Web Strategy and Development Blog

April Fools’ Day 2017: Campus Hawk invades the fountain

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April Fools' Day homepage image

Missouri State students love the Campus Hawk, whether it’s soaring through the sky or controlling squirrel populations. Students love the John Q. Hammons Fountain even more.

Why not blend the two campus icons into one April Fools’ Day prank?

What we did

The offices of web and new media, university communications, and photographic services developed content for the prank. It lived on the Missouri State homepage April 1, 2017.

The story revealed the April Fools’ Day prank in the last sentence. Astute readers also noticed the first letters of each paragraph spelled out “April Fools.”

The results

The content generated almost 4,000 page views April 1, which represented an all-time high for the new news website. Web and new media shared the story on Facebook and Twitter.

Facebook

  • 45,000 reach
  • 152 shares
  • 2,500 link clicks

Twitter

  • 10,720 impressions
  • 65 retweets
  • 368 link clicks

April Fools’ Day 2016: Missouri State Valet

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A year after presenting the possibility of a new mascot, the office of web and new media turned its attention for April Fools’ Day 2016 to a different avenue of campus life: Parking on campus.

The team developed the concept of Missouri State Valet, an exciting (but made-up) service that would give students the option of having valet attendants park their cars for them.

The prank carried a key message: Students should utilize the orange commuter parking lots on the north end of campus. Those parking lots usually have plenty of available spots at all hours of the day. The department of safety and transportation has made that a key point to help students mitigate the frustration of full commuter lots on the south side of campus.

What we didValet parking homepage

Web and new media partnered with photographic services and safety and transportation to create the April Fools’ Day digital package, which included a basic website that was linked to from the Missouri State homepage and a downloadable parking pass and a video that promoted the service.

The pass also included a reveal of the April Fools’ Day component along with a message about the orange parking lots.

Chris Nagle, videographer and editor and Sara Silkwood, videographer (and on-screen talent), recorded and produced several versions of the video content to make it fit multiple social media platforms.

Chris Austin, graphic designer in Web and new media, developed the valet website and parking pass that featured design elements from Missouri State’s brand refresh project. Kevin Agee, new media specialist, developed the content for the website and parking pass. Tom Johnson, director of safety and transportation, contributed his acting skills to the video as well.

The numbersValet parking pass

8,000 pageviews

5,900 from the MissouriState.edu homepage

1,600 from Missouri State Facebook

400 from Missouri State Twitter

40 from Missouri State Instagram

20 from MarooNation Facebook

Facebook Stats

185,000 fans reached

47,000 video views

427 shares

73 comments

490 reactions

61 new fans

Twitter StatsValet gif

9,600 impressions

2,000 video views

54 retweets

76 likes

45 new followers

Instagram Stats

2,200 video views

27 comments

233 likes

April Fools’ Day 2015: Boomer vs. Scrapper

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The office of Web and new media commemorates April Fools’ Day with a prank on the Missouri State homepage.

This year, we sought to boost engagement by providing multiple platforms through which the Missouri State community could participate in the joke.

The prank (a battle between beloved mascot Boomer Bear and a sassy challenger called Scrapper Squirrel) allowed for the following:

  • Voting via the Missouri State homepage
  • Six integrated content pieces on the Missouri State homepage
  • Social media interaction through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube

The creation of Scrapper Squirrel

The campaign strategy began with the creation of Boomer’s rival.

Chris Austin, graphic designer in the office of Web and new media, developed the look for Scrapper, a cocky squirrel with a confrontational style. Thirty unique assets were created and distributed as part of the campaign.

Scrapper Squirrel with Missouri State football players

Web and new media then designated a Twitter handle for Scrapper, which served as an outlet for the feisty upstart throughout the day.

Integrated, interactive homepage content

On April 1, the Boomer vs. Scrapper campaign claimed every content area on the Missouri State homepage.

Main feature

Main feature of Boomer vs. Scrapper campaign promises that "the fur will fly"

  • The main feature area allowed visitors to vote for either Boomer or Scrapper.
  • Voters were given the option of sharing the vote as a status update on Facebook or Twitter.
  • At a designated point in the day, the homepage feature flipped to reveal the joke and confirm Boomer’s status as Missouri State’s mascot.

