CampusLive, a Boston marketing agency focused on college students, said it has been enlisted by McDonald’s Corp. to build awareness around such initiatives as the fast-food chain’s promotion of $1 coffee.

According to CampusLIVE, it has developed what it calls its Surge Marketing platform, which is designed to help advertisers “engage the college market,” which according to the agency, can often be immune to the traditional sales pitch.

In the case of McDonald’s and its $1 Any Size Coffee promotion, CampusLIVE is challenging consumers to go to the McDonald’s location closest to campus, purchase a coffee, take a picture with their best “McSmile,” and submit it on CampusLIVE.com. The top voted picture wins a trip for two to Miami. This promotion is set to run through Dec. 31.

The agency created another promotion around McDonald’s Peppermint Mocha. This promotion, which just ended, challenged students to create their own Peppermint Mocha art message and share it with friends via Facebook and Twitter, CampusLIVE said in a press release. A student from the University of Massachusetts Lowell won this promotion, and his prize is free McCafe beverages for a year.

CampusLIVE said it worked on both promotions with the help of Mobext, an arm of Media Planning Group.

These challenge-style promotions are aimed at “deepening the relationship” between students and the McDonald’s brand, CampusLIVE chief executive Boris Revsin said in a statement.

McDonald’s “understands that, in order to truly engage the college market, you must do so in a highly targeted, nontraditional way,” he said.

According to its website, CampusLIVE has done projects for such companies as Ace Ticket, Peter Pan Bus Lines, Comcast, HotelPlanner.com, and Big Y Supermarkets. CampusLIVE investors include Highland Capital Partners and Charles River Ventures.