The craft of artisans reveals how travel can inspire us to excel. At each Ritz-Carlton around the globe, our Ladies & Gentlemen pave the way to excellence in their craft every day.
With this idea in mind, The Ritz-Carlton worked with Hearst to create four events where visiting artists and athletes met with Ritz-Carlton Ladies & Gentlemen to explore their self-expression in new surroundings — with the results shared through a wide-reaching social media and digital campaign.
Overall objectives:
Create awareness of deeper experiences at The Ritz-Carlton through longer-form stories presented by some of the most recognizable names in media.
Tell brand stories in a modern tone, where a pairing of cultural innovators and talented Ritz-Carlton creators give an innovative spin on the traditional hotel experience.
Drive traffic to the Journey, the Ritz-Carlton’s digital travel hub, and elevate the status of The Journey as a source for travel inspiration.
Effectively condense these stories into moments that will succeed on social and through a broad-based paid campaign.
The Tales
The first step in creating an impactful campaign was selecting each destination, and finding just the right artisan to arrive for an on-property experience.
From a guided winter hike leading to a stunning ice sculpture at The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch, to a mixologist’s craft setting the stage for a dance above The Ritz-Carlton, Istanbul, each unique collaboration showed how the talent and locales shared by The Ritz-Carlton make travel an unforgettable experience.
A summary of each collaboration:
The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain - Chef Emily Dillport and Professional Climber Ashima Shiraishi in the Sonoran Desert
The Ritz Carlton, Bachelor Gulch - Naturalist Tyler Reynolds and Ice Sculptor Shintaro Okamoto in the snows of Colorado
The Ritz Carlton, Washington, D.C. - Chefs Gael Cruchet and Francisco Bonato and set/production designer Jonathon Beck inspired by capital architecture and culinary tradition
The Ritz-Carlton, Istanbul - dancer/ choreographer Lauren Lovette and mixologist Begüm Ural find a common rhythm above the city.
Crafting a Campaign
These artisan interactions lead to articles shared through Hearst imprints and by The Ritz-Carlton, as well as a video-first social media campaign from each side of the partnership.
One full-length hero video and multiple short-form versions from each collaboration were shared on Ritz-Carlton and Hearst channels, including Instagram, Instagram Stories, Instagram Reels, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter, followed by an expansive paid campaign.
Elle, Elle Decor, Harper’s Bazaar, and Esquire each created an online article based on the experience at one of the hotels. These Hearst-branded articles were also hosted on The Journey, the digital hub of The Ritz-Carlton for travel inspiration.
Overall, these artisan stories generated considerable interest and performance throughout their awareness campaign amplified with paid social. The below represents the incredible reach of the campaign as well as the successful engagement.
12.17M Impressions
29.56K Engagements
144.37K Article Page views
29.85% Video Completion Rate
Reaching out to many possible audiences on social and digital, this campaign told its stories from many angles, from highly-tailored & optimized copy and assets, to long-form coverage presenting the narratives in rich detail, featured on both owned and partner platforms.
