Monday, August 17, 2009

4320:SYD


Following the huge success of V Australia and Virgin Atlantic's 4320:LA competition that I posted about in July, V Australia, with their agency Droga5, are throwing down a similar challenge to their American customers. In a bid to promote Australia as the ideal and affordable short break destination for Americans, V Australia are seeking 3 Americans to take a trip down-under and experience Sydney, while sending a Tweet every single minute of the 4320 minutes they are there!

In a similar fashion to the 4320:LA contest, there will be 2 stages. The first stage is a basic entry registration of entrant’s email address, full name, date of birth, and, most importantly, an answer to the question “Why should we choose you and two of your mates to take the ultimate challenge in Sydney?” in 140 characters or less (obviously). 3 preliminary winners will then be chosen by a panel of Virgin Blue judges to progress to the second stage based upon literary and creative merit of their answers.

The stage 2 will then see each of the preliminary winners select 2 friends to form their 'Team'. At that point each Team will be interviewed and evaluated on the following criteria:

  • the outgoing nature and personality of the Team Members
  • the number of Twitter followers each Team member has (if applicable)
  • how frequently each Team Member uses Twitter (if applicable)
From their, 1 Team will be selected to participate in the “4320 Minutes in Sydney” Challenge.

This kind of social media challenge is one of the first of its kind to be run in the US, being specifically driven through Twitter. The winners will be expected to undertake a once in a lifetime non-stop three day adventure swimming with sharks, enjoying beers at the Sydney Opera House and, of course, throwing a few shrimp on the 'barbie'. All the time Tweeting every minute of the adventure. Don't forget though, that's not even the prize. The prize, should the Team successfully complete their challenge each team member wins a 'Round the World' ticket with V Australia and Virgin Atlantic.

Jodi McKay, Minister for Tourism for New South Wales said "Recently NSW has had success using social media to entice technology savvy travellers to the State through targeted MySpace and Facebook campaigns. V Australia is moving with the times and seeking out new ways to communicate with travellers that will showcase our great City and State to potential visitors. It's great to partner with an industry provider that is thinking outside the box and embracing creativity and new media in their promotional activity."


The “4320 Minutes in Sydney” Challenge
The Team will take a trip to from Los Angeles to Sydney; including return flights from Sydney to Los Angeles, 3 nights full board accomodation at a 5-star accommodation, leaving Los Angeles on September 8, 2009 and return home on September 13, 2009.

While in Sydney, the Team will be required to send 1 Tweet per minute for a period of 72 hours. To do this they will be provided with a mobile phone capable of sending Twitter messages for the duration of the challenge.

If the Team completes the “4320 Minutes in Sydney” Challenge to the satisfaction of the Promoter and sends 1 Tweet per minute for a period of 72 hours, each Team Member will receive an ‘around the world’ economy airfare.

The Team will be filmed at all times while completing the “4320 Minutes in Sydney” Challenge.

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