4320:LA

I've been waiting for someone to do something really cool on Twitter from a brand point of view. Sure @twitchhiker got from the UK to New Zealand on nothing more then the gratuity of strangers, and Fox's Biscuits and Compare the Meerkat are both making great use of Twitter (imho), but no single brand has done anything really, really special. At least that was hat I thought.

V Australia and Virgin Atlantic are in mid-campaign for their 4320:LA competition. The proposal: 3 friends spend 3 non-stop days in LA living the life of movie stars - they have to tweet every minute for the entire time they are there - 4,320 minutes to be exact - if they do it, 3 round the world tickets.

So what did they have to do? The First Stage was simple - the 3 entrants who submitted the best 3 entries got through to Stage 2. For Stage 2 each entrant nominated 2 friends to form their team. These 3 Teams then completed a mini 72-minute challenge set by Nova Radio's Ryan, Monty and Wippa (how Australian are those names!). The challenges involved various physical activities which tested each Team’s physical and/or mental agility and teamwork skills. Overall each Team was then judged on the following;

• the outgoing nature and personality of the Team Members;
• the number of Twitter followers each Team Member has; and
• how frequently each Team Member uses Twitter and the current and past activity on their Twitter account.

Following these 2 stages, the lucky 3 people were whisked off to LA to get down to the real work. The 3 chaps who got through to Stage 3 were:


Their original entry tweet was: "We'll go one better. Pose with one new friend every minute in LA. That’s 4320 friends, to help us have the time of our lives."

I think this is a brilliant promotion, an excellent use of Twitter and something entirely original. Fair play to whoever came up with this - if anyone knows the agency behind it, please let me know.

Each of the lads was asked for a one line description of themselves...

Kelvin
The world's most gifted footballer never to make it. Culinary master - the creator of 'McYap.' Unwavering belief that geeky kids are cool.

Matt
He's Bruce Wayne (Office Geek by day/Party King by night). Loves karaoke & marathons. Parties like he runs, it’s all about the long-haul.

Nathan
Daredevil skier (often coming off 2nd best). Once resulted in a de-gloved chin and lacerated tongue. (Improving his tolerance for chillies).