Insights Type: Best Practices

Best Practices for Hospitality Marketing Professionals

By Kaitlin Dunn, Writer, Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI)

HSMAI hosted a Chief Marketing Officer Virtual Roundtable on March 31 that focused on the impact that COVID-19 is having on hotel marketing. In addition to discussing key indicators they are using to track how the hospitality industry is doing, CMO participants shared their best practices, lessons learned, and ideas for preparing to accelerate as quickly as possible. Here are four of their suggestions, presented in their own words:

1. KEEP YOUR MIND ON RECOVERY:

  • “There seems to be a race to the bottom. How can we set everything so aggressively we can survive the next few months? But you also have to keep in mind coming back out. I’m interested to see how companies manage through that. I imagine if you let everyone go, when you decide to bring them back, there’s a process that won’t be very efficient and you may not have an engaged group to help you recover quickly.”
  • “If we’re going to cut off our nose to spite our face right now, we have to be ahead of the recovery with our planning and strategy and building and implementation. If we start to cut our teams too aggressively, we’re not going to be out in front of it.”
  • “Hotels that dropped rate in previous downturns were the slowest to recover, so we are working to make sure owners and managers know they should hold rate and help them understand that undercutting everyone isn’t going to help them in the long run.”
  • “We’re trying to maintain a hyper focus on our customers and understand where they are emotionally. We want to understand what consumers need from us. We’re hoping this approach will take us through the long term and we will be there when they are ready to purchase again.”

2. FORGE STRONG COMMUNICATION BETWEEN OWNERS AND MANAGERS:

  • “We have close engagement with our ownership groups, since they’re funding a lot of the efforts. We’ve been very close in forecasting with them, so they’re prepared and feel engaged with us and we can get our teams back in place.”
  • “We’re making sure management and ownership are aligned. It allows you to make tough decisions and gives you support when reopening. Engaging with folks really helps.”

3. FIND POSSIBILITIES FOR REINVENTION:

  • “I think this is a world where we’re going to have to reinvent. We’re focusing on capabilities that have value and efficiencies. A lot of it is around automation.”
  • “We’re treating it as if we’re a new company and questioning everything. When we open back up, it’s not going to be the same as we were before. We have this opportunity to rethink everything going forward.”
  • “The importance of knowing who your key players are. That way you can understand what your team is going to look like. It’s making me stop and rethink a lot of roles and where those roles sit within the organization.”
  • “We’re looking at this as an opportunity to reemerge differently by accelerating some capital projects, and we plan to come out of it in a stronger position.”

4. KEEP AN EYE ON CHINA:

  • “In China, they were in the process of closing for three weeks. We’re still in that three-week period. Then they went through four weeks of being closed, but eventually after that four-week period, they started opening again and most are open now. So, we could be opening back up around mid-May, but April is going to be really tough.”
  • “We’ve had the benefit of seeing the China strategy. It’s provided some calmness, because we can anticipate what things are going to look like.”

For additional information, insights, and tools, visit HSMAI’s Global Coronavirus Resources page.

 

Best Practices for Sales Professionals Responding to COVID-19

By Kaitlin Dunn, Writer, Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI)

HSMAI hosted a Chief Sales Officer Virtual Roundtable on March 26 that focused on the impact that COVID-19 is having on hotel sales. In addition to discussing key indicators they are using to track how the hospitality industry is doing, CSO participants shared their best practices, lessons learned, and ideas for preparing to accelerate as quickly as possible. Here are four of their suggestions, presented in their own words:

1. BE KIND AND REACH OUT:

  • “That human element is what’s in the core our DNA. Keeping in touch with our clients and staying connected on a personal level is important — not asking about business, but just saying, ‘I hope you’re okay.’ Everyone is going through something they never in their wildest days thought they’d be going through.”
  • “We’re encouraging our teams to be compassionate with both colleagues and customers and taking a caring approach. It’s uncertain times and we’re all in it together.”
  • “We’re focusing on empathy. People’s lives are changing in ways that were unimaginable. We had to furlough a lot of employees, and we want to maintain good relationships with them.”
  • “It’s about communication. I’m seeing now how much that’s making a difference to everyone on the team. I’m communicating with them all day long. We can get so invested in our own lanes and I overlooked reaching out to others, and I’m realizing it’s about the bigger world, not just me.”

