NBC Universal Digital Studio is encouraging fans to interact with its branded entertainment series "FCU: Fact Checker?s Unit" via a mobile program powered by ChaCha.

The show follows two overzealous fact checkers employed to confirm or disprove various statements made in articles scheduled to be published by a magazine. Viewers and fans can participate by joining the show?s mobile alerts and "Check Your Own Facts" by texting ChaCha on the show site and engage more deeply with the content by experiencing a live feed of fact-checking questions.

?The strategy of the NBU Universal Digital Studios campaign was to create very rapid exposure for the new FCU webisodes launch and inspire video downloads using viral methods,? said Cat Enagonio, vice president of marketing and client care at ChaCha, Indianapolis. ?Also, as a fun, quirky comedy, it was nicely aligned with ChaCha?s demographic and our human-powered answers service.

?Mobile was a great way to build viewership during the eight weeks of the shows,? she said. ?NBCU came to ChaCha as the known leader in mobile.

?They wanted to reach and engage different kinds of users quickly, so we leveraged our multiplatform services including online at chacha.com, our mobile service, and also posted a live feed of user questions on the NBCU Fact Checkers Unit Web site, for an extra level of excitement and engagement.?

ChaCha answers who, what, when, where and why, and has emerged as a way for advertisers and marketers to engage teens and young adults.

True or false?
Users can check any fact by texting FCU (space) followed by the fact or question they want to check to short code 242242.?

Participants can opt-in to a "FCU: Fact Checker?s Unit" VIP mobile list via ChaCha to get show reminders, breaking news and cool updates by texting FCUVIP to 242242.??

Users can also opt-in to daily mobile alerts and get "did you know" type facts, show quotes and more by texting FAV FCU to 242242.?

There are "FCU: Fact Checker?s Unit" topic pages at ChaCha.com. In the search bar, users can ask a question about the series and get to a topics page where they can click on videos and more.

The "FCU: Fact Checker?s Unit" fan page is available to users at http://me.chacha.com/fcu.?

?[NBCU was determined to] gain rapid, viral exposure for the new series across several platforms to engage as many users as possible,? Ms. Enagonio said. ?We put the entire campaign together and launched it in just six days.

?We find that the most successful campaigns are typically ones that are multi-pronged, and this is a great example of that,? she said. ?By using and mobile and online methods, we are able to gauge and tune up best performance very quickly, so that we can maintain success and keep it fresh each week.?

The series
The "FCU: Fact Checker?s Unit" eight-episode short form series depicts a pair of magazine fact checkers who go above and beyond to confirm obscure celebrity facts.

Like the 2008 Sundance acclaimed short film of the same name, the new Web version of the show will feature scenarios, along with celebrity cameos.

For example, the FCU team will investigate whether the house of former "Beverly Hills: 90210" star Luke Perry is haunted or whether "Jeopardy" host Alex Trebek shaves against the grain.

Users can watch the digital series at http://www.factcheckersunit.com, on iTunes and all major cable video-on-demand services and mobile platforms in the United States.

?This campaign plays to the individuality of users, and how different users prefer different methods,? Ms. Enagonio said. ?Some users like to opt-in to get information.

?So we are providing a mobile reminders service for FCU,? she said. ?Other users like to ask for information when they want it and get an answer or update.

?Our FCU followed by a question method, allows anyone to get a FCU fact checked ? when they want it, and while on the go. So this is an exciting example of behavioral marketing at its best.?

Final take
Giselle Tsirulnik is senior editor of Mobile Marketer and Mobile Commerce Daily
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