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Innovation in Hospitality Advertising, Digital Marketing, and Public Relations is a new HSMAI Special Report that profiles Gold winners for Innovation in the 2019 Adrian Awards competition. Their work will be honored at the Adrian Awards Dinner Reception and Gala at the New York Marriott Marquis on Jan. 21, 2020. Excerpted below is one of the Innovation profiles from the Special Report:
ADVERTISING | BEST WESTERN HOTELS & RESORTS
GOAL
In 2018, Best Western partnered with Google to leverage an innovative, personalized video program, YouTube Director Mix, and sought to build off the success of its first year in 2019. YouTube Director Mix allows advertisers to easily create a high volume of customized videos at scale, reaching prospective customers in a meaningful way. Best Western sought to deepen customer engagement and increase awareness, as well as position the company as an industry leader.
INNOVATION
The campaign promoted Best Western’s summer offer with each video ad to “Get a $20 Best Western gift card after their first stay” by personalizing the ads based on users’ specific interests. Best Western’s 2019 YouTube Director Mix campaign used contextually relevant messaging and video variation to bring awareness to Best Western and the summer promotion.
RESULTS
Using a mix of targeting and retargeting tactics, the campaign delivered 40 video variations to users based on real-time data and contextual relevance to their online habits. Video completion rate was at the high end of the travel benchmark.