To capitalize on pent up travel demand and differentiate from competitors, in June 2022, Hilton launched an enduring new brand platform, ‘For the Stay’ that umbrellaed across every aspect of their business. Accompanied by a campaign, titled, ‘It Matters Where You Stay’, it brought Hilton’s signature hospitality and care to life through cohesive messaging that elevates the all-important role of the hotel within travel – a message overlooked by modern travel marketers.

Post-launch, we were challenged to come up with a big idea that would continue the story of the Stay in culture, and generate significant reach and buzz.

In the age of travel influencers and listicles, travel has become synonymous with picture-perfect, FOMO-inducing content. So much so that hotels have been relegated to the background. We had to find new ways that would not only broadcast the idea of ‘The Stay’, but allow people to experience it through

For media, we took a storytelling approach to the plan, seeding the TikTok over three stages with an audience primed to receive our message: adults with a curated list of interests covering travel, food and beverage, and TV.

TEASE 

We baked in funds to promote a teaser video featuring Paris, to prime the audience and build intrigue 24 hours before the full-length launch.

LAUNCH 

The following day, we would launch our 10-minute TikTok, The TikTok You Stay In, with high impact tactics to really make a splash.

SUSTAIN 

The day following the launch, we used supplemental creator videos talking about The TikTok You Stay In, to further the conversation and encourage additional engagement around what it means to Stay.

We leaned on beloved creators to tell the Hilton story in a platform-native way. Alongside Paris Hilton, we featured the likes Chris Olsen and Boman Martinez Reid, who challenged viewers to watch until the end to win Hilton Honors Points, and more. We built the content to be dueted, stitched, or otherwise playable.

TEASE 

To seed our teaser, we used TopFeed, a TikTok premium, high impact placement that reaches users as the first In Feed Video they see during a viewing session. 

LAUNCH 

The following day, we launched The TikTok You Stay In, securing the coveted Top Feed placement again, and ensuring we’d reach people when they are most leaned in.

SUSTAIN 

The day following the launch, we used supplemental creator videos talking about The TikTok You Stay In, to encourage engagement around The Stay. These were appended with a CTA button that drove viewers to the 10-minute TikTok.

The campaign has been a huge success, with viewers indeed, staying, in record numbers.  

It exceeded all benchmarks, with 6M minutes watched, total video completions reaching 182,837 with an average watch time of 18.02s (38% higher than platform benchmark), the 6s VVR at 15% (50% higher than Hilton benchmark), and engagement rate at 2.17% (2% higher than platform benchmark). It drew 28K comments, and +31% new followers.

While the campaign was upper funnel, we saw a CTR of 0.81% (145% higher than platform benchmark). 

We also saw incredible brand metrics – 21% lift in ad recall (one of the highest TikTok has ever seen in the travel category), 5% lift in brand association, and a 3.6% lift in intent.