Okay, this is a story from last year, but when we came across this at Brighton SEO last week, it’s so good, we had to share it.
Mr Thomas Cook meets Thomas Cook
The simple story is in November 2011 Mr Thomas Cook posted a message on his namesake’s Facebook page, cheekily asking if he could have a free holiday due to their nominal connection.
Thomas Cook (the company) decided to pass on the golden PR opportunity, but that wasn’t the end of the story.
The marketing team at Low Cost Holidays saw an opportunity and offered Mr Thomas Cook the trip to Paris he was hoping for. A year later, he eventually took his trip, with a pal, had a great time…and posted a photo onto Reddit.
It went viral. The Daily Mail featured the story, and the Mirror and many others. It led to tens of thousands of pounds worth of PR gold for Low Cost Holidays and a wet fish in the face for Thomas Cook.
The moral of the story? Be mindful that social media can give you a PR win or a PR fail at any time, depending how you handle it.
By Iain Martin