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Death Cab For Cutie

Here’s a fun way where having a mobile device is an advantage.

Rogers Wireless, Canada’s largest wireless carrier, has launched a new marketing campaign aimed at Canadian university students on Facebook to promote the benefits of being a Rogers customer.

Campus Battle 09, developed for Rogers by Toronto-based marketing and branding agency The Hive, has pit 37 participating Canadian universities against one another in a competition to host a private concert by popular indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie [1].

To participate, students simply log on www.facebook.com/campusbattle [2], click on the Campus Battle 09 contest link and download the voting app. Rogers Wireless customers have an advantage in the competition because, in addition to voting on Facebook, they can also vote by text or on the mobile Internet browser of their Rogers mobile device.

Every ballot cast during the contest serves both as a vote for the school indicated and a ticket to a draw with a chance to attend the concert. The school with the most votes per capita at midnight Mar.1, 2009 will be declared the winner and host the invitation-only concert for 2,000 guests in early April at a venue in or near the community in which the winning university is located.

“A key component of this campaign is the incentive we provide for students to invite their friends to get involved,” says Trent Fulton, vice-president client services at The Hive. “People who vote on Facebook receive an additional ballot in their name every time they send the voting app to one of their Facebook ‘friends.'”

Grassroots marketing is being used to promote Campus Battle 09 within the university populations and in the surrounding communities. Initiatives include street teams passing out promotional literature and on-campus booths with computers giving students the opportunity to log on Facebook and vote. As well, print ads have been running in local community and campus publications.

The Hive worked with Vortex Mobile to build the Facebook application.

The program is achieving its objectives. Students are casting ballots at all 37 schools, and Dalhousie University in Halifax is currently leading with more than 14% of the student population having voted.