*** MEDIA RELEASE ***

For immediate publication

Thursday 27 May 1020

‘Stand up and be counted online for All Whites’

This week hundreds of Kiwis from across the globe came together through the online social networking site Twitter to support the All Whites in their World Cup warm-up match against Australia.

The brainchild of Craig Dealey, General Manager, New Zealand Financial Planning Company Ltd (NZFP), said the event was known as the ‘Kiwicount’. Craig explains, “To put it simply, someone tweets a supporting message using the phrase ‘#Kiwicount’ which encourages other people in their network to send a supporting message. As a company we rallied support before the game and it was awesome to see the response. We had All Blacks to News Presenters to stay at home mums to CEOs all communicating one message – GO THE ALL WHITES.”

The first ‘Kiwicount’ was held over a month ago and our intention was to foster collaboration of kiwis on Twitter. The following week the All Whites launched their World Cup anthem “The Feelers song ‘Stand Up’. With the lyrics ‘Stand up and be counted’ we thought another Kiwicount would be a perfect way to show support for the All Whites en route to the World Cup.”

The team at NZFP aims to continue supporting the All Whites on this journey. The ideal method for those wishing to support the team from the comfort of their desk is to visit http://sensibleplan.blogspot.com/ or simply search #Kiwicount on Twitter.

ENDS