Toyota is bringing interactive hashtag marketing front and center at the South by Southwest festival by enabling attendees to use their smartphones to create Twitter-generated art at a live installation featuring the 2015 Corolla.

Toyota has teamed up with multi-platform network Revolt to roll out the showcase of contemporary art installation designed to stir up the creative senses of festivalgoers. Fans of the car manufacturer that want to get involved in the social conversation can follow along on the #MakeYourMark hashtag, which was selected in conjunction with Toyota?s new television spots featuring the phrase.

?Each year Toyota introduces new technologies that help improve safety, connectivity and fuel efficiency, as well as making products that are more sustainable for the future,? said a spokesman for Toyota. ?Because new technologies are so important to Toyota, we were thrilled when our partner agency, Burrell Communications, brought this one-of-a-kind Twitter-generated art installation concept to us.

?We appreciate what it means to combine technology, art and music and hope people all over the country will contribute to this unique piece of contemporary art by tweeting using the #MakeYourMark hashtag this Friday, March 20 and Saturday, March 21,? he said. ?We think Twitter users will love seeing this unique piece of art come to life.?

Interactive art
Toyota is leveraging a unique marketing strategy by offering consumers to the chance to be a part of decorating the 2015 Corolla?s backdrop with Twitter-generated paintballs. Each festival attendee can Tweet the #MakeYourMark hashtag to participate, which will then activate one of six available robotically controlled paintball machines in the glass-enclosed display.

The paintball makers will shoot against the white backdrop behind the vehicle, making a colorful, constantly evolving background for the car to shine against.

The car manufacturer estimates that approximately 4,500 algorithmically programmed paintballs will be displayed in the final piece of art. Four original artworks are planned to be created during the two-day installation.

The event is taking place on Mar. 20 and Mar. 21 at the Revolt House Party at Banger?s in Austin, TX and is presented by Toyota.

The paintball aspect was designed to complement the theme of Toyota Corolla?s ?Elevate? campaign, which showcases colorful 3D pavement art created by Statik.

?The #MakeYourMark live art installation that takes place in conjunction with the REVOLT House Party in Austin, Texas this weekend will only serve to elevate Toyota Corolla?s engagement with younger consumers who appreciate that we?re interested in the integration of new technologies, art and music just like they are,? Toyota?s spokesman said.

Enticing fans
Toyota is also leveraging a light writing photo booth at the festival in which festival guests can write messages with finger lights. Each image created in the booth will automatically send a #MakeYourMark Tweet, which in turn will prompt the paintball guns in the live installation.

Twitter users that are unable to attend the festival can follow along and view the artwork through Toyota?s handle, @ToyotaShowcase, or watch via live-stream at revolt.tv/makeyourmark.

Although the strategy is likely to resonate positively with art fans, Toyota is not the first brand to leverage Twitter-generated art. Coca-Cola recently ramped up awareness during the Super Bowl with a campaign that turned users? Tweets into happy characters or cartoons (see story).

Consumers were encouraged to Tweet #MakeItHappy in response to any negative messages they saw posted by friends or family, which prompted the beverage brand to attempt to turn the moment into one of positivity.

However, the campaign was thwarted by a prank from a Twitter bot Tweeting inappropriate slogans, which Coca-Cola accidentally turned into cartoons. However, as Toyota is not creating art generated from words, it will likely not face a similar problem.

?The ?Make Your Mark? live art installation is exciting because of its incredible new technologies, and festivalgoers in Austin, Texas and Twitter users around the world get to experience this first-hand.?

Final Take
Alex Samuely is an editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York