February 4, 2016
Let’s #ThrowbackThursday to a campaign for an individual hotel property on the tropical island of Kauai. Plantation Hale Suites in Kauai, Hawaii, is an all-suite resort that had recently changed brands. In the uber-competitive market on Kauai’s Royal Coconut Coast, brand awareness for hotels in prime locations is especially important – and Plantation Hale Suites’ was not positioned in the market as strongly as it could have been.
The hotel had used a few different tactics to try to build awareness of the property. Specifically email blasts, website promotions, and press releases, but none were moving the needle like they had hoped. We partnered with them to boost their placement on the Expedia sites providing them that extra exposure.
They were able to set-up, fund and get the campaign live quickly. The pay-as-you-go model meant no long term commitments, allowing them to test and optimize their sponsored listing quickly. As online consumers searched for available dates they were immediately exposed to Plantation Hale Suites’ ad in prime positioning at the top of the page for package and hotel search results—and with their own custom and targeted message. Better still, Plantation Hale Suites only paid for ads that were clicked –so they benefited from loads of free brand exposure.
“We had amazing results,” says Plantation Hale Suites’ John Douponce. “We doubled our production. Our campaigns produced immediate results that could be tracked back directly to our TravelAds offer and targeted dates.”’
For Douponce, those results included a 22:1 return on investment (based on YoY room nights and YoY gross bookings) – as well as increased, targeted brand awareness. Scores of other hotel properties around the world have seen similar results, using the platform to target soft-season dates or to ensure brand visibility in highly competitive local markets.
If you would like to see other campaign examples from travel brands, check out more success stories {{cta(’11cffaa4-0c80-4832-b8d6-400ca91a18d3′)}}
