This video was designed as a fun and engaging promotional effort for DePaul’s Blue Demon Challenge—our one-day, campus-wide fundraising challenge with an ambitious goal of $5 million raised in a single 24-hour period. In order to capitalize on the sense of urgency the event invokes, we tapped DePaul’s athletics mascot, DIBS (Demon In a Blue Suit), as a stand-in for Ethan Hunt in a tense, chaotic, and silly race across Chicago—from our Loop Campus to our Lincoln Park Campus—to raise awareness for the day. Staff from the Office of Advancement wrote, produced, and edited the piece and cast our colleagues in Distribution Services, Athletics, and the Office of the President to round out the roles with familiar faces and locations across the city. Across all platforms, our organic posts of the video received more than 3,900 views and more than 250 engagements. We also used clips of DIBS’ running scenes (running underneath the Chicago Theatre marquee, running over the Wabash Street Bridge, etc.) to create GIFs for use on social media and in email marketing in the month leading up to the Blue Demon Challenge, which resulted in an additional 2,520 views and 150 engagements. We also ran a paid campaign on Facebook and Instagram which resulted in 190,290 impressions. This all contributed to a successful giving day, which saw DePaul smash its goals and bring in $7 million from 4,693 unique gifts.
From the Judges
This video is not only fun but also effective in showcasing the wide range of campuses and urban environments. It’s a great way to display the lively spirit of the city.
