Many small enterprises rely solely on traditional marketing methods to increase the awareness of their brand. The online travel company Orbitz Worldwide has illustrated a different way. By mixing politics and marketing, the Chicago-based business is hoping to raise its presence in the press.
Praised for its "quirky" lobbying campaign in the Guardian, the company has launched a website that is aiming to get Congress to reverse a law prohibiting travel to Cuba for US citizens. This throwback from Fidel Castro's socialist revolution in the 1950s has become an irritating issue for the US travel industry, which undoubtedly eyes a potentially lucrative market on its doorstep.
Rather cleverly, the Open Cuba website is giving consumers the opportunity to get involved in a grassroots campaign, while also offering them discounts to use their service in the future. The company has achieved this by giving every person signing up to the online petition a $100 coupon, which can be redeemed against a holiday to Cuba if the government lifts the ban.
Featured in an article entitled Travel Firm to Obama: Open up Cuba, Orbitz owns a variety of consumer travel brands, including eBookers, Hotel Club, Cheap Tickets and Asia Hotels. The start-up was launched in 2001 and can now search more than 80,000 suppliers worldwide, including airlines, hotels and car rental firms, for cheap travel deals.
Rejecting criticism that this form of corporate marketing is "crass", chief executive Barney Harford told the Chicago Tribune that "leaders lead".
He said: "We want to organize our customers and other interested parties to reach out to Obama and other government officials."
And it could capture the public mood. A survey conducted by the Orbitz in conjunction with the polling firm Ipsos last month discovered that 67 per cent of Americans would support a policy that would allow all citizens to travel to the Caribbean island. In addition, the results revealed that 64 per cent of respondents said that Orbitz should a play a role in the end of this prohibition.
President Obama also recently made positive overtures regarding the situation by removing constraints placed on family visits and by seeking a dialogue with Cuba's current leader Raul Castro.
If a sizeable proportion of the travel site's 14 million monthly visitors sign the petition, then US tourists could once again enjoy the island's beaches and Orbitz will be dealing with unprecedented demand.
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