BEST COMMUNICATION CAMPAIGN
DESCRIPTION BEST COMMUNICATION CAMPAIGN 02 Name of the campaign and definition of the strategy in a few lines (year of launching) The Shangri-La campaign launched in 2010 is called It s in our nature Luxury hotels make you feel like King: marble palaces with plush furniture, golden bathroom-fittings and silver-platter service delivering to your every whim. Rightfully proud of this luxury, they talk about what they have. We decided to talk about who we are. We interrogated everything, from the name s legendary origins to the founder s vision, how staff perceived the brand and guests experienced it all led to the same conclusion. Shangri-La is striking for its unassailable humanity. In all its interactions it exudes spontaneous, heart-felt sincerity, seeing the human behind the title and is experienced as such. So, here was the difference: the guest was not King to be revered and feared but Kin, a human being, an honour and a blessing. We developed the proposition: Shangri-La treats guests not as king but as kin, as family. Clearly, this shifted the focus of category conversations from generic luxury to values, where Shangri-La showed tangible advantage, and could inspire the ultimate guest touch point the staff.
BEST COMMUNICATION CAMPAIGN 02 DESCRIPTION What are the innovative aspects and the major assets of this campaign? For the consumer, we created communications that broke category norms not a lobby or bell-boy in sight and spoke to the heart with metaphors of kindness. The line There is no greater act of hospitality than to embrace a stranger as one s own. Shangri-La. It s in our nature encapsulated the idea. Furthermore, we created a distinctive visual language of luxury and imagination via three print executions a dramatic television commercial and high impact video digital banners. To inspire staff we wrote a brand manifesto and printed it in a pocket book. It translated Shangri-La s proposition into principles of behaviour. Staff training was redesigned. Evaluation surveys were put in place to track how staff experiences the brand values in daily life. To galvanise 66,000 people behind the proposition, Shangri-La staff saw the creative first, in launch events at every hotel. During these, giant jigsaw puzzles depicting print executions pushed home the message that every one of them is an important piece of the brand. Postcards invited them to give their take on the proposition and these are now used to inspire our property executions.
BEST COMMUNICATION CAMPAIGN 02 DESCRIPTION What are the major targets (customer segments, age groups, socio-professional categories, etc.)? 1. 66,000 employees, the face and point of truth of the brand, spread over 16 countries, from doormen to GMs, they vary widely in demographic profile and in familiarity and affinity with the brand and its values, according to Shangri-La s salience and history in their specific geography. 2. 35+, upmarket, Premium Business Travellers are responsible for 70% of Shangri-La s revenue. They spend a lot of time away from home, preferring to stay at familiar 5-star hotels, often according to loyalty programmes.
QUALITY AND SCOPE OF THE CAMPAIGN How long did it take to create the campaign? The campaign took roughly 1 year from development to launch. How was the strategy determined (market reports, survey, etc.)? BEST COMMUNICATION CAMPAIGN 03 The strategy was determined via a series of internal surveys combined with competitor and industry analysis. Was the campaign tested before its actual launching, and how? The proposition and its expressions were tested with external and internal audiences via face to face interviews prior to the development of the campaign.
QUALITY AND SCOPE OF THE CAMPAIGN BEST COMMUNICATION CAMPAIGN 03 What media channels were used to promote the image or the products of the brand or hotel group? and how? (television, radio, posters, magazines, Internet, other) The campaign launched in TV, Cinema, In-Flight, High Impact Video Banners and Print in luxury magazine titles Was this campaign managed internally or produced by a specialised agency? It was produced by an advertising company Ogilvy & Mather Advertising, Hong Kong What is the scope of the campaign (national, regional, global)? The campaign was launched globally What is the anticipated duration of the campaign? The campaign launched in June 2010 and is currently still running. What is the budget allocated to this campaign? Approximately 7 million USD
BEST COMMUNICATION CAMPAIGN 04 PERFORMANCES Did you reach the specific objectives? (please detail) The campaign beat its business objective of 10 more rooms/hotel/night by more than 4fold. 57 hotels sold 937,980 more room in 2010. Which is 45 more rooms/hotel/night. We increased volume YoY: room-nights +19% (11% on 2008 pre-recession volume). Unique visits (guest stays)* +23% - ahead of industry global outbound nights of +5% and outbound trips +7%**. Global outbound nights: number of nights spent abroad by travellers Shangri-La room nights: 1 room occupied for 1 night Global outbound trips: number of trips abroad made by travellers Shangri-La guest stays: number of unique stays at Shangri-La of 1 night or more Client data 2009, 2010; ITB World Travel Trends Report 2010/11. * Guest stay is a unique visit or trip of one guest. It can be any number of nights. ** ITB World Travel Trends Report 2010/11
BEST COMMUNICATION CAMPAIGN 04 PERFORMANCES Did you reach the specific objectives? (continued) The campaign generated more revenue than our key publicly-listed competitors.* Global competitors Revenue USD M 2009 2010 % YoY Shangri-La Group 1,729 2,145 +24.00 Marriot Group 10,908 Data not available - Starwood Group 4,696 5,071 +7.40 Hyatt Group 3,330 3,527 +5.90 InterContinental Group 1,538 1,628 +5.85 *Company Annual Reports
BEST COMMUNICATION CAMPAIGN 04 PERFORMANCES Did you reach the specific objectives? (continued) Guests and prospects returned a flood of heartfelt responses* Any company whose brand embraces this is a company with whom I want to do business. ** Doing business away from home is just like being at war. You need a hotel that gives you this kind of care and support. *** This is the best commercial I have ever seen. I had tears in my eyes It made me their customer. **** and befriended the brand in 1000s. Shangri-La became the biggest hotel brand on Facebook growing from 1,500 pre-campaign to 141,149^ friends. The closest competitor Four Seasons claims 78,293 friends. *Fuller examples in support materials ** Website comment submission form ***Agency qualitative research ****YouTube comment ^ Facebook data as of 12 Oct 2011