63336 passes 21 million before Christmas

London, UK - 18 December 2009

63336 (formerly known as AQA 63336), the UK's first and most accurate text question and answer service, has seen an increase of 35% in questions this month thanks to its successful first TV campaign, and will answer its 21st millionth question on Monday 21st December 2009.

UPDATE: 63336 passed 21 million questions slightly ahead of its prediction. The 21st millionth question "Who's going to win the world cup?" was asked at 11.05pm on Sunday, 20th December. The answer from 63336 was "Spain will win the 2010 World Cup. It will run from 11 June to 11 July 2010 & if it matches 1954's record of 5.38 goals per game, there'll be 345 goals."

The TV advert "I am one of the 63336" was designed by Tim & Michael, the winners of an industry competition developed with Goodstuff and run by the Gallery Agency in September. The ad was designed to generate direct text responses; increase talkability around the service; and improve the memorability of the 63336 text number.

"In our experience most above the line advertising tends to be too expensive and ineffective in gaining direct responses. However, we've been delighted with the effectiveness of our first TV advert: it's boosted questions asked in a month by 35%, and stimulated widespread word-of-mouth recommendations," said Colly Myers, CEO. "That it has performed above our expectations is a great tribute to everyone involved in creating and producing the ad."

The 63336 advert features people speaking in unison as a "network of minds, with all the answers", gradually revealing that they all have a 63336 tattoo. Drawing over 20,000 views on YouTube in two weeks, the advert has also attracted a large number of conspiracy rumours, linking 63336 to the illumaniti, the freemasons, or even "the mark of the beast."

"The ad is meant to be dark and spooky, but it was aimed at capturing people's attention, not to imply we're an imaginary, secret or nefarious organisation," said Paul Cockerton, Communications Director. "Contrary to many blog posts, we're not out to take over the world, we're just here to answer everyone's questions: our researchers are simply well-informed, helpful, witty and very nice."

Notes to editors

You can download some stills from the ad here.

Please contact us if you'd like to know more.

63336, formerly known as AQA 63336, was the world's first premium text based question and answer service when it launched in April 2004. It has now answered over 21 million questions from 2.2 million customers. Based in London, UK, 63336 uses 900 researchers to answer the questions. 63336 recently launched the 63336 app, which provides customers with free questions. To try out the app, text APP to 63336 (cost £1) and you'll get 3 free questions. Journalists can get test accounts – please apply by emailing media@63336.com.