Case study | Growth marketing · Brand · Community
Building a university platform
I co-founded Guni, a platform for university students in Brazil, and ran its marketing department. It grew to more than 160,000 users, with a network of student ambassadors and major brands as customers.
- Channels
- App notifications, social media, ads, events
- My role
- Co-founder and Head of Marketing
- Worked with
- Founding team, junior collaborators, volunteer ambassadors, agencies and suppliers
registered users across 1,700+ universities in Brazil
volunteer brand ambassadors, from several states across the country
major brands as customers: Red Bull, Coca-Cola, Nike and Smart Fit
The problem
Student life in Brazil was spread across many places: events, college information, class schedules and student organizations. Guni was built to bring it together in one app, made by students for students.
On the other side, brands wanted to reach university students but sat far from them. The marketing job was to grow a young app across a very large country, and to make it worth a brand's attention.
What I found
Students trust their organizations
Athletic associations, academic centers and junior companies move student life. Working through them was a faster path to trust than speaking to students one by one.
Peers are the best channel
A message from a fellow student on campus carries more weight than any ad. That pointed to a network of students, not just campaigns.
Downloads are only the start
An app only works if people come back. Keeping students engaged became a marketing job of its own, handled through lifecycle messaging and product development.
Getting everyone on board
We built a brand ambassador program that put volunteer students on campuses in several states across Brazil. It ran in rounds, and the last one drew more applicants than there were places, so there was a waiting list.
In parallel, we worked with student organizations, which became hundreds of partners, and coordinated the agencies, suppliers and junior collaborators who helped produce campaigns and events.
What I built
- A new student platform with a small circle of early users
- No brand identity students recognized
- No network of students on campuses
- No brand customers
- A brand and identity students recognized, with the creative work to match
- Social media and out-of-home campaigns, plus paid advertising
- Lifecycle messaging through app notifications to keep students engaged
- In-person events, with suppliers and vendors managed end to end
- A volunteer ambassador network across several states
- Partnerships with hundreds of student organizations
- B2B campaigns for major brands
I handled the marketing side from end to end: positioning, creative, channels, events and the relationships behind them, with a small, rotating team of junior collaborators.
Results
The platform reached more than 160,000 registered users across 1,700+ universities in Brazil, supported by an ambassador network of more than 130 students.
Along the way, the brand became attractive enough for major names to run campaigns on it, including Red Bull, Coca-Cola, Nike and Smart Fit.