Kyle Simpson, a fourth-year business student at UPEI, has won a 2011 Mazda 3 Sport GT after Mazda Canada chose his video as the winner of its “What Do You Drive?” Facebook contest.
A huge groundswell of support from the university staff and students helped put Simpson over the top.
When Simpson found himself in the market to buy a new car, he stumbled upon the Mazda Canada contest. It asked participants to write a story, share a picture, or create a video, answering the question “what do you drive?”
Simpson noticed that there were not many video entries, so he decided to put his creative skills to use.
The contest officially closed on Aug. 31, and by the middle of September, with no word from Mazda, Simpson assumed he didn’t win. At the end of September, Simpson was shocked to receive an email stating that he had been chosen as the grand prize winner.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW SIMPSON'S WINNING VIDEO
“After a few months of collecting votes and watching my ranking rise and fall, the fact that I actually won was surreal,” said Simpson.
UPEI assistant professor Dr. Susan Graham and the dean of UPEI’s school of business, Alan Duncan, were impressed by the business student’s contest entry.
Graham used Simpson’s video as a case study in her third year marketing class, while Duncan personally tweeted to his followers to vote for Simpson, and tweeted again after Simpson was announced as the contest winner.
Simpson said he was thrilled by UPEI’s support.
“It made me feel pretty proud that so many people at school were supporting me, including UPEI faculty. Honestly, without their support, I wouldn’t have been able to get as many votes as I did.”
Simpson also gives credit to his marketing class with Graham.
“Susan’s marketing class certainly influenced how I went about making my video. We had a contest in her class to make a commercial and I was able to apply a lot of what I took away from that exercise into this Mazda contest. It definitely paid off.”
Mazda Canada delivered Simpson’s new wheels to MacIsaac Mazda in Charlottetown on Nov. 1.
Simpson said he is grateful for all the support and humorously added, “If I promised anyone a drive in exchange for a vote, just let me know, I’ll stay true to my word!”
