Watching Dragons' Den last night on BBC Two, I wasn't entirely sure why the last, very successful, entrepreneurs wanted the comparatively modest sum of £50,000 they were asking for. Then after a few moments it all seemed to click. Perhaps they were primarily interested in getting valuable free publicity for their, already lucrative, junk mail business. The two businessmen were obviously very experienced at marketing, and no doubt knew exactly what strings to pull to get producers interested in giving them the slot on Dragons' Den.

Every month BBC One broadcasts a charity appeal, and on 21 August 2011 the Lifeline appeal was presented by Olly Murs, whose single Heart Skips A Beat was released the same day (see blog on 25 August)

It's not clear whether the coincidence of the Lifeline appeal date and the release date of Olly's Single is down to chance. The appeal had originally been scheduled to air on 24th July, but was put back a month to 21st August. What is known is that Heart Skips A Beat topped the charts last night, and the publicity the Single received at the start of the appeal would not have hindered Olly's chart success. No money from sales of Heart Skips A Beat was specifically allocated to the charity.

Video clip - Olly Murs speaks about making the Lifeline appeal