Through short messages of 140 characters or less, Credit Union ONE’s Oakland University branch is hoping to establish a long-term connection with students. From Sept. 14 to 18, the branch will be giving away prizes totaling $1,200 through a Twitter scavenger hunt.

“We wanted to develop a program to connect with students,” said Erica Finley, assistant account executive at Berline, an advertising and marketing communications company out of Bloomfield Hills, Mich. “What better way than a medium they already use a lot?” 

While the event runs, CUO will tweet one clue an hour every day from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. from their Twitter page at www.twitter.com/CUO_OU. The tweets will lead students to three locations on OU’s campus that contain an index card with a five-digit number. The first student to tweet that number back to the CUO Twitter page will receive $250, the second student $100 and the third $50. Students will be informed of their placing and whether they won at all. 

Contestants must be OU students, but do not need a CUO account to participate. CUO employees and their immediate family members are not eligible and no student can win multiple prizes. 

“It’s a great way to go to them without waiting for them to come to us,” said Swami Seetharaman, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of CUO. 

CUO usually holds a raffle or some sort of contest at the beginning of every school year. “We like to kick off the year with something big,” said Finley.

Last year, the first 100 people to sign up for SpiritCard Plus – a SpiritCard that acts as a debit card – got a gift card for Buffalo Wild Wings. 

Finley said this year’s idea came from British pop singer Lily Allen, who hosted a Twitter scavenger hunt in Detroit a few years ago that led fans to free tickets. “People loved it,” said Finley. 

Finley said CUO plans to continue using the social networking site to foster a relationship with students. “A lot of businesses create [a Twitter account] but…don’t do anything with it,” she said. 

Jana Dedene, assistant branch manager and mortgage consultant of CUO, said students should feel free to tweet the CUO staff if they have any questions or would like to schedule an appointment. 

“We’re hoping this will establish trust between students and workers,” said “We want to stress that this is their on-campus branch and that they can visit us anytime.” 

Seetharaman said CUO, which has many branch locations in the Metro Detroit area and sponsors scholarships, Honors College and the athletic department, wants students to remember CUO after OU.  

“We hope to keep students as members when they leave campus,” said Seetharaman.