Wayne Gretzky answers fan questions via Vine

On Wednesday morning, The Great One spoke. More precisely, hockey legend Wayne Gretzky (@OfficialGretzky) answered fan questions in a series of Vine videos.

On Tuesday morning, @NHL asked fans to tweet him questions using the hashtag #GretzkyCamp. The NHL chose six questions, which Gretzky answered in six different Vine videos the next day.

By responding with Vine videos, Gretzky was able to connect directly to each questioner. He even personalized the messages by mentioning the fans’ names.

Wayne Gretzky Vine Q&A

“We have been longtime proponents of Twitter takeovers, as they help bring @NHL followers and NHL players closer together with real-time and personalized responses,” said John Pacino, VP, NHL. “With Vine, we’re able to take takeovers to the next level by adding an even more personal element, video responses.”

The NHL did not specify that Gretzky would actually be answering the questions, much less in a personalized video. “Knowing how hockey fans all over feel about ‘The Great One’, we wanted to make them feel even more special getting their questions answered and thus determined it would be a great surprise and delight to have Gretzky directly respond to the fan (using their name) on Vine,” Pacino said.

Some of the “chosen” expressed their excitement in follow-up Tweets like this one:

And as if a personal video message from Gretzky wasn’t enough, the six lucky fans chosen for their questions also got a signed puck from Gretzky himself.

Afterward, he thanked fans via @OfficialGretzky for joining in the fun.

Do you know of other innovative uses of Twitter? Write to mediablog@twitter.com.