'It only takes one 542 to see that 242242 is best. And free.'

If I were the CEO of ChaCha and saw that my only competitor, KGB, just 'happened' to have chosen a SMS code that is 80-90% similar to mine, I'd be miffed.

It's obvious that KGB acted opportunistically when its top-brass realized the wordnumber for 'kgb kgb' was strikingly close to that of 'ChaCha.'

The rest is history: apply for the trademark, get the shortcode, buy the dotcom domain, ad spots with TV actors, press releases (and the NY Times blogs about you), and voila, everything's starting to look great.

'Ladies and gentlemen, on this side of the ring, our lightweight challenger, ChaCha aka '242242!' And, on this side, our heavy-weight, 'KGB,' is [laughter] wearing...is wearing what seems to be ChaCha's outfit! It looks like KGB is mocking ChaCha's wardrobe, down to the robe, boxers and all. Our challengers, gents and germs, look nearly the same! And ChaCha's, eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew, is not happy, and....'

If ChaCha wants to win the first round against their better trained opponent, they should give their opponent a dose of their own medicine. And so, why not do what KGB is doing to you: reverse the tide by eating at KGB's traffic! Why not register common shortcodes and domains that both you and KGB's customers might type by accident!

Here's a few shortcodes* that are available at the time of press that no one can argue against you registering for preservation of your brand:
242542 AVAILABLE
542242 AVAILABLE
54224 AVAILABLE
24254 AVAILABLE

* I'm not sure if the CSCA will approve shortcodes for this purpose, but it doesn't hurt to find out.

And here's a few domains:
542242.com AVAILABLE
242542.com AVAILABLE

Heck, why not go the extra mile. Call up the Giorgio Armani company and forge some marketing alliance with them for their GA 542 designer glasses. They're a less bulky version than the one 'Hunter' uses for KGB's spots. Why not get a few actors to do a series of ads all wearing these 'stunner' '542' glasses.

Your ad's tagline can be:

'It only takes one 542 to see that 242242 is best. And free.'