There’s an article in today’s MediaGuardian (free registration required) about a new internet player launched by the commercial radio industry.
It allows you to listen to any commercial station in the UK, and track down the BBC ones too.
Very useful. If you are planning to target an area with publicity, you can sit and listen to the station for a bit, to get a better feel for the area. It also means you can hear yourself on the radio if you have done some interviews.
The 11am news on Radio 2 talked about a stunt at the York or Edinburgh Dungeons, where anyone with an ASBO can get in free this weekend, and will be “given” the medieval sentence for their crime in a mocked-up court.
Brilliant stunt. Very few people will take it up, but that’s not the point. To get national radio like that ahead of a bank holiday weekend should drive a lot of paying customers their way.
One criticism – there’s nothing on The Dungeons’ own website about this. I found a few stories on Google News, but wanted to see the original press release, or at least a news article.
Whenever you do any piece of publicity, make sure there is a copy on your website. Apart from the fact fresh content is great for search engines, some people who hear a story about your business will want to find out more by going straight to the source – you!
Whatever you think about Steve Wright on Radio 2, he is very good at packing his show with talking points. I often find myself repeating an interesting Factoid to my wife (sad, but true). I’ll always visit the website of the day if I’ve not seen it before. And they even list all the songs played on the show on the website, getting round the “ooh, did you hear that song on the radio, what was it?” thing.
Not only does all of this make me keep buying his product (i.e. listen to his show), but I’m telling other people about it.
Talking points are PR. They can be created by any business every day.
A village newsagents could compile the latest village news onto a sheet of paper and give it away to everyone who buys a newspaper. A used car showroom could put on regular free valeting lessons for people to learn how to make their cars look like new. A double glazing firm could send a window cleaner to keep your new windows clean for the next few months, free of charge.
To be a true talking point, it needs to be something you do day in, day out. Really it needs to be a part of your business, not just a marketing add-on.
The Campaign for Little Britain got a good slot on Stuart Maconie’s show on Radio 2 yesterday.
It’s a effort by some British shopkeepers in New York to get their block renamed Little Britain. A brilliant publicity effort.
The idea is awesome, it’s got some heavyweight support from Virgin Atlantic, and has the kind of talkability that makes getting publicity a piece of cake.
It doesn’t matter whether or not they win in their fight to get the block renamed; this campaign will do wonders for those shops.
The best bit for me was when the spokeswoman finished her radio interview yesterday – she said “toodle pip”!
This is a good idea to generate publicity. It certainly got Ian Botham a 5 minute slot with Chris Evans on Radio 2 last night.
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