(1888PressRelease)
June 12, 2009 - Thousands of visitors flooded to The £1 Challenge website following a flurry of activity on Twitter, thanks to a new type of promotion coined a ‘Hashtagathon’.
During the hours of 9am-1pm on Tuesday 9th June 2009, users of Twitter were encouraged to participate in a simple but highly effective task, to tweet and retweet adding #1pound to their messages in a collaborative effort to raise awareness of The £1 Challenge, a unique charitable campaign to raise £1 million through the pledging of 1 million donations of just £1.
An overwhelming train of support for The £1 Challenge hashtagathon took place almost immediately, with former Eastender star James Alexandrou and Olympic athlete Kriss Akabusi joining in with the tweets. Even people in the USA tweeted their support and after just 1 hour, #1pound had reached position 4 within Twitter’s Top Topics.
The 4 hour long campaign resulted in 457 tweets using #1pound and over 2,000 visits to the £1 Challenge website.
Twitter strategist Mark Shaw, who supported the The £1 Challenge team’s efforts during the hashtagathon was delighted with the response and believes that brands should be taking more notice of how such strategies can be used to engage and inspire their audience.
“Many businesses are still trying to get to grips with Twitter, and very few have yet to find ways to truly engage with their audience in the same way that they can through Facebook. The success of The £1 Challenge Hashtagathon is proof that Twitter can be used as a mechanism to push out promotional messages quickly and cost-effectively, which can have worldwide impact,” says Mark Shaw.
According to The British Heart Foundation, a donation of £1 million from a campaign like The £1 Challenge could fund 666 defribillators, 121 hours of scientific research or 20 portable echocardiograph machines.
To pledge your £1, simply visit www.1poundchallenge.co.uk, where you can donate via text, PayPal or online.
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