With more than 150 hotels and resorts around the world, the Hyatt Regency brand sits at the heart of the Hyatt portfolio, creating energizing experiences by connecting our guests to who and what matters to them most. In 2015, we continued to evolve the Hyatt Regency brand experience by putting the guest at the center of every decision made.
We took an honest look at what was happening around us. Interestingly, while the travel industry is expanding and diversifying (think travel sites like Expedia and Kayak, boutique hotels and home-sharing programs like AirBnB), competitive messaging had become conventional – even generic. Our competitors all position themselves to be guests' "home away from home."
The challenge was clear. How could we find a unique voice and offer guests an emotionally compelling reason to stay with us? The Hyatt Regency brand needed to disrupt the status quo and break away from competitors. We needed an idea that was grounded in the guest experience and cultivated irrational love for the brand.
We tapped into a simple insight: although it is good to be home, there's an inherent freedom in traveling and breaking from routine – an opportunity to make new connections, experience new things. To make the most of being away. Because, sometimes, it's good not to be home.
This insight led to redefining the Hyatt Regency brand's social strategy in an effort to engage with guests who identified. Launching Twitter and Instagram, re-strategizing Facebook, identifying influencers and launching a partnership with Snapchat, the brand was ready to share why it's good not to be home.
Launching in six global markets, the Hyatt Regency brand's largest-ever integrated global campaign used this insight to celebrate travel truths, inviting people to experience why "It's Good Not To Be Home" at Hyatt Regency hotels. This message targeted consumers, meeting planners and the colleagues who make it good for guests to be away. The campaign came to life on brand, colleague and partner social channels and through localized creative including TV, in-flight and digital video, as well as online radio, print, outdoor, earned media and trade events.
The message extended through relationships, demonstrating "It's Good Not To Be Home" experiences via custom video series, events and editorial/social content. Hyatt Gold Passport and Hyatt Regency teamed up with Fast Company to provide a rare away-from-home opportunity, inviting entrepreneurs to pitch ideas in hotel elevators (the ultimate elevator pitch) and let the audience select a winner. Fast Company hosted experiential sessions at select Hyatt Regency hotels, including workshops and networking events designed to allow guests to make new connections that make it good not to be home.
Hyatt Gold Passport and the Hyatt Regency brand worked with Comedy Central to sponsor the New York Comedy Festival and recruited comedian Iliza Shlesinger to chronicle her life on the road in a video series promoted through TV, online and brand and Comedy Central social channels. Meanwhile, Snapchat users watched Hyatt Regency ads featuring Shlesinger in Comedy Central's Snapchat Discover channel and were encouraged to share their own "not home" moments with #AtHyattRegency #PassportToComedy. Influencers were hosted at Hyatt Regency hotels coinciding with Comedy Central stand-up shows; a contest gifted winners tickets to see Shlesinger live at the festival.
This program coincided with the launch of the first-ever Snapchat Geofilters program for Hyatt. Daily filters were available at Hyatt Regency hotels in the U.S., Canada and UK, offering another reason to share why it's good not to be home.
Instagrammable moments could be seen and interacted with in select hotels, including elevator wraps acting as "selfie" backdrops and an activation that utilized social currency to enhance guests' stay with things they're unable to get at home. Guests checking in at participating locations were given cards detailing unique boxes available if they posted to Instagram using #GetCarded #AtHyattRegency. Social influencers were tapped to stay in these hotels and participate in the activation, further seeding why "It's Good Not To Be Home."
The Hyatt Regency brand took a new approach to social, refreshing our Facebook page and launching new Instagram and Twitter channels. Pairing paid media with a new content strategy, the channels grew to 4.3K followers (Instagram) and 7.4K followers (Twitter) in 3 months. The established Facebook page saw a fan increase of 33% (+22K) throughout the campaign. On Snapchat, Hyatt Regency brand filters were used in 55.5K snaps, with a total of 2.2M impressions in 90 days. #AtHyattRegency was used 44.6K times during the campaign period. These results represent a 105% increase in the brand's social engagement.
Colleague engagement was unprecedented with 60% of Hyatt Regency hotels globally participating in the brand's first-ever video challenge where hotels showed how they uniquely make it good for their guests not to be home and voted on their favorites.
There was also a 17% year-over-year lift in Hyatt Gold Passport program enrollments, securing a new base of loyal customers. And importantly, during the campaign, the brand saw a 1.05% increase in the look to book conversion rate on hyatt.com, exceeding organic growth by 19% and resulting in significant financial impact.
By tapping into unique travel truths, we gave the brand a voice and revealed how Hyatt Regency hotels and resorts, a member of the Hyatt Gold Passport family of brands, help guests make the most of their time away – changing the way consumers, meeting planners and hotel colleagues see, feel and engage with the brand.
