MTN wanted to connect design students from the Tshwane University Of Technology to the most inspiring design conference in the world, Design Indaba. Problem is, Design Indaba is very far from these students. Flights and registration are also very expensive. Design Indaba though, is essential for the growth of young designers. So we decided to send someone to represent the students.

The MTN Connector Bot, a robot we built with the help of some really smart robotics and mechatronics engineers. The Connector Bot ran a live two-way uplink between Design Indaba and the University. Through the camera feed and touch screen controls the students were able to pilot the Connector Bot around Design Indaba auditoriums and conference halls. They even had interviews with the Design Indaba speakers. Giving them more than just the usual Design Indaba experience. We also ran a Twitter promo where we asked delegates to tweet #MTNConnectCreate. For every tweet we would donate data to help keep students connected to the Internet.

With all the tweets, blogs and social networks speaking positively about the campaign, news spread like wildfire. The Connector Bot was even invited to do a live interview of South Africa’s biggest morning TV show, Expresso. Our message of 'Connected we can create change for good' was broadcast to millions of South Africans. The result that excites the most is the one that we’ll only see in a few years time, when our students use what’s inspired them to create social and environmental change for good.

As soon as we landed Cape Town, the students took over the handling of the bot. We programmed a clever app that enabled the students to drive the robot around the Design Indaba conference auditorium from over 1000 kilometers away. Our robot head contained Samsung tablets that ran a live two-way uplink between the students and Design Indaba. We did this so that the students could see where they were driving the bot as well as talk to anyone that they met. Using LTE we had a great connection and this helped everything run smoothly.

The robot appeared in a public setting that catered for 6000 delegates everyday for the first three days and then once the expo was opened to the public that number increased to 12000 people. The bot was seen by thousands of people who took pictures and through social networks helped further spread our message.

By building the robot we connected the students to over 6000 industry leading delegates and 23 of the worlds brightest minds.

Through our Twitter promo we were able to donate enough data to keep the students connected for a year.

The campaign received thousands of positive comments on most social networks.

Millions of rands of free PR from the live TV interview.

Total cost of the campaign was $3800.

The result we're most excited about is the one we'll only see in a few years, when the students use what they've learnt to create positive change for good.