Rádio Expres in Bratislava, Slovak Republic, recently conducted a successful on-air contest giving listeners the chance to win tickets to the 2008 Brit Awards. Instead of just presenting the tickets to “caller number 23,” the station asked listeners what they would trade for the tickets.
The offers ranged from plastic surgery to a load of wood, but the winner was the chap who offered to get a Rádio Expres tattoo. However, when the winner failed to get inked within 24 hours of the end of the contest, the tickets went back on offer, eventually being traded for two roast pigs.
Media consultant and blogger Nik Goodman picks up the story from this point:
For the next 7 days, ‘Mr Pig Roast’ was offered everything from weekend trips & holidays, male and female servants, an Audi A8, some sperm (nice!!!), a cemetery plot… absolutely everything you can imagine! On the final day, the station arranged for one listener to come to the studio with 1,000,000 Slovak Crowns (well, 999,999 as “…only a fool would offer 1,000,000” so he said!) stuffed into a leather bag! Would Mr Pig Roast swap the tickets for a stash of cash??
In the end, the answer was … no deal.
As Goodman notes, the event was a good example of how a station can tie itself into a big event with a promotion that engages listeners and builds attention.
