Prize Pig

Giving away hot tickets for a big event continues to be an audience winner. Giving away hot tickets for a big event in another country is even better! So, well done to all the guys at client station Radio Expres in Slovakia for pulling off a great bit of radio this week.

Radio Expres is a national, commercial Hot AC station based in Bratislava and is by far the number 1 station in the country, with a 26% share! As you’d expect, they don’t do things by half… and so with The Brit Awards coming they decided not only to send a couple of the DJ’s over to cover the Brits live, backstage at Earls Court, but to do hot ticket giveaway for a couple of their listeners. And I’d like to share the mechanic with you…

The station announced that listeners had the chance to win two VIP tickets for Brits, but the listeners had to offer the station something in exchange. On the first day, the station was flooded with offers for the tickets in exchange for a whole range of things including a plastic surgery operation... a cart full of wood (!)... and even a couples wedding rings!!

The person who was initially chosen, offered to have the Radio Expres logo tattooed on his arm! So he won the tickets – but here’s the twist.... he had to “come good” with his promise of the tattoo within 24 hours or he’d loose the tickets! As it happens, he bottled it, lost the tickets and game started again. So the next morning amongst all the strange and random offers that came in, someone offered... wait for it... two big roasted pigs (!!) and the morning guys (Dodo and Noro) decided that it was a great offer! So this guy got the tickets upon (presumably upon presentation of the pigs!)

The mechanic really gets going at this point though. Every morning, a listener came on the morning show and offered the current holder of the tickets something in exchange for them. It was up to the holder (in this case, the pig dude) to decide if he wanted to keep the tickets or exchange them for whatever was being offered to him to keep.

For the next 7 days, 'Mr Pig Roast' was offered everything from weekend trips & holidays, male and female servants, and Audio 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??

Cue a great 'tension moment' that works so well on radio. You can watch action unfold on the video below.

No Deal!!! Mr Pig Roast sooo wanted to go to the Brits... and on Wednesday night this week, he and his partner had a great time watching the show live at Earls Court in London and then partying at the big backstage orgy that always follows! Plus of course the station had their guys there to broadcast all the highlights right from the centre of the action.

It’s a really good example of how to reflect and get involved in a big music event (like the Brits) on your station, and then create a fun, entertaining and talkable contest, getting the audience involved with some naturally entertaining moments.

More roasted pig anyone??