2. BE FLEXIBLE:

  • “Be flexible, whether it’s an incentive plan or with people working at home, or for customers, with how often you service their rooms. That flexibility is critical. We need to be simple in our planning, so when it’s time to execute, we can make a quick change.”
  • “We’ve never experienced this. A strategy that you have Tuesday could change by Thursday. Being nimble is critical. The ability to be flexible and to change and adapt is what’s going to bring us forward.”
  • “There’s no black-and-white answer right now. Every group and every situation is different, so we have to understand everything as much as we can. Be flexible and look at each situation.”
  • “You really know what your team is made of when they are agile and adaptable in times like these. You can work with people for years and not know what they’re really made of. It’s easy to work in the good times, but in times like these, I’m really seeing the importance of hiring well.”

3. BALANCE SURVIVING TODAY WITH PLANNING FOR TOMORROW:

  • “There needs to be a two-prong approach, not just operationally right now, but also capitalizing on the future and coming out of it. We balance how we’re dealing with today, but also being proactive on having a strategy to execute.”
  • “Things are going to look a lot different coming out of this. We have to tap into the tools and resources we have available.”

4. MAKE TIME FOR FUN:

  • “One of the things we started right away was sharing fun things on our Zoom calls, such as favorite cocktails. Taking it away from the business side of it is important, because people are so concerned and worried these days. Everyone is going through the same thing, and there needs to be a bit of fun through all of this.”
  • “In a few short weeks, we’ve gotten good at sharing any bright spots or wins, no matter how small.”

For additional information, insights, and tools, visit HSMAI’s Global Coronavirus Resources page.

Best Practices for Hotel Management Company CROs Responding to COVID-19

By Kaitlin Dunn, Writer, Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI)

HSMAI hosted a Hotel Management Company (HMC) Chief Revenue Officer Virtual Roundtable on March 25 that focused on the impact that COVID-19 is having on hotel revenue optimization. In addition to discussing key indicators they are using to track how the hospitality industry is doing, HMC CRO participants shared their best practices, lessons learned, and ideas for preparing to accelerate as quickly as possible. Here are five of their suggestions, presented in their own words:

1) EXPLORE NEW STAFFING MODELS:

  • “We’re lucky enough to still have 90 percent of our corporate team, but completely redeployed our team into a secure division, a support division, and a succeed division. Succeed is focused on ramping back up — procedures, staffing, strategy plans, markets to proceed with, staffing messaging, communicating with properties. It’s been our main focus.”
  • “Our best practice is the way we now engage with each other. We’ve had to become a baseball team like no other. Everyone has a specific role, but we have to toss the ball to each other in a way we haven’t had to before. Our culture is usually to make sure hotels have final say on strategy, but we’ve had to make some across-the-board decisions for all hotels, immediately going to implementation.”
  • “We’ve formed a response team right away that has a representative from each discipline across the company that’s a resource for anyone to come to. It’s worked well across the field.”

2) WORK ACROSS MARKETS:

  • “We have been focused on a solid post-COVID plan, taking as much information across markets as we can to build that. We’re also synergizing our efforts across markets and sharing knowledge across markets. We’ve been heavily focused on our weekly forecast across all markets, so we’ve come up with a market-level focus for each market as well. We are also gathering a lot of digital information and consolidating it on a common forum.”
  • “A lot of hotels have been mandated to close, so what we have done is create more efficiencies to share contacts across different markets. We’re having a daily sales, marketing, revenue, and ecommerce call with everyone. We’ve had to move the call center to remote, and that’s working very well, so that it will probably remain like that instead of moving back to a building.”

3) RECOGNIZE YOUR TEAM MEMBERS’ WORK:

  • “It’s been exciting to see my team in the field step up. They’ve been sharing what trends they’re seeing, leads that come in. We’re trying to focus on the good things we’re seeing.”
  • “The ingenuity I’ve seen from our sales team has been unbelievable. We’ve been able to see who the hunters are. I was blown out of the water a few weeks ago by one of our directors of sales. The ingenuity and the hunting have been phenomenal.”
  • “We had to lay off a lot of employees last week, but those who have remained showed great compassion and empathy toward those who were furloughed. They’re all having to learn different brands that they never thought they would have to know three weeks ago. This is a great time for cross-training, and they are willing and open to learning.”

4) STREAMLINE PROCESSES:

  • “We streamlined our process for responding to leads, so we can respond to them more quickly. Long-term, we are developing several rules as things get rebooked into the second half. We want to make sure we are layering appropriately to avoid displacement.”
  • “Our biggest change has been the multiple versions of forecasts — making a best case, worst case, etc. It’s helped eliminate some of the day-to-day forecasting and saved us time.”
  • “A lot of it is having the team go back and focus on the basics of the business. The only function of the sales department is to go out and find business and sell to them.”

