To coincide with its successful launch, Zugu.co.uk created a competition around its name challenging users to decipher its meaning.  The first person to submit the correct answer would receive two return flight tickets to any destination in the world.

“As it’s an unusual name, we wanted to create some fun around it to see whether people could guess its meaning as well as making the link between it and the brand,” says Meredith Hanrahan, Chief Marketing Officer for zugu.co.uk.

“We got some fun responses including everything from it being ‘the language of Tarzan’ to the title of a children’s book,” adds Hanrahan.

Zugu stems from the word ‘zugunruhe’, originally a German word.  ’Zug’ refers to movement and migration while ‘unruhe’ refers to restlessness; the compound refers to the migratory behaviour of birds and other animals.

The name was chosen because it is simple, short and its derivation conveys people’s passion for the urge to travel.  The site reflects these values in a powerful but simple search engine.

The winning ‘What’s in a Name’ submission came from Beks Ali, a New Zealander who’s been living in London for more than three years, who defined Zugu as “to move, migrate, take flight.”  Ali works in interactive marketing and enjoys travel as a hobby, which is one of the reasons she came to the UK.

“The clue for me was in the logo.  Travel is about being pulled to go somewhere and going with that pull.  Zugu gives you the tools to do that, helping you take flight to known or unknown destinations, whether permanently or just for a visit,” says Ali.

“The majority of travel sites ensure you spend more time searching for the best deals than you’d actually spend at your destination.  Zugu takes away the clutter and provides an easy interface with intuitive filtering of results to see at a glance when and where the best deals are without searching through pages of results,” the competition winner continues.

The lucky winner is excitedly narrowing her list of places to visit with her winning airline tickets.  Contenders currently include Brazil, Argentina, Turkey, and the Caribbean, and possibly a trip home.  Given Ali’s avid appetite for travel, a round-the-world ticket is also looking quite possible.

Zugu extends a massive thanks to all those who participated in its competition and a big congratulations to its winner!