About Hitwise

Hitwise is the leader in online competitive intelligence. Contact Hitwise to maximize your online marketing programs.

Hitwise Intelligence - Heather Hopkins - UK

Analyst Weblog

« Urge versus iTunes - Download Wars Continue | Bebo and MySpace Complementary? »

Big Brother 7 Strong Launch - Pete Favourite So Far

May 21, 2006

We just don't seem to tire of Big Brother in the UK. A colleague of mine said last week after all other reality TV shows are gone - Big Brother will remain as popular as ever in the UK. He may be right. Searches for "big brother" took off last week and were up 8 times compared with the week previous. In fact, based on UK internet searches, Big Brother 7 is set to be even more popular than the celebrity series, with the share of UK internet searches for "big brother" 35% higher last week compared with the week ending 28th January 2006, the peak for searches during the Celebrity Big Brother series.

The front-runner so far appears to be Pete, who suffers from Tourette's syndrome. The term "pete big brother" is the only current contestant related search term among the top 30 search terms sending visits to the Channel 4 Big Brother website - though searches for "pete" may also remain higher due to Pete Burns. Under Pete's profile, Channel 4 has included a link to the Tourette's Syndrome Association website. The link has proved popular, with www.tsa.org.uk the #4 downstream site from Channel 4 Big Brother.

Channel 4's Big Brother website received about 48% of visits from searches for "big brother" in the past four weeks. As you'd expect, the site has seen a spike in visits in the past week. Carphone Warehouse is once again sponsoring the series and reportedly has created a mailer last week to correspond with the show's launch.

Big Brother has been a high profile and seemingly successful sponsorship for Carphone Warehouse. The following chart shows the share of UK internet visits to Carphone Warehouse and Channel 4's Big Brother website. The chart illustrates that visits to Carphone Warehouse peaked the week ending 28th January 2006 - a higher peak than the site experienced during the Christmas rush. The peak in visits to Carphone Warehouse corresponded with the peak in visits to Channel 4's Big Brother website - which if memory serves - was the final episode.

Carphone warehouse.png

Carphone Warehouse's website is prominently promoted throughout Channel 4's Big Brother website. The promotion is taking effect. Carphone Warehouse was the 11th highest downstream site from Channel 4 Big Brother. The chart below illustrates that visits downstream from Channel 4 Big Brother to Carphone Warehouse spiked significantly last week.

In the coming weeks, I'll update you on searches for the contestants and the progress of the Carphone Warehouse campaign. Watch this space!

Posted by Heather Hopkins at 11:26 PM | (2) | (0)