Hilton is shaking up hotel marketing and advertising with the announcement of its first global brand platform that identifies what has been missing from hotel marketing – the hotel stay.
”Hilton. For the Stay” places the hotel front and center, elevating the role and importance of the stay at a time when lodging advertising is a sea of sameness, featuring overused destinations, cliché walks on the beach and generic descriptions of travel.
Hilton is debuting “It Matters Where You Stay,” a new advertising campaign to introduce the platform, using humor to push against some of the common but unspoken pitfalls of travel, boldly poking fun at what can go wrong when booking or on a trip.
The campaign also features the multi-faceted businesswoman and philanthropist Paris Hilton, who grew up living in and staying in numerous Hilton hotels across the world, which gave her a unique exposure to the hotel business early on. Her role in the campaign is inspired in part by the legacy of her family, whose belief in the power of travel and the hotel stay to connect people and cultures continues to motivate Hilton Team Members around the world today.
Hilton tapped a world-class creative team to bring this global campaign to life, including A-list commercial director Matt Aselton of Arts & Sciences.
In one of the featured TV spots, “Haunted,” the brand pokes fun at what can go wrong when booking a vacation rental – depicting a family showing up to a hilariously creepy property that wasn’t exactly as advertised.
“Confirmed Together” zeroes in on a unique Hilton feature that addresses a very real pain point of family travel, the importance of securing connected rooms at the time of booking. And in “Extra Storage,” Paris has an innovative solution for her extra luggage.
In addition to Paris, renowned actor Catherine O’Hara lends her voice to the campaign, with TV commercials first aired in the U.S. on July 25 and audio rolling out shortly thereafter. Watch the campaign below:
REELated:
“In developing the campaign, we were inspired by showing the realness of travel; the tensions, the hardships, the too-high expectations. It goes against convention in the hospitality category and it’s an exciting space for the brand to own,” said Amy Ferguson, Chief Creative Officer, TBWA\Chiat\Day New York.
“Today, as we make company history with Hilton’s first brand platform, we’re reminding guests that at the heart of a great trip is a great stay and that it’s just different when that stay is with Hilton,” noted Mark Weinstein, Chief Marketing Officer, Hilton. “As we enter this next era of travel, it has never been more important to consider where you stay – and Hilton is uniquely committed to making sure your stay is everything you need it to be.”
Hilton and TBWA\Chiat\Day New York, Hilton’s agency since 2017, used TBWA’s Disruption methodology to architect the bold new vision, born from the insight the hospitality industry has become almost entirely focused on the destination, not the stay itself.
Consumer research uncovered “the Stay,” and being cared for, are the crucial elements that can make or break any trip. So, Hilton is doubling down on its new brand platform to prove to its guests that truly, “it matters where you stay.” The platform will permeate nearly every consumer touchpoint, from broad-reaching consumer advertising through the travel planning process and the guests’ stay with Hilton, as well as post-stay.
“With ‘Hilton. For the Stay,’ we are more fully connecting our external customer marketing to our purpose – staking our rightful claim that Hilton owns the Stay,” noted Weinstein. “The idea of the Stay was incredibly natural to Hilton, and yet no one else was talking about it. As others tout the generic virtues of travel, minimize the role of the hotel and the hotel team members, and romanticize the destination, through our platform and the campaign it inspires, we’re reminding travelers that ‘It Matters Where You Stay’ and boldly affirming ‘Hilton. For the Stay.’”
The campaign includes television, audio, social media, print, out of home, spanning 13 commercials and bespoke social executions. It will launch first in the U.S. followed closely by the U.K. and select Asia-Pacific and Middle East markets.
To extend the brand platform, Hilton will lean into social media, experiential and influencers. Across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter, Hilton will engage in an already robust conversation around travel and trip disasters by helping travelers have a better stay – whether planning for a future trip or helping rescue a trip that has gone off the rails. Hilton has also partnered with familiar voices on social media to bring “Hilton. For the Stay” to life.
The Reel 360 News Team thinks the campaign has a fun, relatable tone in which Hilton breaks from the formulaic approach seen across the industry, highlighting the benefits Hilton offers to make guests feel cared for – from amazing service and pet-friendly travel to the choices available in the Hilton Honors app to skip the front desk and personalize your stay, to Confirmed Connecting Rooms by Hilton and more.
