Goals: Clearly state your marketing goals. What did you strive to achieve using this piece or program?
For its anniversary of 40 years of giving back to local communities, The Ritz-Carlton wanted to celebrate with something exciting, one-of-a-kind, and meaningful.
Seeing shared values across its Community Footprints program, its partnership with the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team, and driver Lewis Hamilton, the brand worked with Condé Nast to create a moment that would bring each of these elements together. To capture a common mission and the appeal of its four-decade milestone, The Ritz-Carlton would showcase continuing work by Community Footprints at a school in Mexico City, and a special appearance by Lewis Hamilton.
The Community Footprints program is the main charitable initiative of The Ritz-Carlton, partnering with local groups and communities to bolster opportunity, education, and the environment around the world.
Since the start of his career, Lewis Hamilton has become one of the biggest and most accomplished names in sports, earning seven world championships racing with the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team.
In addition to being one of the best drivers in history, Lewis Hamilton has spent time off the track helping young people, pursuing a commitment to help them access new opportunities and achieve their dreams. This passion made him a perfect fit to surprise students at the Gota de Leche School, a longtime partner of Community Footprints in Mexico City.
At the Gota de Leche School, Community Footprints had just completed a renovation of the school’s art room — redesigning, restocking, and equipping it with the latest technology. With this new space available for students to express their creativity and design their dreams, Lewis Hamilton made his visit during the week of the 2023 Mexico City Grand Prix.
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)
Arriving alongside a new Mercedes-Benz sprinter van (a donation to the school), Hamilton made a surprise appearance in the all-new art room. Meeting with the students and their teacher, Lewis Hamilton highlighted the importance of supporting young people in their goals and aspirations. And, in a playful nod to his racing history, Lewis Hamilton finished the day with a race against the students, featuring radio-controlled cars they had decorated themselves.
To capture the experience for social and digital, The Ritz-Carlton and Condé Nast created a narrative, documentary-style video, including narration from Lewis Hamilton and staff and moments from the art room and the special race, emphasizing the power and importance of youth outreach to spark excitement for this milestone anniversary of giving back.
The campaign sharing Lewis Hamilton’s appearance included 3 parts: video placements run by Condé Nast through GQ and Architectural Digest, posts of the event on The Ritz-Carlton and Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One social channels, and additional digital media tying into the event.
Seeing Lewis Hamilton and The Ritz-Carlton on a mission to make the world a better place resonated with audiences. Assets run across Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team channels Condé Nast channels and The Ritz-Carlton generated over 9 million views in just two weeks, with a total potential campaign reach of over 46 million. Additional highlights:
· Engagement was strong across the US and Mexico, exceeding benchmarks for US Instagram Stories and Reels, US YouTube, and Mexico Pre-roll.
· In the US, Instagram Reels proved to be especially strong, driving a Video Completion Rate (VCR) 5x over established benchmarks.
Return on Investment: How much revenue has the piece or campaign generated and how does this compare to your goal? What was the return on investment?
We view a campaign as having achieved a positive ROI if it meets or exceeds expectations in our desired KPIs, and how they interact with our goals for the campaign. By beating VCR benchmarks and generating high views and reach, we view this campaign not only as a quantitative success, but as an example of how different narratives can drive engagement and interest among our audiences on social media.
Inviting Lewis Hamilton to the Gota de Leche School proved to be the perfect way to celebrate 40 years of The Ritz-Carlton giving back. By adding the excitement of our partnership with Mercedes and the stardom and sincerity of a sports legend into the brand’s work with communities, Community Footprints was able to achieve a higher profile and an all-new level of attention. Building from the success of this activation, Ritz-Carlton Community will continue to be an important content franchise for The Ritz-Carlton in the future.
Entry Title
The Ritz-Carlton - Lewis Hamilton x The Ritz-Carlton, Mexico City
Division
Digital - Video - Single Entry