altogether generated an 86% increase in engagements, a 582% increase in video views, over 1.3MM brand impressions, and a 28% increase in followers.

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