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Adrian Awards 2018

Marketing Objectives:
Clearly state your marketing goals.
What did your company strive to achieve using this piece or program?

Best Western charged its PR team with identifying a top Canadian trade publication for coverage surrounding the LTS event. The key objective was to work closely with this outlet to garner a feature story, attaching Best Western to key data points and trends pertaining to the Canadian hotel industry. It was important to emphasize Best Western’s leadership in putting together this exciting event, positioning the company as an innovator in the travel and hospitality space, while simultaneously sharing industry trends and news from the brand, including updates from its recent refresh, and the 30th anniversary of its award-winning Best Western Rewards® loyalty program.

Target Audience:
Who was/is the target audience?
Characterize the composition, size, and location of your target audience.

The target audience for this story was the Canadian lodging press, and those who follow news pertaining to the industry.

Research, Planning, and Implementation:
What market research was conducted prior to planning the piece/campaign? Describe how you planned and produced the creative asseets with the mobile canvas in mind.

Best Western’s corporate communications team and PR firm developed a strategy to promote the LTS event in Toronto and get news of the event into the hands of readers interested in what’s happening within the Canadian lodging sector. From the 20+ media attendees set to attend the event, the team focused on Hotelier Magazine writer Danielle Shalk, providing special access to panelists to garner a favorable, big picture story.

Message:
What is the key message intended for the piece/campaign?
What differentiates your piece/campaign in the marketplace?

Best Western’s Leisure Travel Summit is an annual must-attend event for those seeking timely news on the Canadian hotel industry. In putting this event together each year, and with the compelling news shared during this year’s edition, the company has demonstrated its position as a front-runner with its finger on the pulse of the industry.

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.

The resulting story ran almost immediately after the LTS Toronto event and quoted multiple panelists, including photography and comments from Best Western Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Dorothy Dowling. It demonstrated Best Western’s thought leadership and access to industry movers and shakers, highlighting key data points relevant to those interested in the Canadian lodging industry. The story reached 2,100 unique monthly visitors, 100% of whom were the exact target audience for the communications and PR team surrounding LTS.

Project Analysis:
Please provide a brief background on the project and your efforts to preserve the destination’s natural, cultural and historic heritage.

Objectives and Goals:
What did organization set out to achieve in undertaking this project?

Creativity and Innovation:
What new and innovative ideas did you incorporate in either your method of outreach or in the implementation of the project that you think could inspire others committed to sustainability in the tourism and travel industry?

Communication:
How did you communicate your actions to the public, the media and other key stakeholders and what was the aim of the message?
How did you generate publicity in order to build awareness of, or support corporate values on your sustainability initiatives.

Results:
How did you measure the effectiveness of your efforts and what direct and tangible results did you achieve?

Leadership:
Please list the individual in a leadership role responsible for the project and how would you characterize their commitment to promoting preservation and sustainability best practices in the travel and tourism industry?

URL #1:

http://www.hoteliermagazine.com/best-western-leisure-travel-summit-highlights-industrys-top-trends/

URL #2:

URL #3:

Division

Public Relations

Sub-category

PR Single Item

Category

FEATURE PLACEMENT ONLINE - Trade Media

Entry Title

Best Western Leisure Travel Summit Highlights Industry's Top Trends

Innovation Analysis: Please provide a brief background on the project and why you feel it fits the definition of innovation, what the breakout implications are and how it was an industry disruptor.

Sources of Innovation: Did the innovative project result from chance, from research, from inspiration from outside the industry, or from some other source?

Goals and Objectives: What were the goals of the innovative project, and were they met? Were they tied to a business plan? A larger campaign? Or to get specific result (such as views, shares, influencer engagement, or bookings)? And what obstacles did you encounter in the execution of the project and how did you overcome them?

Classification

Situational Analysis

The Best Western® Hotels & Resorts Leisure Travel Summit (LTS) is one of the best-attended media events in New York and Toronto each year. For the 13th annual event in Toronto, interactive panel discussions, led by moderator Bryson Forbes, provided attending press with real-time, expert insights into important trends in Canadian leisure travel. Panelists included Best Western Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Dorothy Dowling; Susie Grynol, President of the Hotel Association of Canada (HAC); and Brian Payea, Head of Industry Relations at TripAdvisor.

Research, planning, and implementation:
What market research was conducted prior to planning the piece/campaign?
Describe how you planned and produced the creative assets with the mobile canvas in mind.

Message:
What is the key messages intended for the piece/ campaign?
What differentiates your piece/campaign in the marketplace?
What helped you breakthrough on mobile?

Results:
What original goals did you achieve and how?
How did you measure the effectiveness of the piece or campaign?
Entrants should provide quantifiable metrics tied to real business results (eg brand lift, leads, or bookings generated).

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. Understandably, maintenance is another major part of CSR. If you have continued to actively and consistently work on your CSR process; please add those actions to your results description.

Leadership:
To keep your CSR efforts thriving, you need momentum and passion, which has to come from the top. 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?

Entry Award:

Silver