If you spent any time in London over the last six weeks, you might have wondered what all the eggs were about. Now you might want to know what they could possibly have to do with mobile marketing.

Powered by OpenMarkets CMX2 campaign management platform, the 200 decorated eggs scattered around the capital gave visitors the chance to win a Faberge Egg worth more than £100,000 – and all for a good cause.

When they found one of the eggs, participants could send a unique SMS keyword displayed on the egg to a five-digit shortcode to enter the prize draw. The initial cost of entry was £3, with each additional SMS entry costing 25 pence.

Organised by Open Fundraising, in aid of charities Action for Children and the Elephant Family, the campaign saw 160,000 entries, from more than 12,500 members of the public. More than 122,000 text messages were sent during the six weeks of the competition, generating – by our calculations – over £60,000 in revenue.

“SMS is the most powerful and successful consumer response mechanism on the mobile device,” says Paul de Gregorio, Head of Mobile at Open Fundraising, the fundraising agency that helped develop the event. “OpenMarket’s proven campaign management platform and messaging technology meant we could quickly create an engaging, fun and interactive experience that allowed people to participate in the Big Egg Hunt via their mobile phone. The OpenMarket platform gave people an easy-to-use way to be a part of the world’s biggest ever Easter egg hunt and also contribute to two fantastic causes.”