Marketing Objectives:
Clearly state your marketing goals.
What did your company strive to achieve using this piece or program?• Target a top-tier consumer media outlet to tell the story of Best Western’s new brand launch, BW Signature Collection by Best Western, to as many travelers as possible, creating widespread exposure and interest; • Educate consumers on the appeal of soft brands, and the choices that are now available to them by booking with Best Western Hotels & Resorts; and • Leverage the launch of BW Signature Collection by Best Western as a way to highlight Best Western Hotels & Resorts’s growing portfolio of brands, and diverse consumer offerings, while underscoring its ongoing brand refresh and evolution.

Target Audience:
Who was/is the target audience?
Characterize the composition, size, and location of your target audience.The target audience for this initiative was U.S. consumers with an interest in the hotel industry, travel trends, and options to enjoy authentic yet affordable vacation experiences.

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 PR team prepared a press release announcing the brand launch and then hit the phones, targeting writers at the top five most-read daily newspapers in the U.S., pursuing a feature story on the arrival of BW Signature Collection by Best Western. One of the team’s long-standing contacts, USA Today reporter Nancy Trejos, was identified as a major target for this news, understanding the widespread visibility her Road Warrior column has in front of frequent travelers seeking new options. As the #1 most-read newspaper in the United States with global syndication, the team knew this was the perfect person to target for a story. The team crafted a creative pitch, secured Nancy’s interest, and facilitated an in-depth interview with President & CEO David Kong. The interview provided Kong a unique opportunity to tell the story about the new brand launch, while bridging into overall messaging about the company’s ongoing evolution.

Message:
What is the key message intended for the piece/campaign?
What differentiates your piece/campaign in the marketplace?BW Signature Collection by Best Western is the newest soft brand offering of the evolving Best Western Hotels & Resorts, marking the brand’s arrival into the upper midscale sector. Travelers seeking authentic, yet affordable options can travel in many ways with Best Western, with an array of choices designed to meet their needs. These choices have emerged through Best Western’s recent brand refresh and ongoing evolution.

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.A feature story showcasing the launch of BW Signature Collection by Best Western ran on November 6th on USAToday.com, reaching 36,842,180 million readers, with an advertising value of $291,974.28. The piece positioned Best Western as an innovator in the upper midscale space, a front-runner as it relates to the emergence of soft brands (likening it to two major competitors with massive global reach), and included messaging around the company’s brand refresh, underscoring its ongoing evolution.

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:https://usat.ly/2zzZdjz

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DivisionPublic Relations

Sub-categoryPR Single Item

CategoryFEATURE PLACEMENT ONLINE - Consumer Media

Entry TitleUSAToday.com: Best Western Creates New Hotel Brand

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 AnalysisIn fall 2017, Best Western® Hotels & Resorts prepared to launch its 11th brand, BW Signature Collection® by Best Western. This new soft brand signified a major development for the iconic company, on the heels of its 70th anniversary, marking its entry into the upper midscale soft brand space. It also saw a development for the hospitality industry at large, filling a void that existed for travelers seeking authentic yet affordable vacation experiences, backed by the comforts and rewards of a reputable brand. The launch of this new brand brought the opportunity for Best Western to attract the interest of travelers in a new segment, with unique desires and needs. Positive exposure surrounding the new brand launch would help shift market share from competitors with soft brand options in the luxury and upscale segments.

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?