In 2020, Hilton launched the ‘To New Memories’ brand platform globally – it was capturing our collective craving for reconnecting with our loved ones and experiencing new moments worth remembering. That was an opportunity for Hilton to take it to the next level, the Hilton way.

HILTON OWED IT TO ITSELF TO INNOVATE FURTHER.

Hilton owns a set of pioneering inventions in its brand history.

THE PANDEMIC: AN UNFORTUNATE OPPORTUNITY

As the world was reopening and everyone was either traveling or considering traveling in 2022, the key for Hilton was to be talked about so that the mental availability of the brand would be high.

How could Hilton not only live up to its brand promise “To New Memories” but give the world a reason to talk about it?

The objectives were to boost consideration, and purchase intent but also to generate word of mouth and earned media value.

The Hilton Waitographer initiative shows how a hotel brand can reinvent its customer culture and service.

As Hilton aspired to connect with its audiences in an genuine way, beyond the traditional brand campaign, it tapped into a universal contemporary issue: waiters are bad at taking photos. For a brand which stands for “To New Memories”, what is more important than playing a role in nurturing these memories, while uplifting the customer experience in capturing life’s best moments?

The best way to capture memory is a great photo. However, most times, photos are poorly taken by non-professionals.

What if we could make every waiter or waitress at Hilton a truly great photographer of precious memories?

Introducing “Waitographer” – an internal program upskilling the Hilton staff – delivering them an official certificate training as mobile photographers.

Hilton embraced what we call an experience renaissance to reignite growth: from traditional CX to BX.

Experiences must respond to customers’ new, often unmet, and frequently changing needs and enable them to achieve their desired outcomes.

And talents in the hospitality industry are the strongest foundation of an experience. So empowering employees to feel accountable for customer outcomes was the core of the story we wanted the press to pick and celebrate.

To create talkability and a news factor for the brand

1. First finding the right photographer to ensure credibility: globally recognized, photographer Roger Moukarzel has been working in the world of image since he was 15 years old.

2. PR-ing the program to the media outlets of the region and getting news headlines: the word got even more spread around with press headlines such as “Waiters at Hilton are now trained in photography to snap up perfect memories”.

Led by Roger Moukarzel – an internationally acclaimed Lebanese photographer – we created the first mobile photography workshop especially dedicated to waiters of Hilton’s properties.

All waiters who complete the course are given a special pin to mark them as certified waitographers and to be easily recognized by customers on the ground.

Additional communication in restaurants, on Hilton’s social channels and in the media supported the uplift in experience.

As a first round of graduates, 70 waiters were selected in the UAE, gradually, Hilton has expanded regionally and covering global markets from Far East Asia to America – simply by making this new skill a core part of its waiters’ training reaching exactly a total number of certified Waitographers of around 12000, up to date and across 63 markets.

The creative executions were developed as follows: employees training, certified pins, comms in restaurants, social media channels, and film.

As a first round of graduates, 70 waiters were selected in the UAE, gradually, Hilton has expanded regionally and covering global markets from Far East Asia to America – simply by making this new skill a core part of its waiters’ training reaching exactly a total number of certified Waitographers of around 12000, up to date and across 63 markets.

The most important impact has been the change in mindset: everyone at Hilton has always been committed to creating amazing moments but now they have become more aware turning beautiful moments into beautiful memories.

On top of this, the initiative has generated PR across global publications as diverse as Business Traveler and Boutique Hotelier. This resulted in $7.5 in earned media value.

Purchase intent doubled between Dec 2021 and June 2022, and consideration: +57%. Between January and February 2022, we saw an increase in word of mouth for Hilton of 66%.