Destination language courses

By Paul Noble

Published by Collins

Paul Noble’s Destination courses are designed to take just 150 minutes, after which time learners will be able to make themselves understood in French, Italian or Spanish. The language packs comprise two CDs and a short booklet (24 pages), and are also available as downloads on iTunes. There’s no need for the learner to write anything down, so it can easily be done whilst commuting on a train, in the car or at home… or even during the flight or Eurostar en route to the destination!

The challenge

There are hundreds of language courses available and no obvious ‘news peg’ to hang the media coverage on.

The solution

Be as creative as possible in devising many media stories to pitch. My knowledge of the three languages in question – French and Italian are my mother-tongues; I understand Spanish – and of foreign languages in general, was definitely an asset. For example, I suggested to BBC News Magazine (MUVs undisclosed – but they’ve obviously got a huge circulation) a feature about ‘10 unusual ways of saying I love you’ which was published and became one of the trending stories of the day.

The result

As mentioned, finding many original angles wasn’t easy but was nevertheless instrumental to the success of the campaign. In the end, I obtained lengthy features in the Guardian’s travel pages (circ. 164,000) and in the Daily Mail Online’s travel section (238,566,774 MUVs). Consumer media such as Easy Living (circ. 31K+, now ceased); Wanderlust (circ. 37,500); French Entrée (circ. 120K); and TheOldie.co.uk (magazine’s circulation is 46K) also announced the book.