Bringing students back into the picture

ZIPCAR UNIVERSITY CAMPAIGN

THE OPPORTUNITY:

Reintroduce Zipcar to Gen Z students through a strategically integrated back-to-school campaign.

THE THINKING:

Here’s the tension we found: Gen Z is the most connected generation alive. And the most burned out by it. They don’t want another brand in their feed. They want a reason to get off campus, be with people and do something that feels real. Small moments, not big ones. That's where Zipcar lives. Not just as a service. As the thing that makes the spontaneous possible.

THE STRATEGY:

Show that convenient Zipcar trips enrich the campus experience.

THE CREATIVE IDEA:

It’s the little trips

Little is in regards to ease and convenience. Not the big, unattainable getaway. The quick snack run. The spontaneous break from campus. All just a tap away.

Zipcar makes those little adventures effortless (and always affordable), turning off-campus moments into something memorable.

MY ROLE:

Students don’t respond to brands announcing themselves. They respond to things that feel true. My job was to make sure every decision stayed connected to that. I set the creative direction, led the team day-to-day, and held the line between what the brand needed and what would actually resonate with a Gen Z audience.

WHAT WE DID:

Cast friends and employees instead of models. It saved five figures and looked more real because it was.
The collage-driven, analog aesthetic wasn't nostalgia for its own sake; it was a signal to a generation that's learned to distrust polish.
We built modular assets so the idea could scale across Snapchat and YouTube without being rebuilt every time.
Activated the idea on campus through events, ambassadors, and surprise moments into the places where students actually make decisions.
All this through a flexible creative center to support this fully integrated 360º back-to-school campaign