Tweet Race Ties In Sponsored Events, Ads

While Mercedes-Benz is focused on fashion across the Pond, Team USA is driving buzz with a new viral promotion that will reward a 2012 C-Class Coupe, as well as trips to one of three Mercedes-Benz sponsored events: the 2011 US Open, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in September 2011 or the 2011 PGA Championship. The viral promotion will complement Mercedes-Benz' Super Bowl ad buy, a first for the brand.

Here's how it works: 4 teams will embark on trips to Dallas for the Super Bowl on February 2nd in what sounds like an Amazing Race-like contest to see who arrives first. In order to win a prize, consumers have been asked to follow a team and provide "tweet" fuel by tweeting with team-designated hashtags, which apparently helps each team advance. Participants supporting the winning team will be eligible to receive prizes. To build support, M-B has tagged with their C-Class TV ads with a tweet race plug.

“We’ve begun amping up our efforts in the social media space to start some new conversation with the brand,” said Steve Cannon, vice president of marketing for MBUSA. “We think the combination of our advertising and the Twitter Race will create the type of ‘living’ advertisement that engages people in new ways."

“Over the next few years a series of new and very unique vehicles will join the Mercedes-Benz family, and the social media interaction we're building will be an important foundation,” Cannon elaborated. “When we made the decision to utilize the Super Bowl to set the stage for these new models, we decided to go beyond simply showcasing the brand to actually creating dialogue, experiences and interaction."

The Mercedes-Benz Tweet Race Director (@MBTweetRaceHQ) has amassed over 40,000 followers and the race hasn't even begun. For more on the contest, visit M-B's facebook page.