The insight was that the target group don't call each other much, they text, and since they send so many every day it has become important to text as fast as possible. With youngsters, the faster you can text, the 'cooler' you are.
Parlino used this insight to create the inaugural Swedish Speed Text Championship, to engage the target audience and generate PR as the first event of its kind. To find the country's fastest texter it rolled out a nationwide event tour, challenging texters in qualifying rounds in 15 cities over summer. Contestants competed man to man on a stage, with the fastest in every city going through to the grand final, securing both local and national PR along with the opportunities to interact with consumers face to face.
The contest attracted about a thousand willing participants and many more spectators. Winners in every city became local heroes as most were interviewed in their local papers, while the grand final was covered by Swedish TV's most viewed news programme.
Results exceeded all targets: web traffic increased 150%, brand consideration increased 25% against a 20% target and the total PR value was estimated at €650 000 (about R6.3 million). The activity will be rolled out in other countries next year.
