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.