April Fools' Day feature reveals that Boomer is a "friend to all of us at Missouri State" -- and our mascot

Complementary mini-features

Four, smaller feature areas were dedicated to the following content pieces:

  • A news release announcing the consideration of a new mascot and encouraging members of the community to vote
  • The video “An Analysis of Bears and Squirrels,” which featured members of the Missouri State community discussing the relative merits of each mascot
  • An Instagram takeover by Boomer, who used photos to highlight his central role at Missouri State
  • The video “The Case for Scrapper,” in which an anonymous mascot expert/squirrel enthusiast argued for change

Four smaller content pieces featuring various sides of the Boomer vs. Scrapper debate

Engagement and analytics

The voting process, multimedia content pieces and opportunities for participation on social media resulted in significant engagement with the April Fools’ Day campaign. Some highlights:

Voting via the Missouri State homepage

  • 3,130 total votes
  • Traditionalists will be pleased: Boomer won – 1,962 to 1,168
  • The news release announcing the consideration of a new mascot garnered 1,422 pageviews

Missouri State Facebook

  • 116,700 people reached
  • 2,136 likes, comments and shares
  • 1,974 clicks on campaign links
  • 48 new fans

Missouri State Twitter

  • 37,700 impressions
  • 225 retweets, favorites and replies
  • 559 clicks on campaign links
  • 74 new followers

Missouri State YouTube

  • 1,629 views for “An Analysis of Bears and Squirrels” and “The Case for Scrapper”

Missouri State Instagram

  • 1,746 likes of Boomer’s eight takeover photos

Special thanks

Every member of Web and new media played a role in the development and execution of the April Fools’ Day campaign. Student videographer Sara Silkwood and programmer Chad Killingsworth also made valuable contributions.

In addition, the following members of the Missouri State community helped make this prank a success:

  • President Clif Smart
  • Suzanne Shaw, vice president for marketing and communications
  • Dr. Stephanie Bryant, dean of the College of Business
  • Dr. Tom Tomasi, associate dean of the Graduate College
  • Derrick Docket, Missouri Valley Conference associate commissioner for new media & technology
  • Dr. Mike Jungers, dean of students
  • Art Hains, who (despite his enthusiasm for squirrels) is the irreplaceable voice of the Bears

April Fools’ Day 2013

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Each year, our April Fools’ prank seems to draw more and more attention. In addition, campus community members have begun stopping web and new media staff around campus to tell us just how much they enjoy and look forward to the yearly prank. This is the fourth year we’ve featured a prank, and as always, it is a collaborative effort by the entire office. This year, we worked up a prank that is interactive.

Experimental BearPass login methods

This prank would not have been possible just a few years ago, but with the prevalence of smartphones and tablets, users are no longer skeptical of their devices being able to interact with them in non-standard ways. For April Fools’ Day, we introduced bio-metric login methods to campus (ignoring the fact that we don’t have or store bio-metric data such as this for most campus members). Users were presented with a choice of login methods.

Choose your login experience

Facial recognition

Android phones do it, so why can’t we? Users are asked to stare at the screen and give a big smile. Too bad they don’t yet know the joke is on them.

Facial Recognition

Retinal scan

Going old school, users are asked to stare at the screen without blinking. Part way through the “scan”, users are presented with an “error” and asked to move closer before the “scan” resumes.

Retinal scan

Voice recognition

Why not talk to your computer? Users are asked to say the words to the Missouri State fight song. The words are displayed karaoke style below the box as an aid. Partway through, an “error” is presented and the user is asked to try again but this time with more spirit.

AprilFools2013-4

The joke is on you

No matter which experiment the user chooses, Boomer Bear reminds them after the “scan” that today is in fact April Fool’s.

April Fool's!

We hope you enjoyed this year’s prank as much as we did.

Experience “April Fools 2013” through social media on Storify

April Fools 2012

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In keeping with tradition, this year’s April Fools Day prank on the homepage makes use of the photos area of the media hub. In case you missed them, here they are:

You can also see what the page looked like at http://www.missouristate.edu/aprilfools.aspx

We hope you enjoyed our fun. If you have ideas for next year, feel free to suggest them in the comments.