As a college student, it’s easy to constantly feel like life is at a crossroads. It’s like riding a see-saw back and forth between being a kid and an adult.
Every day looks different as you gear up to leave undergrad and enter the “real world.” But every day, I show up to my internship at LV Collective feeling like my knowledge, skills and judgment are trusted.
As a rising senior at the University of Texas, I can say some of the highlights of my college career (and the moments I’ve felt most prepared for adult life) have been in my time at LV.
LV interns agree that we don’t just sit at a desk and mindlessly check off an arbitrary to-do list. One day I’m posing for a lifestyle photoshoot, the next I’m brainstorming blog posts for a new market, and later that afternoon I’m drafting a newsletter that will be read by hundreds.
With each task, we’re entrusted to play to our strengths, exercise our creativity, and build on our skills. Interns play a meaningful role in every project at LV, and the freedom we’re given along the way works wonders for our personal and professional development.
After completing two semesters as a Digital Marketing Intern, I’ve had countless opportunities to collaborate with talented people on both the marketing team and in other departments.
One of my favorite projects was an entirely intern-led production where we created a promotional video for Sweetwater, one of LV’s new student housing developments in Gainesville, Florida.
Check out the finished product of this LV intern collaboration:
A Promotional Video for Sweetwater, Produced Entirely by LV Collective Interns
The Challenge
LV’s Leasing Director, Madison Mitchell, spotted an opportunity to promote The Hoxton, a five-bedroom, five-bathroom floor plan at Sweetwater.
One defining feature of The Hoxton is that four of the bedrooms have a detached bathroom, which is initially undesirable to some students.
However, Madison knew that we could highlight this layout in a way that would appeal to many students. Especially for a social group of roommates who value connectivity, easy communication and free-flowing movement throughout the apartment, detached bathrooms can be more desirable than ensuites. With this in mind, I set out to make a video showing off the perks of detached bathrooms.
The Process
To get started, I gathered a group of interns with various talents across multiple teams to have a brainstorming session. Interns from the leasing, marketing, video and social media teams were included to ensure we could successfully carry this project from start to finish.
First, we examined our target market. We researched the lifestyle and campus culture in Gainesville, stepping into the shoes of a student at the University of Florida. From a mix of our findings and personal experience, we formulated our approach to show that detached bathrooms can be desirable.
We recognized that the key benefit of having an ensuite bathroom is the privacy that it offers. So, a benefit of having a detached bathroom is that it minimizes seclusion and makes it easy to interact with your roommates.
Many college girls would agree that the fun of going out doesn’t start when you get to the bar or restaurant; it’s getting ready with your friends! In our video, our goal was to highlight that these disconnected bathrooms aren’t tucked away into your bedroom. Instead, this layout allows for connectivity throughout the apartment while still giving each roommate their own countertop, mirror, etc., creating the ultimate “getting ready” experience.
Each intern in the brainstorming meeting came up with video clip ideas: running back and forth between bedrooms and bathrooms, exchanging clothes and picking outfits, doing each others’ hair and makeup, bringing a drink to your friend.
We were confident we could show that The Hoxton’s disconnecting bathrooms are a prime way to get ready and pregame with your best friends in one space.
The Production
With a game plan in mind, our Austin-based intern team headed to the model unit at Waterloo, which featured a similar floor plan to Sweetwater’s with disconnecting bathrooms.
We brought props including drinks with glasses, snacks, and a speaker to set the scene, plus makeup, hair tools, and extra clothes to get ready with. Most importantly, we danced, laughed, and had a great time shooting with our fellow interns.
Our social media interns directed the shoot from start to finish, ensuring we got the shots we needed for a cohesive story.
Our marketing interns made sure all clothing and props adhered to Sweetwater’s brand guidelines, from its bubbly personality to its cotton candy color palette.
And our video intern ran filming on-site, then strategically edited our content to produce the final video.
Each person on our intern crew played a key role in bringing our idea to fruition. LV not only gave us creative freedom on this project, but equipped us with the confidence and tools for success. We were able to produce a promotional video successfully and efficiently, and the genuine fun we had translated on camera.