5) FOCUS ON RECOVERY:

  • “Anything that we can put together that’s hopeful or positive looking forward is more important than ever and is better received by employees. I look forward to putting that together for each property.”
  • “Out of every catastrophe comes permanent change. We’re looking at where we’ve cut costs and what we can use as an opportunity to cut savings moving forward.”
  • “We’re focusing on when we are going to reopen and what happens then, instead of focusing on right now when we’re closed. We’re cross-training our revenue team with other departments who can’t work remotely. We’re also making sure we’re educating teams that discounting isn’t the best way to go.”

For additional information, insights, and tools, visit HSMAI’s Global Coronavirus Resources page.

Best Practices for Brand Revenue Professionals Responding to COVID-19

By Kaitlin Dunn, Writer, Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI)

HSMAI hosted a Brand Chief Revenue Officer Virtual Roundtable on March 24 that focused on the impact that COVID-19 is having on hotel revenue optimization. In addition to discussing key indicators they are using to track how the hospitality industry is doing, brand CRO participants shared their best practices, lessons learned, and ideas for preparing to accelerate as quickly as possible. Here are six of their suggestions, presented in their own words:

1) RETAIN STAFF:

  • “You have to have a date [that hotels are closed/open], but every time the date shifts, you have a lot of work ahead — to cancel reservations, move things around, reconfigure selling strategies — and if you don’t have someone tethered to that property, you’re not going to be able to do that effectively. What we don’t want is a hotel, even one that’s closed, to have no revenue management oversight.”
  • “We’re streamlining the process to respond to local government requests so we can provide rates faster, which requires revenue managers to be on hand at the hotels, so it’s a really good opportunity for revenue managers.”

2) UTILIZE TIME OFF:

  • “We’re encouraging people to make the most of their time to be productive, even if they’re on furlough. There’s lots of online learning resources available. Use the time to get to things you never have time to get to.”
  • “Our situation is unique, but nobody has been furloughed and everyone is on the clock. They all have a laptop, so we have the expectation they will be advancing their training and skillsets. I think we’ll be a lot better equipped when we come back.”

3) CAPTURE EVERY OPPORTUNITY:

  • “We came up with a national healthcare rate for all hotels. It makes it easier for traveling nurses and doctors. Another business we still have is government travel and extended-stay travel, for travelers who can’t go back home.”
  • “We’re looking for areas of opportunity to drive rate in the future, Q4 and 2021 in particular, with all the pent-up demand. There have been so many events canceled, so I think that there is going to be an opportunity to drive more than the traditional year-over-year rate increases.”

4) COMMUNICATE PERSONALLY AND FREQUENTLY:

  • “Our agents sent out 6,000 calls to let customers know that we were closing and offer to rebook them at a later date instead of just sending out a mass email. The feedback was very positive, and it kept our call-center employees employed.”
  • “Early on we set up daily calls with all our teams, to make sure we’re all touching base and giving reassurance to our revenue managers about how we’re supporting our teams. It’s important to go out there consistently and make sure everyone knows what our strategies are.”
  • “We’ve been having town halls with all of our member hotels, showing them the value we have is important, and we’ve had a high level of participation. We’re sharing what our strategies are and what’s happening and giving them some reassurance. We want to show our hotels we have their backs.”

5) HAVE A PLAN:

  • “Have a date and work back from it. Know what you need to do leading up to that, because you do not want to be caught flat-footed coming out of this. I really think that revenue management is going to be a part of the solution and ensuring we come out of this strong.”
  • “We’re sharing best practices with not just the revenue teams but the hotel operators. Discounting does not create demand, so we’re making sure we’re setting ourselves up to come out of this and not digging ourselves into a bigger hole.”

6) CONSOLIDATE AND REASSIGN STAFF:

  • “We’re consolidating revenue management for our closed hotels and using regional teams to cover some of our hotels, because they know the hotels pretty well.”
  • “We’re having directors of sales work the front desk when guests are checking in, so they are selling to those guests. We’re trying to imprint on them that it’s business as usual, you just have a smaller target. They’re driving through town and seeing who is staying in town, so everyone can focus their energy on those targets. They’re still bringing in negotiator rates. It’s old school, but everything is on the table right now.”

