You've probably seen people text at lightning speed, but did you know there are official competitions for text messaging?
While you could liken them to "texting Olympics", the LG Canadian Texting Championship, which award a top prize of $25,000, work as an incredible PR opportunity for LG electronics. The "down and dirty battle of the QWERTY" was the final event after months of mall contests across Canada, each one acting as opportune advertising venues for LG.
I had the chance to go to the final championships in Toronto, and it was quite a highly publicized events, with cameras and film crews, liquor and an elaborate buffet for viewers in the stands.
The contestants, mostly teens, with a few tech savvy young adults among them, battled for the title of LG Texting Champion.
The winner was Mark "Jervy" Breiva, a 17 year old from Mississauga, Ontario. What gave him his cred? Breiva admits to sending 700 text messages per week! Most impressive? "I don't like acronyms. I prefer full words." He got his champ title after nailing the winning phrase, "my hom is on da dnc flor" in 7.401 seconds.
Texting Olympics
LG Canadian Texting Championship
Trend Themes
1. Texting Competitions - The rise of official text messaging competitions presents opportunities for brands to leverage these events as PR and advertising platforms.
2. Teen Tech Usage - The prevalence of tech-savvy teens participating in texting championships highlights the market potential for innovative products and services targeted towards this demographic.
3. Non-acronym Messaging - The trend towards preferring full words over acronyms in text messaging creates an opportunity for companies to develop products and features that cater to this user preference.
Industry Implications
1. Mobile Devices - The LG Canadian Texting Championship underscores the importance of mobile devices in the realm of competitive texting, indicating the potential for innovation and advancement in this industry.
2. Telecommunications - The growing popularity of text messaging competitions highlights a prime opportunity for telecommunications companies to enhance their messaging services and attract more users through disruptive innovations.
3. Advertising and PR - The LG Canadian Texting Championship serves as an ideal platform for brands to showcase their products and generate buzz, making it a disruptive opportunity for the advertising and PR industry.