Mobile teaching business takes on automotive manufacturer's first hackathon to engage SMBs and startups
A mobile business teaching children across Australia’s rural and remote communities to write code has been crowned the winner of Mercedes-Benz’ inaugural ‘Hack my Van’ competition.
The initiative was launched by the car manufacturer’s marketing team in partnership with creative agency, The Royal, as a way of engaging entrepreneurial small business owners and thinkers with its new Vito van. Six finalists were selected from a nominations process online to participate in a one-day hackathon on 6 August that saw them ‘hack’ the inside of the Mercedes-Benz utility vehicle.
Code Camp innoVito by Cobalt took out top honours for its efforts to teach children to write code. The initiative started in December 2013 and over the past 18 months has taught 8000 kids to write code in both public and private schools. The aim is to reach 100,000 students in the next 12 months, and Code Camp is already running classes in Arnhem Land with the assistance of the Foundation for Young Australians.
The team behind Code Camp won a new Vito van on the day, leading a pack that also included a biohacking lab, mobile pet photography studio, rubbish to product recycling van and on-demand 3D printing workshop.
The finalists were judged by several innovators and celebrities including award-winning chef and restauranteur, Shane Delia, Mercedes-Benz MD for A/NZ, Diane Tarr, Huffington Post’s Cathy Anderson and Unlockd and Tribe advisor plus co-founder of Smiling Mind and LaunchVic board member, Jane Martino.
“Code Camp is on a mission to teach Australian students to code, and build engagement and a passion for technology,” said its co-founder, Ben Levi. “To have our own Mercedes-Benz Vito, Code Camp will be able to expand a lot faster to teach more students in more remote areas, and it will allow us to run pop-up events all over the country to raise awareness.”
Mercedes-Benz marketing manager, Katherine Gracey, previously told CMO the program was about extending its customer base outside of traditional trade sectors and highlighting the vehicle’s innovative technology make-up.
“We were blown away by the level of creativity and the brilliance of the business ideas we saw from the six finalists,” Tarr said. “This is precisely why we created this event as we are excited by the ideas and possibilities for how the Vito van can be reimagined to transform an existing business, or completely reinvented to create new businesses.”
Follow CMO on Twitter: @CMOAustralia, take part in the CMO conversation on LinkedIn: CMO ANZ, join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CMOAustralia, or check us out on Google+: google.com/+CmoAu
People whose personal details and experiences signal they come from racially diverse backgrounds are less likely than anglo or Caucasian candidates to make it through the first cut in recruitment processes. Even if the organisation says it values diversity.
The impact of coronavirus is far reaching with the true impact on the economy and businesses is unknown. While there are a few categories and brands experiencing growth, for the most part the crisis is wreaking havoc for large and small operators across many sectors including entertainment, tourism, retail, fitness, services and the list goes on.
There is no doubt the challenges we are facing as businesses, advertisers and audiences with COVID-19 are all unprecedented. But with this comes an opportunity to take stock and re-evaluate current strategies, plans and processes to drive efficiencies and relevance in today's market.
In this bonus last episode of this new podcast series, BrandHook MD, Pip Stocks, talks with former ANZ group general manager of marketing, Louise Eyres, talks about the importance of thinking like a customer and using intuition to solve customer painpoints.
Great article. Well said!Https://www.virtualtradesho...Virtual conference
Curtis Okeefe
Can virtual events fill the digital conference gap?
Why these voice assistants are so popular nowadays? Maybe I should get one too? I am really curious.
Jill Kim
Aussie brands jump on voice-interaction bandwagon following Amazon Alexa's local launch
We encourage you to share your thoughts on your favorite social platform. Digital Marketing Consultant HyderabadDigital Marketing Analyst...
Chaitanya Nandigam
CMO interview: Charting a new customer course at a NFP fintech
Extremely insightful and well written. Thanks for the great article!
Nicole Brodie Nahum
Why COVID-19 makes it more important than ever to move at the speed of the consumer
Blockchain is one of the fastest growing technology in today's digital era. Industries like banking and finance are already using blockch...
Aniket Singh
Can blockchain deliver on its big advertising promises?