Coldplay. Love ‘em or hate ‘em (I like ‘em), the ruling brit-pop four piece act has take something that’s very popular in Europe–Skype–and turned it into a brilliant marketing move. Two girls from Estonia got to have a 10-minute VoIP conversation with members of Coldplay using Skype, the desktop software tool marketed by a Luxembourg-based technology firm and owned by eBay. Pretty cool stunt, guys. Check it out (Skype’s press release):

The contest was a joint promotion by Skype, the global Internet communications company, and EMI, the world’s largest independent music company. The promotion was open to all Skype users through a dedicated contest website at www.skype.com/campaigns/coldplay. The site also features a streaming video of the “Talk” single, directed by Anton Corbijn.

The winning entry by 22-year-olds Kaisa Männik and Tiiu Laks, chosen for its originality and character, passionately highlighted the difference between the way bear sounds are impersonated around the world (“Rawwrrrggghhh!”), and the way it is done in Estonia (“Mõmm-mõmm!”).

“Turns out Chris Martin actually is as friendly and cool as he appears on the Web, TV and magazines,” Kaisa Männik said after the Skype conversation with the Coldplay singer. “There were no awkward moments. He was just the way we expected him to be: famous, but down-to-earth.”

“The next Coldplay album will be very interesting and experimental,” added Tiiu Laks. “Which is great, but we also got him to promise to meet us, should they ever play in Estonia. I told Chris I’ll be a lawyer soon and he better keep his word. He agreed.”