In 2019, Hilton Canada signed a multi-year agreement to become Golf Canada’s official hotel partner. Hilton had big plans to kick-off the partnership, but then COVID hit. As a result, Hilton had to wait three years before they could officially launch their partnership at a live PGA event.

Official partners were given a 10’ x 10’ activation space during the RBC Canadian Open and Canadian Pacific Women’s Open. But we knew to engage existing and potential new guests through a “unique, authentic, and memorable experience” (from the brief), we had to do more. As people started to think about vacations again after being stuck inside during the pandemic, we needed to breakthrough. Knowing the popularity AirBnB had made of one-of-a-kind experiences with an exclusivity appeal post pandemic, we set out to build an exclusive experience we could activate against, build brand awareness off, and bring the brand to life with.

We called our bespoke brand experience “Hilton on the Green”, a one-of-a-kind, fully-functional, one-bedroom hotel that didn’t just show up at the Canadian PGA and LPGA event, it popped-up on the course, literally; off the 3rd green at the RBC Canadian Open, and at the 8th tee at the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open. It launched with a national contest, awarding six lucky golf fans the overnight stay of a lifetime.

The 200sqft hotel featured amenities from all 18 Hilton luxury brands. The stay came complete with complimentary tournament passes, a personal concierge and golf cart plus gourmet meals, creating a truly unique and authentically Hilton brand experience.

With an extremely tight budget, we amplified the brand message through digital banners, social media, HTML emails, influencer outreach, Hilton-branded media kits, and a robust PR campaign, including paid, owned, and earned tactics, featuring images and drone footage that created wanderlust and desire.

Exclusive experiences with a one-of-a-kind appeal are in vogue, plus get tons of interest/buzz. To maximize the awareness, PR was used in a variety of ways with the goal of engaging existing and potential new Hilton Honors members at the activation through unique, authentic, and memorable experiences.

Key message: Highlight how HOTG has elevated what a stay is in the travel category and how there’s nothing more incredible for a golf fan than this (Airbnb could never!).

Through paid, earned, and owned tactics, we generated an experience that was organically shared on social media and reached publications globally.

In addition, all our pitches featured stunning visuals created by the agency to create wanderlust and desire. Our social posts initially led to the contest microsite, that we created, and then to the Hilton Honors program to drum up excitement over membership.

The pop-up experience was a culmination of the best-of-the-best from all 18 hilton brands; 400 thread-count cotton sateen Frette linens from Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Byredo Mojave Ghost bathroom amenities from Conrad Hotels & Resorts, and freshly-baked DoubleTree cookies. The overnight stay came with a personal concierge, golf cart, and 5-star breakfast-in-bed. We activated over two, four-day weekends.

Fabrication took six-months and was built with Canadian-made, sustainable materials. We prioritized light and nature with a picture-window and sliding-glass doors, creating a 180° view of the course. The result was minimalist luxe, where lucky guests felt pampered and at home.

The pop-up was built on a custom-trailer and driven directly onto the course (a first for Golf Canada); at the RBC Canadian Open’s 3rd green (Etobicoke, Ontario), and at the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open 8th tee, (Ottawa, Ontario). A custom deck, greenery, septic-system, and dramatic lighting were added on site.

Through pre-activation communications and on-course press and influencer outreach, “Hilton on the Green” became Hilton Canada’s most talked about campaign in the brand’s history. Golf Canada’s John Sibley, Chief Commercial Officer, echoed the campaign’s success: “The pop-up hotel was among the most innovative partner activations Golf Canada has welcomed to our National Open Championships.”

• 0.50 Billion Media Impressions

• 1.96 Million Social Engagements

• 273 Media Stories

- Sports pubs: NBC Golf Channel, TSN’s Golf Talk Canada, Golf Canada, Front Office Sports, etc.

- Travel/lifestyle pubs: Toronto.com, HGTV, Hotelier, CTV News, etc.

- Advertising pubs: Business Insider, BizBash, EventMarketer, Adweek, Ads of the World, Strategy, Digiday, Inc.com, etc.

• 314 Organic Social Posts

• 8 Countries covered the campaign (USA, France, Germany, Spain, China, Japan, India, Canada).

• 11.2K Contest Entries (40% Conversion Rate)

• 140bps Growth in Canadian Travel Intender visits YOY (during campaign period)

The campaign positively impacted Hilton Canada’s presence in the category during the campaign period:

• Canadian Online Conversations with “Hilton/Hilton hotel” more than doubled (+104%) when compared to the two months prior and grew +138% YOY. When compared to pre-pandemic years, 2018 and 2019, online Conversations were still up +81% and +96% respectively.

• Hilton Canada had more online mentions and a greater SOV than any other hotel brand in Canada.

Anecdotally, as a result of the success of the campaign, the client got promoted, and the pop-up hotel is now going on the road to give people the stay of a lifetime.