Holiday company Travel Republic is the envy of its rivals after coming up with the perfect response to a publicity stunt by a hoity-toity competitor that poked fun at chavvy names such as Britney and Chardonnay.
Rival operator Activities Abroad claimed first bragging rights when it sent out an email to 24,000 people on its database listing first names of people who were likely to book one of their holidays and also the names of those who were not likely.
The campaign sparked media controversy for suggesting the company was elitist by appealing to holidaymakers with middle-class names such as Sarah, Alice and Charles in favour over so-called chav names such as Chantelle, Shannon and Wayne.
But just as Activities Abroad was beginning to bask under the media glare, Travel Republic hit back with an ingenious response by offering all customers whose names appeared on its rival's chav list a 10% discount.
The company then milked its share of media attention to the full by slamming its anti-chav competitor and boasting that it had 1600 Shannons, 1100 Courtneys and 500 Kylies on its own database, along with two Candices, a Chantelle and a Dazza among its staff.
Both companies are likely to profit from the publicity. However, it was Travel Republic that spotted an opportunity to have the final say and turn media attention in a competitor to its commercial advantage.
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