Goals: Clearly state your marketing goals. What did you strive to achieve using this piece or program? Howard Johnson by Wyndham hotel owners have invested $40 million in updating their guestrooms taking inspiration from classic mid-century modern design while adding contemporary and stylish accents that place an emphasis on connectivity – ideal for on-the-go travelers wanting to plug-in and re-charge. This redesign is aimed to appeal to our multi-generational guests, thoughtfully marrying our nostalgic past with a more modern look and feel to elevate the on-property experience that is distinctly Howard Johnson. With a goal to spark conversation and increase awareness for our redesigned rooms, Howard Johnson by Wyndham created a “Sweet Escape” with New York’s first-ever all-candy hotel room to celebrate the brand’s largest design-refresh in more than 25 years. This experiential pop-up was a one-of-a-kind, candy-inspired event that surely put smiles on the faces of travelers of all ages. Held exclusively at 393 Broadway in New York City for two-days only, tourists and locals were invited to “check-in” to the city’s newest accommodations: an all-candy recreation – think marshmallows, skittles, rock candy, licorice and more – of one of Howard Johnson’s new retro-cool hotel rooms. The elements featured in the space are purposeful plays on our in-room offerings: • Marshmallow wall mirror inspired by the iconic Nelson marshmallow sofa of the 1950s. • Custom wall art that is an abstract representation of our iconic gate lodge roofline. • USB-equipped lamps for the modern day traveler. • And our signature orange and turquoise colors. Learn more about our redesigned rooms at www.hojo.com/redesign We could have simply built the room as it appears in our hotels, but where would be the fun in that? We wanted to give New Yorkers something fun, something different…something memorable. Because that’s what Howard Johnson is all about, creating memories.

Results: Which of your original goals did you achieve and how? How did you measure the effectiveness of the piece or campaign? Entrants should provide quantifiable results of their tactics or campaigns. (for example, click through rates or ad equivalency)Both of our goals to spark conversation and increase awareness were met with astounding accomplishment. This experiential pop-up allowed us to engage key media across a range of verticals while reinforcing Howard Johnson’s family-centric positioning and new, retro-inspired design. The reimagined candy room featured 450 lbs. of candy across 10 varieties and more than a dozen flavors. This included 80,000 M&Ms, a swimming pool filled with more than 30,000 “marshmallows” and 4,125 feet of sour tape. More than just a candy room, our fully immersive experience offered a host of over-the-top photo ops – a marshmallow filled swimming pool and giant orange Adirondack chair – that made our guests the envy of Instagram. Plus, sweet treats to take home as souvenir at the end of the day. Our success measures included awareness and engagement metrics. The results: • Over the course of two days, we had nearly 600 people attend the pop-up-event. • 180+ media placements across outlets like Fast Company, MSN, TravelPulse, Hotel Management, Lodging, The Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal and more. • Garnered more than 900 million earned media impressions. • Over 1MM social media impressions, 516K post engagements and 3.8K link clicks. Feel free to view our event recap video, photos and social media posts enclosed with our submission and also available here: whg.box.com/s/w6gsigh0gbdd27z165bklm1i3d4t31mb

Project Analysis: Please provide a brief background on the project and your company efforts to demonstrate good corporate citizenship in the areas of community involvement, environmental, or socially responsible practices.

Objectives and Goals: What did organization set out to achieve in undertaking this project in CSR? What were the goals you set to measure your success?

Results: How did you measure the effectiveness of your efforts and what direct and tangible results did you achieve? Please be as specific as possible and share the full impact of your efforts in CSR.

Leadership: Please list the individual in a leadership role responsible for the project and how would you characterize their commitment to promoting corporate social responsibility in the travel and tourism industry?

Situational Analysis: Please provide a brief background on the initiative and the problem, challenge or issue you were seeking to address in the areas of developing emerging talent and engaging existing talent to meet the demands of your business.

Goals: What did your organization set out to achieve in undertaking this initiative? What obstacles did you encounter?

Results and Impact: What results had the greatest impact on your target audience? Please comment on the process and the outcomes. What measures were used to determine success?

Situational Analysis: Please provide a brief background on the initiative and the nature of the issue you were trying to impact.

Goals: Clearly state your goals. What did you strive to achieve with this initiative?

Results: Which of your original goals did you achieve and how? How did you measure the effectiveness of the initiative?

Goals: Clearly state your marketing goals and audience. What did you strive to achieve using this piece or program?

Results: Which of your original goals did you achieve and how? How did you measure the effectiveness of the piece or campaign? Entrants should provide quantifiable results of their tactics or campaigns. (for example, click through rates or ad equivalency)

Entry TitleHoJo Sweet Escape

DivisionPublic Relations - SPECIAL EVENT

CategoryPublic Relations