For additional information, insights, and tools, visit HSMAI’s Global Coronavirus Resources page.

Best of Show: D-Day With The National WWII Museum

By Kaitlin Dunn, Writer, Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI)

HSMAI’s 2019 Adrian Awards competition — celebrating creativity and innovation in hospitality advertising, digital marketing, and public relations — honored its winners at the Adrian Awards Dinner Reception and Gala in New York City on Jan. 21. The top honor of the night went to three Best of Show winners. Take some inspiration from one of them: The National WWII Museum’s “Owning an Entire News Cycle: D-Day With The National WWII Museum,” which was honored in the Public Relations/PR Campaign/Special Event category. (View all of last year’s Adrian-winning submissions here.)

BACKGROUND: Seventy-five years after Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy, The National WWII Museum sought to take advantage of the media coverage surrounding the diamond-anniversary celebration of D-Day in June 2019 and generate impactful coverage of the museum and its subsequent events. Located in New Orleans, The National WWII Museum is dedicated to telling the story of the American experience in the war and educate all generations on the sacrifices that were made. The campaign’s goals were to inspire and educate visitors on the lessons that can be learned from WWII, position the museum’s historians as go-to spokespeople for WWII stories, and drive traffic and donations to the museum.

CAMPAIGN: To start, the campaign targeted a wide audience across the United States but focused on veterans and their families through placements in influential broadcast, print, and online outlets. Historians and WWII veterans were interviewed in both Normandy and New Orleans for the various media spots, telling specific stories of those who fought and providing a broader historical context for the events of June 6, 1944.

The stand-out part of the campaign began in late May, when the National WWII Museum launched two cruises following the path of Germany’s conquest of Western Europe and the subsequent Allied efforts to regain control and liberate the continent. The cruises culminated with a June 6 arrival at Omaha Beach to partake in commemorative D-Day events. Along with historians, WWII veterans were on the cruise, some returning to the beaches where they fought for the first time since they landed there 75 years ago. In New Orleans, more historians and veterans took part in another series of celebrations beginning with an H-Hour ceremony at 6:30 a.m. — the exact time of the D-Day landings.

RESULTS: The campaign generated more than 1.3 billion media impressions, the equivalent of more than $46 million in advertisement spending. Placements included 132 broadcast segments (192 million impressions), with pieces on Fox News, CNN, PBS, and a CBS News Special Report, as well as 13 national print placements (18 million impressions), including the front page of The New York Times, and 102 online placements (1.1 billion impressions). The museum’s website broke several records, including its highest number of visitors in one day — nearly 75,000 on June 6 — and highest number of visitors in the month of June, at 480,000. June 2019 also generated an increase of 37 percent in online donations and broke a record for museum visitation.

WHY IT WON: Adrians judges were very impressed with “Owning an Entire News Cycle: D-Day With The National WWII Museum.” Here is what several of them had to say about it why they thought it was the best of the best:

  • “It’s highly interactive, making the past relevant to the present and future. It educates and enlightens about what matters, and that was really powerful.”
  • “The New York Times feature story really stood out, especially since it was timed to drop the day before the anniversary and helped cause the web traffic to double.”
  • “It was about storytelling. It wasn’t about ‘come see the new museum.’ It showed the power of what storytelling is and what PR does.”
  • “To incorporate the veterans’ and their children’s stories into this campaign was really brilliant. The narrative became ‘What do we learn from this in the current generation?’ It worked really well.”

HSMAI SPECIAL REPORT: Crisis Communications for Hospitality Marketing Professionals

In a crisis situation, business leaders don’t just need information. They need inspiration. They need success stories. That’s what this HSMAI Special Report — presented with the support of HSMAI’s Organizational Member companies — provides. While the coronavirus is still very much a developing situation, hospitality marketing professionals should be focusing on how they are positioning their properties, companies, and brands — not just right now, in the midst of the crisis, but in the aftermath.

To offer some ideas, we’ve turned to winners in the Crisis Communication/Recovery Communications category for Public Relations in HSMAI’s Adrian Awards competition. As the 10 case studies we have developed from these destinations’ and properties’ campaigns show, there is no such thing as a non-recoverable disaster. In the moment, your job is to communicate in a way that prioritizes the safety of your guests, your employees, and your stakeholders. And when it’s over, you let them know that you’re open for business — and better than ever.

