Giving away flights - great PR and trial strategy

An online article caught by eye today, despite being a wine drinker - Flights cheaper than a carton of beer.

When reading the article, I discovered it was about some very cheap flights Tiger Airways was promoting.

Why is this zero budget? Well, if you've ever had to stump up for newpaper advertising, you'll know that it's very bloody expensive.

By offering up a very newsworthy story, Tiger has got an entire article run, that pretty much reads like a press release and a promotion description, complete with terms and conditions!

Now I'm sure Tiger is also an advertiser, but it is a great way to demonstrate the power of PR when you have a great story to tell.

This quote in the article is also telling:

Tiger Airways says the fares include all fees and taxes, so in essence, it is giving away the seat on the plane.

This is a promotion dear to my "zero-budget heart, in that it's giving away something for free.

This is SUCH a great option for a new/developing business looking to get fast traction. It gets people talking about you, it gets people using your service for little risk - and in the case of Tiger, it gets you a return airfare.

It's a much smarter "marketing" investment that an ad.

So congrats to Tiger, you get this week's smart marketing zero budget hero award!