CREDITS:
CLIENT: Hilton
- Mark Weinstein – Chief Marketing Officer
- Amy Martin Ziegenfuss – Senior Vice President, Global Enterprise & Brand Marketing
- Joelle Park – Vice President, Global Enterprise & Cross Brand Marketing
- Ryan Kasperski – Director, Global Enterprise Marketing
- Vanessa Xenohristos – Senior Manager, Global Enterprise Marketing
- Mary-Kate Rasa – Manager, Global Enterprise Marketing
- Myron Nilsson – Senior Director, Creative Studio / Executive Creative Director
- Dan Reynolds – Vice President, Global Head of Content Marketing and Digital Strategy
- Katie Riley – Senior Director, Social Media
- Ginny Driscoll – Director, Social Media
- Lindsey Ryan – Senior Manager, Social Media Strategy
- Anna Kate Bryan – Hilton, Content Creator
- Craig Dezern – Senior Vice President, Global Head of Communications
- Carole Munroe – Vice President, Global Consumer Communications
- Emily Montgomery – Director, Global Consumer Communications
- Hanna Neyland – Director, Account Management
- Shawn Malhotra – Senior Manager, Marketing Project Management
- Katie Hughes- Senior Analyst, Campaign Management
- Rebecca Panico- Senior Director, Media Strategy & Planning
- Kelly Amato- Senior Manager, Media Strategy & Planning
- Angelique McKenna- Manager, Media Strategy & Planning
- Maddie Meade- Manager, Media Strategy & Planning
AGENCY: TBWA\Chiat\Day New York
- Nancy Reyes – Chief Executive Officer
- James Sowden – Chief Strategy Officer
- Amy Ferguson – Chief Creative Officer
- John Doris – Head of Production
- John Parker – Executive Creative Director
- Marco Martins – Creative Director
- Trevor Hickey – Associate Creative Director
- Miguel Mayen – Associate Creative Director
- Anika Grube – Art Director
- Alexa Padron – Copywriter
- Eric Kopicki – Executive Design Director
- Gina Pido – Senior Designer
- Kristen Cooler – Executive Producer
- Regan Wallace – Senior Integrated Producer
- Halley Mangano – Integrated Producer
- Ryan Hentsch – Senior Business Affairs Manager
- Anne-Camille Charpié – Senior Business Affairs Manager
- Jewel Chandler – Senior Talent Manager
- Patrick Boland – Traffic Manager
- Carlin Dixon – Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Program Manager
- Billy Murphy – Global Strategy Director
- Ellen Eastaugh – Associate Strategy Director
- Anthony Hamelle – Executive Strategy Director, Social & Digital
- Lesley Parks – Strategy Director, Social Branding
- Julia Seng-Sourinho – Strategist, Social Branding
- James Sparano – Business Lead
- Nora Chivelly – Business Director
- Emily Downs – Business Director
- Cassie Farley – Business Director
- Deniz Mutlugil – Senior Business Manager
- Christina Curtis – Associate Director, Project Management
- Asheden Hill – Associate Director of Global Communications
PRODUCTION COMPANY: ARTS & SCIENCES
- Matt Aselton – Director
- Marc Marrie – Managing Partner, Executive Producer
- Mal Ward – Partner, Managing Director / Executive Producer
- Christa Skotland – Director of Production / Executive Producer
- Milena Milicevic- Head of Production
- Zoe Odlum – Executive Producer / Line Producer
EDIT: ARCADE
- Sila Soyer – Partner / Executive Producer
- Geoff Hounsell – Editor
- Dave Anderson – Editor
- Sam Barden – Cutting Assistant
- Ellen Lavery – Post Producer
VFX: The Mill
- Chris Connolly – Executive Producer
- Matt Pascuzzi – Creative Director
Dentsu
- Danielle Gonzales, Chief Executive Officer
- Ellen Ferrari, Executive Vice President, Managing Director
- Joanna Hawkes, Executive Vice President, Strategy
- Rachel Starr- Executive Vice President, Head of Planning
- Andrew Hall- Senior Director, Planning
- Ken Vandre – Vice President, Client Services
- Bianca Franchi- Director, Planning
- Madeline LeVorse- Associate Director, Planning
- Patricia Del Pazzo- Senior Manager, Planning
- Avital DeVoe- Senior Manager, Media Operations
- Haylei Zrnich – Manager, Project Management
- Maggie Barbeau- Manager, Planning
- Judy Kim- Senior Associate, Planning
- Chintha Shulamite- Associate, Planning
- Alex Brezzi – Senior Director, Strategy
- Vivian Le – Senior Director, Strategy
- Simone Chaffiotte – Senior Vice President, Audience & Insights
- Sarah Franck – Associate Director, Audience & Insights
- Maddy Reavey – Director, Planning
- Alyssa Collier – Associate Director, Digital
- Erica Reed – Senior Associate, Digital
- Heidi Weber-Howe – Manager, Digital
- Daren Swenson – Director, Paid Social
- Erin Sweeney – Associate Director, Paid Social
- Annie Duke – Manager, Paid Social
- Camila Decleva – Senior Associate, Paid Social
- Jordan Pennino – Vice President, Display
- Jessica Shannon – Director, Display
- Lexie Doehring – Manager, Display
- Carissa Laufman – Associate Director – Media Technology
- William Amoyaw-Anim – Senior Associate, Media Technology
- Alana Asch – Vice President, National Video Investment
- Christopher Otruba – Associate Director, National Video Investment
- Kevin Weigand – Director, National Video Investment
- Samantha Pamnani – Senior Manager, National Video Investment
- Katerina Peete – Senior Associate, National Video Investment
- Sanath Kalsotra – Senior Process Executive, National VIdeo Investment
- Gianine Hall – Director, Out-of-Home
- Stephanie Lauro – Associate Director, Out-of-Home
- Diana Anderson – Senior Vice President, National Audio Investment Lead
- Travis Radix – Senior Manager, Network Audio Investment
- Avery Layton – Senior Associate, Local Investment
- Julia Smith – Vice President, Analytics
- Dillon Stroope – Director, Analytics
- Peter Sweers – Associate Director, Analytics
- Brandon Seidler – Associate Director, Analytics
- Diana Vasquez Viveros – Manager, Analytics
- Tom Coyne, Chief Executive Officer
- John Gogarty, President
- Jennifer Kamienski, Executive Vice President
- Jennifer DeNick, Senior Vice President
- Danielle Paleafico, Vice President
- Madison Elkin, Senior Account Supervisor
- Sierra L’Altrelli, Account Supervisor, Analytics and Measurement Strategist
- Kaitlyn Esposito, Account Executive
- Emma Davis, Assistant Account Executive
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