There are times when you can learn online marketing lessons from the offline world, and yesterday morning was one such example with the Chris Moyles Show on Radio One.
Chris’ sports reporter, Carrie Davis, was at Wimbledon reporting on the preparations for men’s quarter finals day for Radio One, when she happened notice her ex-boyfriend (Chris Hollins) was there also, reporting for BBC 2 Breakfast. The chance for the Radio One team to interrupt their TV counterparts was too much temptation to pass up, and spurred on by advice from listeners that was coming in over text messages, they hatched a plot to disturb the live broadcast from Carrie’s former flame.
While this may have seemed childish, as Chris rightly pointed out (possibly in an effort to save himself a ticking off when they got off air) the rivalry boosted the viewing figures for BBC 2 as Radio One listeners tuned in to see just what they were getting up to.
As the live interview between Chris Hollins and former Wimbledon Champion Michael Stich was broadcast, Carrie climbed the chair into the umpire’s position and bellowed over the microphone ‘New Balls Please’ and the classic line from sitcom ‘Friends’, ‘We Were NOT on a Break!’.
Hollins, the ultimate professional, took it in his stride after the initial shock of hearing his ex over the microphone and seeing her sat the umpire’s chair.
This tactic works well in online marketing too, as a buzz created between two websites only serves to raise the profile of both websites, even if they are seen to be ‘at loggerheads’ with each other.
What may have appeared a childish prank on the part of Chris Moyles was also a clever way of cross promoting both shows.
The presenters of Top Gear have also made liberal use of the tactic of creating rivalries between themselves and the presenters of Fifth Gear, notably when they blamed Vicky Butler Henderson for setting fire to their ‘cool wall’.
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