First Twitter auction launches new Ola Magnum flavours

Hosted by Janez Vermeiren, a live auction hub was set up in Sandton City, as Tweets from across South Africa came streaming in.

Gareth Cliff & Janez Vermeiren

According to social media network statistics and analysis provider Socialbakers, Magnum has been the fastest growing brand on Twitter for the month of November, securing the title as the biggest FMCG twitter brand in South Africa. In the build up to the campaign, MagnumSA gained over 10,000 new followers with an increase in excess of 1000 followers during the Twitter Auction alone.

Ten luxury spoils, fitting into the Pink and Black profiles voted for by the brand's Facebook fans were auctioned off every 15 minutes. Over 1000 people all over South Africa participated in the auction with the aim to win one of these luxurious prizes.

The unique concept for the Twitter Auction was that the tweets were used as the currency, meaning the person who tweeted the most within the specified 15 minutes using the selected prize hashtag and #MagnumAuction claimed the highest bidder title, winning the specified prize.

The auction generated over 80,000 mentions on Twitter, which allowed the brand to trend for 26 hours on the day of the event and the day thereafter, with at least three prize hashtags trending during each auction.

Prizes

• Le Creuset hamper valued at R8,000 #PinkLeCreuset
• Pink Big Boy scooter valued at R15,000 #PinkScooter
• Apple hamper valued at R20,000 #PinkAppleHamper
• Lunch with a celebrity valued at R5,000 #PinkCelebrityLunch
• Shoe voucher valued at R10,000 #PinkShoeVoucher
• Nespresso machine valued at R9,000 #BlackEspressoMachine
• Samsung 60" 3D LED TV valued at R20,000 #BlackFlatScreenTV
• DSLR camera valued at R15,000 #BlackDSLRCamera
• Ferrari experience valued at R20,000 #BlackDrivingFerrari
• Handbag voucher valued at R10,000 #BlackBag

The pink Apple hamper prize deemed the most popular auction item of the day with over 18,000 tweet bids, in second place was the black flat screen TV with the back DSLR camera coming in third.