DEEP THERAPY

Aloft Hotel turned to us with one conundrum. There is an increasing competition in the boutique hotel’s entertainment segment and their events were growing stagnant, so how could they rise above the fray? The in-house strategy needed help in delivering tangible outcomes, prompting the management team to look for a fresh perspective. Our solution was to expand and aggressively pursue millennials, today’s young, hip and astoundingly connected demographic.

IDEA

Based on Aloft Hotel’s consumer profile, the competitive landscape, and available resources, we launched a series of Deep House Music events called  “Deep Therapy”. This initiative aimed to create several crucial opportunities for the hotel. Essentially, the event sought to reinforce Aloft’s expansion into the younger market, helping the hotel brand get more aligned with the interest of this group. This came with the expected tangible, which was the anticipated increase in hotel guests during and after the event. For this purpose, we teamed up with Vizion 1 Entertainment, our go-to event partner in the city, to hold the sexy, Miami style music event by the pool. The idea was to create a distinctive and engaging experience to reinforce consumer relationship, consumer value, as well as augment the hotel’s brand positioning.

METHOD

One of the most important aspects of “Deep Therapy” was the actual marketing of the event. We used an out-of-the-box approach based on social media. At this point, this platform can no longer be considered a novel way to reach an audience. Our approach, however, was different in the sense that we included our target market as participant. The team did not merely post an ad promoting the event. Instead, we created an environment wherein people can share their input, raising their personal stakes in the event and increasing their level of commitment. For example, the discussion on underground international DJ’s became one of the trending topics.

In addition to traditional social media marketing such as targeted Facebook invites, lookalike audiences, and remarketing, we also setup forums where our target can converge and communicate. We leveraged this with our social media reach alongside Aloft Hotel’s as well as a sustained email campaign to create a form of community that eventually made people feel that the “Deep Therapy” event is not a one-time special occasion or a blip in the Aloft Hotel’s calendar. Our marketing was oriented towards articulating “Deep Therapy” as a part of Aloft Hotel’s culture, which we expect will contribute to how it is perceived, driving competitive advantage. Thus, we facilitated an on-going conversation about Deep Therapy, love for music and dancing, subtly infusing the hotel’s brand and it’s narrative at all times which still exists today.

MECHANISMS OF CONTROL

Content was not only the reason why “Deep Therapy” was successful. We are also attributing the positive outcome of the event to our marketing methodology. We followed a systematic process, which allowed us to effectively pursue strategic goals with tremendous amount of discipline. We also focused on data and analytics to calibrate our social media marketing campaign. We instituted mechanisms of control so that the event management was efficient and flexible.

IMPACT

Over all, the “Deep Therapy” event led to two tangible outcomes for Aloft Hotel. The first involved the uptick in hotel reservations after the event. This did not only transpire during Sundays when “Deep Therapy” was open for everyone. For a debut event, the figures were impressive, including a 260% increase in bar sales, an 18% increase in hotel reservations as well as the 23% average increase month over month in event attendance.

Secondly, “Deep Therapy” was able to draw guests who are not merely in it for the fun. Rather, the event successfully reoriented the guests’ view towards a feeling of community wherein attendance had more meaning for participants because they feel they are communing based on shared interests and passion. The event continues to pack the venue.