QUESTION #10
How would BlinnPR create news from a topic that is potentially not newsworthy?
Almost everything is newsworthy, given a bit of creativity.
Here's one example; our client Away.com (an adventure travel site), was
interested in developing and publicizing a promotional program that offered,
for a limited time, a cash rebate to anyone booking an Away.com vacation.
But since the timing of the promotion coincided with the 2000
Presidential election, BlinnPR felt a "plain vanilla" promotion would
have a difficult time breaking through a busy news cycle. So BlinnPR
recommended a promotion that specifically targeted weary campaign and government
workers who might need a vacation after the upcoming election.
BlinnPR then developed a hook that became the centerpiece of
all promotional communications: The five trips Al Gore might consider taking
should he lose the election such as a trip to Tibet "to give Buddhists
their money back"; and the five trips George Bush might consider taking if
he lost the election (i.e. "because a geography lesson couldn't
hurt", a bike tour from Prague to Vienna). This approach leveraged the current
news environment and mixed it with a little bit of humor. The results went a
long way, with coverage in the Washington Post, the Washington Times, Roll
Call, the Weekly Standard, The Hill, National Public Radio,
and others. Away.com's leadership position in the adventure travel space was
reinforced, and there was increased interest, not only in the specific
promotion, but also in Away.com's offerings, in general.