A Great Example Of Going The Extra Mile

I know it’s not always enticing to read about another PR’s successes — I never much enjoyed doing so in my day, being a horrible, jealous type — but I want to share this example in the hope that it’s useful.

When I issue a Travmedia (other services are available) request and get heaps of replies, which is most times, those which always stand out are when you guys both a) have clearly read the request, and b) go the extra mile.

In my most recent such request, for a Christmas holidays list which ran in The Times on Saturday, I asked for suggestions for categories including destinations where Scrooges could completely escape Christmas. There were lots of “they don’t do Christmas here”-type proposals, but Charlie Whitaker-Pitts from SEO Travel was far cuter while mooting a Peruvian Amazon cruise from Rainforest Cruises.

“Visitors can swap (…) a Christmas tree for a kapok tree (…), which sometimes reaches 200 feet,” she wrote, under a sub-header of why this trip was great for fleeing Yuletide. “The only potential similarity (…) is the prehistoric hoatzin bird, which is nicknamed the ‘stinky turkey’.”

Both lines were not only spot on in terms of what I’d asked for, but clever — a riff on “instead of A, there’s B”. Charlie tells me that her knowledge of local Amazonian flora and fauna, including malodorous birds, is a result of probing Rainforest Cruises for more info. Had that not been the case, both facts are also discernible with some time on Google. Either way — because I ended up borrowing the kapok comparison as Charlie’s pitch made the cut — her success is a great advertisement for finding that extra little something.

And, to be clear, I’m not saying that an “instead of A, there’s B” line is the answer every time. Rather, it’s just about finding that additional, fun detail which might just stand your suggestion out over the tens of rivals — which matches this specific media request really well.

Charlie also pitched relatively speedily — equally important, as per this previous column of mine — to help her win the day. But it was that little bit of flair which stood out.