Travelzoo Canada’s latest PR campaign is torn from the headlines.
The travel deals website was inspired by the story of Jordan Axani, a Toronto man who was searching for anyone named Elizabeth Gallagher to join him for a trip around the world. Axani said he had planned the trip with his girlfriend of the same name, but they broke up and he was unable to change the name on the plane ticket.
The Travelzoo contest invites Canadians with the right name to enter for a chance to win one of five vacations to Cuba for themselves and a travel companion. The five lucky names are: Jonathan Li, Michael Smith, Jennifer Clark, Elizabeth Martin and Victoria Brown. People can share the contest with the hashtag #luckynames and enter online.
“In the airline world, the fact that you can’t change a name has always been there, so it was interesting [what Jordan did] and it’s really inspiring,” said Jason Sarracini, vice-president and general manager for Travelzoo Canada. “We feel it aligns itself with what we do, which is inspiring people to visit new destinations.”
The critical piece, said Sarracini, is each trip is a trip for two, which Travelzoo felt would generate more posts on social channels. “We’re not just going to find the five names, but we want to multiply it,” he said. “You may know someone with that name and hopefully as you share it, they may take you [on the trip].”
To get the conversation started, Travelzoo sent an email to its 1.4 million subscribers in English Canada (the contest is not open to Quebec residents). “Email can be a very powerful vehicle when you can use that size of audience to plant a seed and then let it take off from there,” said Sarracini. “If we didn’t have that, it may have taken a little bit longer to get some traction in the social world.”
Travelzoo initially had other marketing plans for January, but was able to go off script for this more timely campaign. “When you are in the PR world, and as a marketer in general, there is a fine line between creating a plan but also being able to ride a wave,” said Sarracini. “I think a lot of departments are creating calendars for the year, but you have to be able to deviate from that plan instantly. And that was key for us.”
