Goals: Clearly state your marketing goals. What did you strive to achieve using this piece or program?
Cape Cod’s Double Forbes Five Star resort, Wequassett Resort & Golf Club, partnered with the iconic British lifestyle brand Barbour to create unique guest experiences at the resort touching on adventure, fashion, and fine dining.
The marketing goals were: (1) Target a global audience interested in adventure, luxury travel, and fashion; (2) Highlight Wequassett as a go-to destination for unique and highly curated guest experiences during Cape Cod’s shoulder season following the resort’s announcement to open year-round; (3) Drive consumer interest to generate bookings for Wequassett and its food & beverage outlets.
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)
All three original goals were achieved by creating immersive activations on the property, including a Barbour Field Guide of seasonal activities, a Borrowing Closet, seasonal food & beverage offerings, and more. (1) The Wequassett team pitched, coordinated, facilitated, and assisted in garnering coverage of the Barbour partnership on Robb Report, the renowned luxury lifestyle magazine with 4,500,000 unique monthly viewers. Efforts resulted in an online feature article on Robb Report’s New Horizons Travel section on August 10, 2023. (2) Through two curated press trips from March 31st–April 2nd and April 12th–April 16th, Wequassett welcomed top-tier travel, lifestyle, and fashion media for an exclusive first look at the Barbour Field Guide including a selection of seasonal activities including clamming led by Wequassett’s on-site clammer, historic lighthouse tours, and starry night explorations, and a Barbour inspired dinner including cocktails and a whisky tasting experience. (3) Secured a photographer, Mark James Dunn, to photograph the Barbour experience, whose images were featured in the Robb Report story, offering an inside look into the resort and its food & beverage offerings through the Barbour partnership.
Following the feature being published, Wequassett saw increased social engagement and visits to its website, seeing over 991 sessions from 844 unique users, with each user spending about 2 minutes on the website.
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?
The resort invested $3,500 to host Jillian Dara, the Robb Report writer, for two nights in April. Her feature article ran in July 2023, showcasing the partnership with Robb Report’s reader base of 4.5M unique monthly visitors.
As a result, room bookings and occupancy levels increased 23% during August compared to last year. Reservations at the resort’s Forbes Five Star restaurant, twenty-eight Atlantic, increased by 32% and heightened gift shop retail sales by 20% compared to 2022. During August, the hotel generated nearly $10K in sales from only the Barbour-specific stay enhancement, food and beverage offerings, and retail store sales compared to the $850 generated from Barbour sales in July.
Entry Title
Wequassett Resort and Golf Club x Robb Report
Division
Public Relations/Communications - Feature Placement Online or Print - Consumer Magazine or Newspaper
Category
Public Relations/Communications