the ask:
assemble 50K of the most talented developers in the world
The solve:
give them a chance to leave it
Rapyd - a little known fintech startup with out of this world aspirations - set out to amass the brightest minds on the planet into an online developer community to start solving the biggest problems of our time.
So we did our research and combined developers’ shared love of puzzles, space and William Shatner into Hack the Galaxy: an puzzle solving competition for developers to compete for a chance to win a ticket to space.
phase 1: preparing for launch
We needed serious help to stump these nerds. So we teamed up with professional puzzle masters David Kwong and David Shukan to create a labyrinth of interconnected mindbenders to keep developers engaged for months.
In the meantime, we seeded intrigue about the upcoming hackathon on social.
Until…
phase 2: lift off
We released a long-form How to Play video and puzzle demos, so players had everything they needed to get solving.
phase 3: boosters
We had to keep players on the edge of their keyboards for months. So we released videos, puzzle reminders and awarded interim prizes between space ticket drawings to keep the energy up.
results:
We surpassed 51K members in 2 months. Meeting our goal in half the time. And earning 545,093,147 impressions along the way.
ECDs: Soren Youngren and Michael Rovner
CD: Kevin Karp
Sr. Copywriter: Anna Tucker
Sr. Art Director: Nath Cochran