Marketing Objectives:
Clearly state your marketing goals.
What did your company strive to achieve using this piece or program?
Our goal was to drive awareness of the brand’s leadership in Michelin-starred led signature dining experiences and reinforce the reputation of The Ritz-Carlton using this as a key brand differentiator in luxury hotel space. We wanted to put The Ritz-Carlton on the map as an exciting gourmet destination.
In the long-term, we create a story that is ownable, in order to keep the momentum with unique brand and dining experiences for the follow years to come.
Target Audience:
Who was/is the target audience?
Characterize the composition, size, and location of your target audience.
The strategy of the campaign was to target beyond our loyal guests to broaden the awareness and reach potential guests in key source markets.
In order to succeed, we needed to appeal to two key audience groups: The Global Affluent Tribe who reside or travel in the cities involved in the campaign; and the Editors/Influencers who shine the spotlight on the lifestyle and entertainment scene in those cities. These two audience groups have one thing in common: they always search for the newest, finest, and most exclusive experiences. They aspire to collect meaningful stories and embrace travel as an opportunity to be inspired.
Enjoying and sharing their discoveries with others is their precious social currency. With limited free time in their schedules, they want to ensure their decision to try something new is carefully calculated. What better guarantee of time well spent than rare dining experiences curated by celebrated chefs with 9 Michelin stars?
Research, Planning, and Implementation:
What market research was conducted prior to planning the piece/campaign?
How consumers define luxury and travel is evolving. We studied reports such as “The Luxury Evolution Report” (Skift 2017, Marriott International and Skift), “Building Brand Love and Loyalty in Luxury Hospitality” (Skift 2017), and “The Global Affluent Tribe Study” (Team One, 2018) to understand the trends and mindset of our audience.
We saw there was a huge opportunity in F&B from the insights we gathered on consumer perception, according to The Ritz-Carlton Brand Health Survey. To drive brand awareness and leverage our strength being one of the hotel brands that has the most home-grown Michelin-starred chefs, we created a new concept: Stellar Dining Series.
In 2018, we invited our guests on rare culinary journeys at food-centric cities including Singapore, Osaka, Hong Kong, and Beijing, and in 2019, we continued the momentum with events in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Guangzhou. The series will continue and ultimately build The Ritz-Carlton as a sought-after culinary destination.
Message:
What is the key message intended for the piece/campaign?
What differentiates your piece/campaign in the marketplace?
The Stellar Dining Series highlights a rare “star” alignment, which can be for a limited time at specific locations. A series of awe-inspiring gastronomic encounters is specially curated by our Michelin-starred chefs and culinary talents.
We developed an integrated marketing strategy across consumer funnel and leveraged OTVs, digital banners, and WeChat mini app to drive traffic to a mini-site with inspirational content. To amplify the campaign, we used social media with several phases of storytelling creative.
We invited pan-regional and local media to the events to drive PR and online buzz. For the broader public, we strategically produced sleek content to convey the uniqueness of each experience, in partnership with respected publications and influencers. We also leveraged our loyalty program, Marriott Bonvoy, to curate exclusive member experiences and amplify through loyalty channels. To maximize the communication touchpoints, we creatively leveraged on-property channels.
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 campaign was a phenomenal success. For the activation in 2018, 112 premium media attended the events, generating over 170 clippings that drove over 749 million PR impressions.
Iconic publications such as the Michelin Guide, Conde Nast Traveler, GQ, Precious.jp, among others, published sensational reviews of the experiences. This, together with our social media and digital campaigns, delivered above the expected KPI a total of 78 million impressions, 0.45% average CTR, over 3 million social media engagement, and contributed to all of the experiences becoming fully booked.
In 14 days, The Stellar Dining series hosted over 50 luxury dining sessions and generated a total F&B revenue of USD 503,000, with a 57% YOY increase. Riding on the success of this campaign, The Stellar Dining Series will continue in September and October of 2019 in different locations, and will once again be amplified through a holistic integrated marketing strategy.
Entry Title
Stellar Dining Series by The Ritz-Carlton