Interviews with loyal guests uncovered a comfort level enabled by the atmosphere at Holiday Inn that freed people up to enjoy unexpected moments and life’s adventures that unfold as a result. This led to our big idea of putting the spotlight on the guest’s journey, not the hotel – summed up as “Ordinary People. Extraordinary Journeys.” In glaring contrast to hotel category conventions of pillow-soft beds and glistening pools, we set our sights on real stories of real guests, showing how Holiday Inn supports them along their way.

What we didn’t expect to find in our quest to feature real stories was that some rather extraordinary celebrities have landed at Holiday Inn at some point on their incredible journeys – and decades later, still speak of those moments.

Rod Stewart was one of those as we learned in an opportunistic late-night interview – and we just had to react!

To overcome the problem of newer, flashier accommodation options, the brand needed to grab attention where its audience already was. Travel, like so many categories, is now browsed, compared, planned, and booked primarily online.

And seeding our brand stories in this medium first was key.

As a brand, we’re always on the lookout for intriguing, real people who walk through Holiday Inn’s doors to portray in our communications. So, when the stars aligned and the real-time opportunity to engage with Rod Stewart via the social networks arose after his interview with James Corden on The Late Late Show, we took advantage. Because he talked about being banned from Holiday Inn in the ’70s due to his antics, we responded by tweeting out a lift of his ban, inviting him to come back, any time. And he tweeted back within an hour, with a lighthearted response that sparked a media frenzy.

Through one well-timed tweet, the brand was able to garner the attention of a famous past guest in real time, become a part of the broader conversation on social media, reinforce its strategy, and ultimately, achieve over a million earned media impressions in the US – but also as far reaching as in Scotland’s biggest newspaper, The Daily Record, in Rod Stewart’s home nation of the UK.”. And all this was achieved without spending a single dollar in paid media.

Oh, and the biggest result of all is that Holiday Inn and Rod buried the hatchet, with his four-decade-long ban from the hotel now lifted and strong suggestions were made that his next after-party just might be held at a Holiday Inn.