Music is a crowded space to compete in, and while W Hotels have long focused attention and resources in this space, they needed a way to stand out from the endless array of music experiences and brands competing for attention. Music fans are extremely loyal to their favorite artists, and refuse to be left out of the action even if they can’t attend each concert.

To zero in on W’s main goal of building association with music, we set out to turn the traditional Music Festival on its head, while also creating a global media experience that would:

Drive awareness and portfolio affiliation for W Hotels and the Marriott loyalty platforms from non-members

Drive awareness of the benefits of membership to positively impact:

• New loyalty member acquisitions

• Sales of festival room packages

• Intent to recommend the portfolio

Enhance the Perception of W Hotels association with music

While festivals are all the rage, what stood out was a similar stream of pain points that attendees experienced. Music festivals are hard to get to, traveling between festival grounds and accommodations makes recharging between sets impossible and attendees have to deal with overcrowded venues to see their favorite artists. W’s Wake Up Call was an opportunity to skip it all and give younger luxury-focused consumers all the comforts of a premium property in a festival experience. By partnering with influencers and content creators, we built awareness and anticipation. But not everyone could attend, and our intention of building W’s association with music needed to live beyond festival grounds.

- Leveraged a brand new beta with Google (Youtube Livebox) to share these experiences via a livestream in 227 countries within a limited budget

- Embrace the GIF: enhanced targeting in newsfeeds and “create your own” features resulted in 900MM interactions!

To achieve our various objectives for these music festivals our program consisted of a strategic blend of traditional (PR, Out of Home, Radio and Email) tactics, to newer, breakthrough digital & social tactics (Content Marketing, Digital Media, Influencer outreach, partnering with Content Creators, etc.) to become a part of consumers’ lives. Targeting W Hotel enthusiasts and Marriott Loyalty members was our primary focus. We also ensured reach and engagement with a wider psychographic audience (as W is truly a mindset, not a demographic) to build broad association of W Hotels and Music.

To drive festival attendance among locals in Hollywood, Barcelona and Bali, we worked with our hotel marketing teams and Publicis Media to execute an engagement “surround strategy”.

To reach a wider audience we employed a comprehensive global digital media strategy with Publicis media to create custom audiences across key digital platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Spotify.

From August to October W Hotels’ disrupted the festival space and created three fabulous on-premise festivals with curated touchpoints, every step of the way. The 11K attendees in Hollywood, Barcelona and Bali enjoyed exclusive meet and greets, bucket list experiences and luxury comfort at their fingertips.

During each festival we:

- Employed a robust content plan, gathering video, photography and GIFs of performances, lifestyle moments, VIP experiences and more

- Conducted interviews and content shoots with various artists at each festival to publish on The Angle, W’s digital lifestyle magazine

- Live-streamed select artist performances to significantly expand the reach of each festival beyond festival attendees

- Invited over 200 influencers, celebrities & press to amplify reach and love

After each festival we integrated all of this content into our paid media plan to drive further awareness of the campaign, and drive ticket sales for subsequent festivals.

We pulled it off! We planned, executed and SOLD OUT three Luxury Music Festivals in aspirational destinations –AND utilized media to create a shared global experience with both current and potentially new customers.

BRAND LIFT / AD EFFECTIVENESS STUDIES:

Conveyed W's link to Marriott International (+12% lift)

Increased affinity for Loyalty program (+4.5% lift)

16.5K Public Social Mentions

855K Social Engagements

1,625 MM Total Campaign Impressions

170 Influencers across 3 festivals drove a 30% increase in reach of the festival

13.1 million views of YouTube Livestreams (47,500+ hours–5 years–of total view time)

PR:

120 media attendees w/coverage totaling 2 billion impressions

Largest ever domestic press trip with 17 national and 40 regional media attendees in LA

Paid campaign w/ 1 billion impressions & 1.25 million clicks

15,000 social posts & 1.4 billion OTS by attendees

61 redemptions from the Marriott Bonvoy Moments platform totaling 5.2 million points