Media release

Interislander and Frucor award Otaki couple $30,000

Interislander and one of New Zealand’s largest drinks manufacturer and distributor, Frucor, happily gave away $30,000 in cash to an Otaki couple Jeremy and Jo O’Dea on Monday morning. The couple had unknowingly entered the promotional competition when they booked online to travel with Interislander last month and so were extremely surprised to be informed that they had won the money.

The O’Deas were presented with their cheque on Monday by Interislander Retail Manager Michelle Hobson and Frucor’s Business Development Manager Anthony Clark.

To enter the promotion, passengers had to book online and complete a return Interislander journey during the promotional period (1 March to 31 May 2013). The joint campaign was a new style of promotion for Interislander.

“We looked at a variety of different prize options of a similar value but then we worked out the one thing that every person can use – cash. We know it got a lot of people talking and hopefully encouraged people to travel with us during the promotion period,” says Interislander Sales and Marketing Manager Gavin Rutherford.

Whilst the cash may not have lured the O’Deas to travel on Interislander, Jeremy and Jo do catch the ferry at least once a year to holiday in the South Island. “We like Interislander, it feels really homely – it’s comfortable and it’s very easy to travel on,” Mr O’Dea says.

The couple were so surprised to hear that they’d won the cash, they initially had trouble believing Ms Hobson when she called them to tell them the good news. “We had to call her back to make sure she worked for Interislander and we also checked the website to find out the details of the promotion. It was only then that it started to dawn on us that we had actually won all this cash,” says Mrs O’Dea.

Jeremy, who works on a vineyard, says they’re not too sure what they’ll spend the money on. The couple have a five year-old daughter who they’re keen to take on a holiday. “We might buy a new car and put the rest of the money into savings,” Mr O’Dea says.  

Mr Rutherford hasn’t ruled out repeating the campaign next year. “We were very proud to be teaming up with a company like Frucor that is innovative, well recognised and has such a strong community focus. Interislander has played an important role in our local communities for over 50 years and sponsors a number of community groups, sports teams and activities, so the emphasis on giving back to the community was an important element to our collaboration with Frucor,” he says. 

“It was great to meet with the winners to personally hand over the cheque and to see how happy they were to be receiving it! We’ve already suggested they spend it on a lot of Interislander travel,” Mr Rutherford says.

ENDS

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