In 2022, social media channels like Instagram and TikTok shifted to prioritizing video (specifically Reels) over other content formats. So, our main objective for 2023 was to bring W Hotels to life through world-class, always-on, video content. However, one of the biggest challenges we faced was creating evergreen content for audiences with shortened attention spans.
After analyzing what worked for us in the past, we learned that short-form video content that featured the most aspirational details of our hotels in unexpected ways was a crucial piece of our video strategy to drive reach and engagement. This was validated by data from Instagram that 66% of users find short-form videos to be the most engaging in-feed content.
So, we developed Vignettes, 5-10 second long videos that stop a viewer in their scroll through inspiration, surprise, and humor.
In identifying our opportunity and developing Vignettes, we took a new approach to evergreen content creation, leaning into single-shot, short-form video that highlights our hotels and destinations. This aimed to capture the attention of our target audience in an unexpected, yet elevated way.
To execute this new approach, we ensured Vignettes were captured on-site at every brand photoshoot, prioritizing the content format as it would eventually become our new evergreen staple. We identified different ways to showcase our brand personality through inspiration, surprise, and humor by weaving in different talent and elements of our hotel into the short clips. From W Barcelona and W Rome to W Abu Dhabi and W Montreal, Vignettes allow us to feature our unique personality, bold design, and consistent brand experience to luxury travelers worldwide.
How do Vignettes set us apart? They’re designed to transport our audiences around the world for a moment in time. They are unexpected and uniquely W Hotels. In addition to a luxury composition, we tell a story and focus on the elements of humor and surprise, better known as our signature W Hotels “wink.” Vignettes showcase our hotels, talent, and programming in a social-first way, allowing us to be consistent and efficient across our global hotels and channels. The format is flexible, and can be scaled up or down based on talent, props, design, etc., and can tell both property and destination stories in a casual, elevated yet approachable manner.
Vignettes act as our foundational evergreen content. Given the short-form nature of the videos, we can quickly and efficiently capture assets across our properties globally. To date, we’ve shot over 125 videos at more than 15 hotels worldwide, each featuring a different element of the location. We’ve worked with different models, influencers, and tastemakers as the subjects of the video to deepen storytelling where possible. Overall, Vignettes have been crucial to shifting brand consideration and awareness. Since executing on this strategy, we’ve improved consideration by +2.5 points (benchmark +0.9) and awareness by +4.4 points (benchmark +2.5).
The content format has generated over 38 million impressions and over 2 million engagements, with an average engagement rate of 8%, showing that not only have we reached new audiences, but have captured their attention. With comments like “Can’t wait to experience this!” “Oh wow this is so good,” and “Want to hang at W Montreal,” we know we’ve engaged our audiences and transported them to our hotels. Both inside and outside the hospitality space the hospitality space, we’ve seen this format adopted by other luxury brands. This validates our original instinct that the content format was strong and encourages us to continue using Vignettes as a pillar of our evergreen content strategy going forward.
