Marketing Objectives:
Clearly state your marketing goals.
What did your company strive to achieve using this piece or program?
The objectives for executing this global luxury music festival were three-fold:
o Increase W Hotels brand awareness and portfolio affiliation with its loyalty programs (formerly Starwood Preferred Guest and Marriott Rewards)
o Show members that whatever their passion, Marriott has a place with an irresistible experience waiting
o Provide access to music experiences that members can’t get anywhere else
Target Audience:
Who was/is the target audience?
Characterize the composition, size, and location of your target audience.
The luxury music festival was accessible exclusively to members of Marriott’s former loyalty programs, Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest (now combined into one program known as Marriott Bonvoy). But Elite membership was not a requirement – by simply joining the program online, guests were able to quickly gain access to everything Wake Up Call had to offer.
Research, Planning, and Implementation:
What market research was conducted prior to planning the piece/campaign?
Combining the brand’s longstanding passion for music with its signature Whatever/Whenever philosophy, WAKE UP CALL took the festival experience off the field and onto fabulous hotel grounds. It launched in Los Angeles, CA before traveling to the iconic seaside haunt of the W Barceolona, with a final stop in paradise at the W Bali. Big names and new talent headlined the tour, including Phantogram, Chromeo, Betty Who, Gorgon City and others. Festival attendees were invited to bask in VIP meet and greets, celebrity trainer workout sessions, enjoy delicious cocktails from dusk ‘til dawn, and accommodations that are actually comfortable. To amplify this experience, Marriott brought hundreds of millions of viewers closer to the music through a YouTube livestream of the festivals. Loyalty members were transported to W Hotels to watch artists like Tove Lo, Charli XCX and Martin Solveig perform live.
Message:
What is the key message intended for the piece/campaign?
What differentiates your piece/campaign in the marketplace?
W Hotels’ WAKE UP CALL campaign was developed strategically to invoke engagement and excitement – namely, FOMO – in all three phases of the campaign:
o PRE-EVENT: Build hype and excitement among members leading up to the festivals, educating non-members on how to join the program to enjoy access to the events
o DURING: Create an exceptional Member experience to demonstrate the benefits of membership
o POST-EVENT: Drive mass awareness of the benefits and perks of the loyalty 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.
• In just six weeks, Marriott hosted three festivals across three continents – 6 days of nonstop music, 11,000 members attended, partied at 10 stages and listened to 81 artist performances.
• Press jumped onto the excitement driving 1.9B PR impressions, generating 471 articles about the luxury festival experience.
• More than 13 hours of festival performances were streamed live around the world via YouTube to members and guests, generating:
o 412M people reached
o 13.1M views
o 47,500+ hours of total view time
• Viewers consumed more than 1,980 days (5+ years) of branded livestream content in only 72 hours. The final livestream in Bali is Marriott’s most successful to-date enterprise-wide.
Entry Title
W Hotels' Wake Up Call Festival