ATLANTA ? IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) today announced the next evolution of its Holiday Inn? brand?s Change Your View platform, Journey to Extraordinary. This new campaign celebrates the inspiring journeys of its many guests, by sharing their unique narratives through the brand?s first digitally-led, multimedia marketing approach.
With this campaign, the iconic Holiday Inn brand is brought to life in an authentic and tangible way, while reintroducing the brand and its current offering to guests, whether they are checking-in for the very first time or for their first stay in a while.
?For more than 62 years, the Holiday Inn? brand has played a pivotal role in helping to enable the extraordinary journeys of millions of guests who come through our doors,? said Maurice Cooper, vice president, Holiday Inn Brand, Americas. ?While they may find themselves traveling different roads in life, there is always a Holiday Inn hotel to meet the needs of our guests and help them move forward on their journey. Each of our guests have a unique connection to the brand and their own story to tell, which the Journey to Extraordinary campaign creatively celebrates, while hopefully inspiring fresh ones along the way.?
The Holiday Inn brand has partnered with notable organizations such as Tumblr, Nonfiction Unlimited, International New York Times, Mashable, and MBAs Across America (MBAxAmerica) to tell captivating stories that help bring the Journey to Extraordinary campaign to life.
New content will be rolling out starting now through November 2014, with stories added weekly across the Holiday Inn brand?s various digital platforms including Tumblr, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Stories from Holiday Inn Hotels
The Holiday Inn brand kicked off its Journey to Extraordinary campaign by producing ?Stories from Holiday Inn Hotels,? a series of short videos and social media posts highlighting the unique, stories of real guests at various Holiday Inn hotels. This content was shared on the Holiday Inn brand?s Facebook, YouTube and Twitter pages.
Tumblr Partnership
The Holiday Inn? brand also teamed up with Tumblr by bringing together two of the platform?s renowned photographers, Chris Ozer and Scott Borrero, to capture the extraordinary journeys of guests through compelling photography at Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Resort? brand properties across the United States.
?Tumblr?s content-driven platform has helped brands tell stories and appeal to audiences in beautiful and moving ways,? said David Hayes, Head of Creative Strategy, at Tumblr. ?The Holiday Inn? brand was the first hotel advertiser on Tumblr, and we couldn?t be more inspired by their elevated work with our creators to celebrate the individuality and journeys of their guests, and the spirit of their brand in their new campaign.?
Signature Stories Series
Each year, more than seven million guests choose to stay at a Holiday Inn hotel in the Americas, making memories and connections along their diverse journeys. Over the past 6 months, the brand went in search of five real Holiday Inn brand guests to profile in a ?Signature Stories? series, and met people from a social entrepreneur to an award-winning rodeo clown, all of whom were on the road for different occasions and are as diverse as the guests who walk through the doors of Holiday Inn hotels every day.
All of the ?Signature Stories? selected will be shared in an unscripted documentary style via Tumblr. The first of these stories features Scott Rigsby, a double amputee who is a marathoner, tri-athlete, world record holder, author and motivational speaker. After years of multiple surgeries, Rigsby made his way down to the Holiday Inn Resort Panama City Beach in hopes of rehabilitating all while facing financial hardship. In Rigsby?s documentary short, he is reunited with the owner of the hotel, Julie Hilton, who helped make his incredible future a reality.
To produce Scott?s Signature Story, the Holiday Inn brand teamed up with Nonfiction Unlimited and one of its directors, Stacy Peralta, legendary skateboard professional turned award-winning documentarian, including two Sundance Film Festival awards.