2022 was a pivotal year in determining the future of Hilton’s 100+ year legacy, as we set out to combat short- and long-term factors that posed an existential threat to their business.

Long term: Home rentals had fundamentally changed the hospitality game. While searches for "hotel" dropped, searching for home rental businesses had skyrocketed. We were witnessing a fundamental shift in the way people traveled and where they stayed.

Short term: Compounding this ticking time-bomb, the Coronavirus put the global travel category on life support, even more so than other impacted industries. As vaccines rolled out and travel re-started, Hilton was presented with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to redefine itself and win an unfair share of the future of the category.

In every touchpoint, we remind people that Hilton is "For The Stay" whenever "It Matters Where You Stay."

Our creative execution also focused on hospitality and differentiation. Here's how:

1. Instead of relying on inspirational views, we expressed a point of view in bold, capital letters across every major city.

2. While the rest of the category paints a picture-perfect version of travel, we positioned Hilton as the antidote to relatable (and ridiculous) travel tensions.

3. We added humor to our work, differentiating ourselves through tone of voice. We even hired comedian Catherine O'Hara for our voice over.

4. Paris Hilton, the founder's great-granddaughter, also lent her fame and distinction to the campaign.

5. Our groundbreaking TikTok, a go-to for travel inspiration, got people to stop scrolling. For 10. Whole. Minutes.

6. Actions speak louder than words, so we used social listening to rescue people complaining about home rental stays.

Diving into hospitality was an all-hands-on-deck process. Hilton's stakeholders were involved, not just informed, from the get-go. Together in a workshop, we identified category conventions and disruptive ways for Hilton to push against them to differentiate the brand in people's minds.

The cultural convention: The travel industry is focused on where people are going.

The insight hidden in plain sight: By commissioning both qualitative and quantitative research, we found that the industry may have overestimated the importance of destinations. In fact, we found that 82% of travelers think “where I stay is as important as the experiences/excursions I take on a given trip.”

Strategic pivot: In a world focused on going, Hilton is a brand that's For The Stay. Through this new brand platform, we'd remind the modern traveler of Hilton's dedication to the light and warmth of hospitality, something none of our competitors were talking about.

Differentiation: A testament to their uniqueness, 86%-94% of our commercials are correctly attributed back to Hilton (vs. an industry benchmark of 71%). Those exposed to the campaign see Hilton as more unique (+8.3 pts), trend-setting (+8.4 pts), and fresh & different (+5.2 pts).

Share of mind: Despite being #5 in category spend, Hilton went from #3 to #1 in positive buzz and increased top-of-mind awareness by +10pts, more than doubling our baseline and the unaided awareness of our next nearest competitors.

Bookings: A +6pts increase in consideration led to significant increases in both bookings and incremental revenue. [Additional results can be found in the confidential section below.]