Bankwest gets Australia tweeting for Telethon

Over 1000 tweets an hour were recorded for the first-ever Tweetathon for Telethon on 4 July, harnessing the seemingly limitless potential of social media for charity.

Bankwest will donate $20,000 to Telethon due to the overwhelming public response, even though the number of tweeters fell short of the target.

The groundbreaking event, which utilised the hashtag #tweetforkids, proved so popular it trended nationally during the day, with some 10,849 tweets received between 8am and 6pm.

Celebrity supporters included Megan Gale, Jennifer Hawkins, and Danny Green, plus tweets were sent by the West Coast Eagles, Western Force and a host of Channel 7 personalities including Sunrise presenters Mel and Kochie (Melissa Doyle and David Koch).

Says Bankwest head of retail stores, Philippa Bartlett: “Social media is such an empowering tool. To use that power to raise money for Telethon, who we have supported since it was founded in 1968, is a fantastic result and we thank everyone who got behind the Tweetathon. While we fell short of the target, we were more than happy to top up the total amount to $20,000 for such a good cause.

“It is an innovative and enabling use of Twitter, which closely aligns with Bankwest’s focus on a Happy Banking experience for its customers, and we are very proud to have driven this initiative.”

Tweets were received from across Australia as well as internationally including the UK, USA and New Zealand.

Says Steve Mummery, general manager of the Channel Seven Telethon Trust: “It is a very exciting opportunity for Western Australians to be involved in what is a first for WA.”

Sending a tweet to @Bankwest @Telethon7 with the hashtag #tweetforkids earned $1 for Telethon. Those who sent the same tweet with a photo taken at the Bankwest Place Store earned $5 for Perth’s favourite charity.

The Tweetathon was the feature of WiFi Wednesday, part of Bankwest’s Six Days of Happy.

Six Days of Happy is a six day spectacle celebrating its flagship retail store in the heart of Perth’s CBD. The flagship CBD store forms part of Bankwest Place, the iconic new building that will soon become the Bank’s corporate headquarters.