The back-to-school season is a nutty time for any retailer. But especially for Best Buy. Because people are looking for complicated items like computers, and they need a little education on what’s right for them. Problem is, Best Buy can’t help those who don’t walk through their doors.

To extend the knowledge of their expert Geeks and Blue Shirts beyond their walls and into the digital space, Best Buy created the Twelpforce. A digitized army of Best Buy employees available 24/7 on Twitter. And not to push products — but to provide twelp. A new term for technical help in tweet form.

Anyone with a question could shoot a tweet to @twelpforce, at any time. And over 2000 expert Blue Shirts would race to give the fastest, bestest answers. Plus, the collective power of Twelpforce would scan the twitter-world for tech-issue tweets and quickly lend a hand, without anyone asking.

In the beginning, television spots brought the service to life. And showed just how great it was to have an expert army of Blue Shirts ready to answer any questions.

Then, banner ads and in-store messaging reminded customers that Best Buy was there for them – even if they weren’t actually in a store.

The initial campaign featuring the Twelpforce helped to exceed Best Buy’s laptop sales goals by 40%. Proving that Best Buy was still the go-to place for back-to-school tools.

And since the launch, the Twelpforce site has become a valued tech savior for customers everywhere. More than 22,000 tweets have come in, and that number continues to grow every day. And so far, the Twelpforce has garnered more than 24,000 devoted followers.