Crisis Communication and Marketing Expert Insights

By Kaitlin Dunn, Writer, Hospitality Sales and Marketing International (HSMAI)

Hoteliers find themselves in an unknown environment as the coronavirus continues to spread and the situation evolves, creating a challenge when it comes to communicating with clients, partners, and other stakeholders. Laura Guitar, executive vice president and partner at rbb Communications, and Chris Davidson, executive vice president of insights and strategy at MMGY Global, shared their perspectives and tips for hospitality marketing professionals as part of a program in HSMAI’s Confronting Coronavirus webinar series called “Crisis Communication and Marketing Expert Insights” on March 12. Here are key takeaways from their presentation:

1. We are not overreacting as an industry. This is one of the most common questions that Davidson has been getting. The reality, he said, is that hospitality professionals have no idea how many people are already infected or how many asymptomatic people are walking around. “The reaction is appropriate,” he said. “It’s our responsibility to mitigate the impact.”

But because no one knows what’s going to happen, it’s hard to predict when things will bounce back. “How quickly we come out of this,” Davidson said, “is dependent on how widespread it becomes.”

2. Hotels have a responsibility to provide clear, accurate information. This, Guitar said, is difficult in an age when, despite all the news sources that are available, many people don’t trust the government or media — plus there is so much misinformation out there. Because hospitality marketing professionals aren’t scientists, it’s more important to point clients to the most reliable sources you can find, such as the World Health Organization or the Center for Disease Control, rather than spreading information yourself.

3. It’s important to have a crisis plan. Such a plan shouldn’t cover every single situation in detail, but rather should define the process that will guide decisions being made in high-pressure circumstances, Guitar said. Davidson added that crisis plans should include a chain of command for both getting and disseminating information. It’s also important to create a post-coronavirus toolkit, with plans and programs that can be used to target audiences when the crisis is over.

4. Focus on the business. This crisis is likely going to last at least six to eight weeks before it peaks, Davidson said. Therefore, it’s important not to let the issue absorb everyone’s time and thinking, but rather create a team of people to do that, so that others can focus on keeping the business running. “If you lose sight of the business, you’re going to have to rebuild on the other side,” Davidson said. “This is a marathon, not a sprint.”

5. There are still opportunities to pursue. Both Guitar and Davidson recommended pushing the idea of staycations, where people can feel as if they’re getting away by staying in a hotel in their own town. “The idea is hometown support and rallying around our community,” Guitar said. Davidson also recommended targeting road trippers, who could get to hotels without risking being exposed to the virus in airports.

For island destinations, Guitar said that more people are afraid of getting the virus on a plane than at a resort. She recommended partnering with an airline and promoting all the cleaning and sterilizing that planes are undergoing after every flight. “Planes might actually be the cleanest places in the country right now,” Guitar said.

Watch the entire HSMAI Confronting Coronavirus webinar “Crisis Communication and Marketing Expert Insights” here. For additional information, insights, and tools, visit HSMAI’s Global Coronavirus Resources hub.

Corporate Social Responsibility: Rosen Tangelo Park Program

By Kaitlin Dunn, Writer, Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI)

HSMAI’s 2019 Adrian Awards competition — celebrating creativity and innovation in hospitality advertising, digital marketing, and public relations — honored its winners at the Adrian Awards Dinner Reception and Gala in New York City on Jan. 21. It also included the Corporate Social Responsibility Award, which honors an organization using its resources to focus on issues that matter to a company’s employees, customers, and communities. Take some inspiration from this year’s CSR Award winner: Rosen Hotels & Resorts’ Tangelo Park Program. (View all of last year’s Adrian-winning submissions here.)

BACKGROUND: Harris Rosen, president and COO of Rosen Hotels & Resorts, has contributed to many charitable initiatives through the Harris Rosen Foundation, including supporting an underserved neighborhood called Tangelo Park, which is located near several Rosen Hotels in Orlando. A first-generation college student himself, Rosen committed to providing an education to the neighborhood children, who were growing up in a crime-ridden area, with few opportunities to succeed.

CSR PROGRAM: In 1993, Rosen promised to pay the full college or vocational school tuition, including room, board, and books, for any child graduating high school, and to provide free pre-school for two- to four-year olds. Last year, he opened the Rosen Tangelo Park Preschool, a building with several classrooms where he funds the teachers’ salaries.

Rosen has continued to create opportunities for students to receive quality educations. Most recently, he implemented a similar program in the Orlando neighborhood of Parramore, committing to the same scholarships and funding the Rosen Parramore Preschool. Additionally, he funded the building of the Rosen College of Hospitality Management at the University of Central Florida, funds three scholarship to Rollins College, and provides free college scholarships to his employees and their children after three years of service.

