Goals: Clearly state your marketing goals. What did you strive to achieve using this piece or program?
Cayman Cookout brings renowned chefs, sommeliers, and spirits experts to The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman, to share their skills with guests at the Caribbean's definitive culinary event.
For over a decade, this multi-day experience has transformed Grand Cayman into an unforgettable blend of island scenery and exceptional cuisine — paella for a crowd cooked on the sand with José Andrés, multi-course meals with Eric Ripert, beachfront barbecues and excursions into the blue.
In 2023, The Ritz-Carlton wanted to update its social media coverage of the event with a video-first approach, tie it to wider brand content franchises, and drive awareness of The Ritz-Carlton as a leader in luxury travel for creating culinary experiences.
Videos would bring the brand's audience into the experience of Cayman Cookout like never before, capturing top talent, beautiful scenery, and stunning dishes, perfectly exemplifying how The Ritz-Carlton sets the stage for unforgettable memories.
To build on content franchises, The Ritz-Carlton worked with Artist Partner Louis-Nicolas Darbon to create the first event-specific edition of its Travel Poster series, creating a high-profile opportunity to generate excitement in the lead-up to the event.
Final videos blended hotel and island scenery, Caribbean cooking, celebrity and celebration through top-performing social techniques — montage, drone photography, and quick cuts set to music, leading to assets ideal for placements on Instagram, Instagram Stories, and Facebook, with supplementary content shared on Twitter.
Overall goals:
- After a two-year hiatus, drive awareness of Cayman Cookout through best in class social assets.
- Highlight cooking events and unique experiences to show The Ritz-Carlton's culinary prestige and ability to craft travel memories.
- Feature the immersive Caribbean setting of The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman.
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)
The return of Cayman Cookout was a strong success. For tracking performance, our Main KPI was awareness, measured through impressions and CPM (cost per thousand impressions).
The campaign accrued over 5 million impressions, with an average CPM of $2.33 — up to 50% lower than the benchmark across Marriott International. The debut of the Travel Poster on Instagram was particularly strong, with a CPM of $1.71.
Video views were also notable, with over 2.7million achieved across Cayman Cookout assets.
Earned social media coverage brought additional success to the campaign:
- 139 Total Posts
- 46K + Engagements
- 4.5 Million Potential Reach
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?
Like many companies, The Ritz-Carlton keeps specific ROI figures confidential, and the success of an exposure/brand awareness campaign is not directly linked to revenue.
A crucial aspect of maintaining brand notability and reputation in the luxury hotel space includes hosting and sharing high profile events that include the most notable elements of brand identity. Cayman Cookout brings together top talent and one-of-a-kind experiences in a stunning location — the essence of what The Ritz-Carlton seeks to capture at all of its properties.
By successfully presenting Cayman Cookout and The Ritz-Carlton through social media — as measured by the performance of our KPIs — this campaign brought the excitement on Seven Mile Beach into the spotlight, and achieved an outstanding ROI outcome.
Entry Title
The Ritz-Carlton Cayman Cookout
Division
Public Relations/Communications - Special Event
Category
Public Relations/Communications