With over 70 iconic properties and a heritage spanning 150+ years, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts has seen, heard and played a role in its fair share of incredible stories—stories that truly embody the essence of the global luxury hospitality brand. In 2018, we wanted to share some of these tales with the world.
While we've produced and shared video content on our social media channels for a number of years now, we felt that—in order to most effectively capture the hearts and minds of a new, qualified audience and encourage repeat visits from previous guests— these stories needed to be brought to life with a video campaign that was decidedly different.
In addition to raising overall brand awareness within the US market by sharing some of our unique stories, we also wanted to increase US-based website traffic for our featured properties, Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise & Fairmont Banff Springs, by 7% (over same time last year).
Whether heart-warming, funny or fantastical (or a combination of all three), every Fairmont story is truly unforgettable, so we sought a platform that could showcase each tale in the grand manner it deserved. We found exactly what we were looking for with Great Big Story, a global media company that specializes in storytelling on a cinematic scale.
Over a lengthy brainstorming period, Great Big Story's award-winning team of short-filmmakers, producers and videographers worked with us to choose the right stories to tell in our micro-documentaries. That is, the ones that were most unique to the Fairmont brand and which best reflected what makes it so special—a different breed, if you will. So, we chose the tale of the Canine Ambassadors, Fairmont's resident hotel dogs.
Whether accompanying our guests on an alpine hike or just curling up by their feet in in the lobby, Fairmont's elite fellowship of Canine Ambassadors make our guests feel both at home and connected to the very best of our destinations. It was the perfect story for our talented partners at Great Big Story to tell.
Shot on location at Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise and Fairmont Banff Springs, the Canine Ambassadors' video is filled with sweeping Rocky Mountain vistas, electric blue glacier lakes, luxurious accommodations and, of course, cute, cuddly close-ups of our favourite furry friends. Not only does the video raise awareness around the unique Canine Ambassador program, but it inspires viewers to visit these awe inspiring destinations.
Along with YouTube and Facebook, the video was actively promoted across Great Big Story's wide range of networks to attract new guests and raise the brand profile in the US. It was also featured on in-room channels in Fairmont properties across North America to entice loyal guests to come back again for future stays.
The Fairmont Canine Ambassador video campaign received an overwhelming response, earning thousands of engagements, shares and positive comments. Most impressively, on YouTube and Facebook (collectively), 67% of viewers watched for 30 seconds or more and 39% watched until the video was 95% complete—substantial numbers considering the fickle nature of social media, where viewers typically only watch a few seconds of a video before moving on.
In addition, aside from garnering over 2.6 million impressions, US-based visits to the Fairmont Banff Springs webpage were up 41% and Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise saw a 10% increase, significantly exceeding the goal of 7% (from the time the video launched in early October until year-end).
In addition, Fairmont Banff Springs saw an incredible 18% increase in bookings from the segment!