RESULTS: A 2016 study showed that every dollar Rosen has invested into the neighborhood has returned seven-fold. The high-school graduation has increased to 99 percent. Many of the more than 200 students whose college education Rose funded have gone on to graduate school and enjoy successful careers as teachers, lawyers, social workers, and more.

Generation Alpha and Family Travel Trends

The Lightning Round is a signature program at HSMAI’s Marketing Strategy Conference — giving six marketing executives just six minutes and 40 seconds each to share a best practice, strategic insight, or big idea. At the 2020 Marketing Strategy Conference on Jan. 22, Derek Price, director of business development in North America for Expedia Group Media Solutions, focused on how families travel in a Lightning Round presentation called “Generation Alpha and Family Travel Trends.”

KEY TAKEAWAY: Generation Alpha is made up of kids born after 2010 — and they’re already having an impact in the travel space. According to Price, they love to travel and are actively involved in planning trips with their parents. Most families need help planning their trips, and the biggest opportunity is using appealing imagery in digital marketing which attracts Gen Alpha as well as their parents. “Everyone wants to be entertained and everyone wants to have fun,” Price said. “They’re making their decision based on the destination activities available.”

Best of Show: #JOURNEYSAFE by Super 8

By Kaitlin Dunn, Writer, Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI)

Entries for HSMAI’s 2020 Adrian Awards are now being accepted — with a special focus on best practices, innovation, and community related to hospitality advertising, marketing, and public relations work created in response to the coronavirus crisis. Take some inspiration for next year from one of them: Super 8’s “#JOURNEYSAFE,” which was honored in the Digital Marketing/Digital Campaign/Integrated Market Campaign for Consumers (B2C) category. (View all of last year’s Adrian-winning submissions here.)

BACKGROUND: Driving when tired, or drowsy driving, can be just as dangerous as driving while drunk or distracted, with exhausted drivers being three times more likely to be in a crash than alert drivers. With more than 100,000 accidents each year caused by drowsy driving, Super 8 launched a campaign to raise awareness of this issue and position the brand as a trusted place for drivers to rest and refuel along the highway.

CAMPAIGN: The digital campaign kicked off in New York City during National Sleep Awareness Month in March 2019, with speeches from psychologist and sleep expert Dr. Janet Kennedy, founder of NYC Sleep Doctor, and philanthropist and actor Giacomo Gianniotti, who plays Andrew DeLuca on Grey’s Anatomy, calling on drivers to journey safe and pull over when they need to. The campaign highlighted the dangers of drowsy driving, pointed out Super 8’s many convenient locations that allow travelers to safely rest up, and communicated that “the safer you are, the further you can go.”

Over the following months, the campaign amped up during high-travel periods in the spring and summer via digital video, social media, website, email, and integration with the mobile navigation app Waze. The campaign targeted travelers who spontaneously (with less than three weeks) plan driving trips, drivers who are constantly on the road for business, and families who don’t take risks when they travel but also don’t plan very far in advance. All of the targeted guests are travelers who look for fair prices in a convenient location and want to keep their loved ones safe, and about half are drive-up traffic when going to hotels.

RESULTS: The campaign was a huge success. More than 49,000 Waze users navigated to Super 8 locations via the campaign, exceeding all benchmarks. Within the first month of the website’s launch, more than 13,000 visitors checked it out, while on social media, campaign videos were viewed more than a million times, with more than 20,000 engagements. More than 39 media placements delivered another 110 million impressions.

WHY IT WON: Adrians judges were very impressed with Super 8’s #JOURNEYSAFE. Here is what several of them had to say about why they thought it was the best of the best:

  • “Super 8 gets most of their stays from drive-in traffic. They know people are driving long distances and often driving when they’re quite tired. They took that and turned it into a public-interest campaign. They educated people on the stats of drowsy driving, educated them on the consequences of it, and provided a solution.”
  • “It connected a core aspect of their business, a great public-service message, and really quality creative as well. It had all the elements of a solid integrated marketing campaign.”
  • “The Waze integration, how they were able to demonstrate bookings from their target audience was a differentiator from other entries.”
  • “You could only do this in a digital context. It’s not going to work as a print campaign, or a display, or television campaign. Digital is the only way this is going to work, where you’re getting people when they’re mobile, in their car, late at night, and you give them the message in their moment of need. That was really impressive.”