The Challenge
The world’s largest hospitality chain approached us to launch their new properties in Thailand in February 2016, starting with their new flagship resort in Hua Hin. Grey Alchemy was tasked to establish the property’s social media presence and convert new generations of travelers into Marriott’s customers. Our objectives were:
- To build awareness for Hua Hin Marriott Resort & Spa among Marriott’s desired target groups – Bangkok weekenders and young, social media-savvy travelers in particular.
- To recruit relevant followers for Hua Hin Marriott Resort & Spa’s social media platforms.
- To boost direct booking on huahinmarriott.com.
- To rapidly increase room occupancy right from the onset.
Recruiting the Right Fans
Targeting customer groups with the highest potential for lifetime value was among our top priorities. We identified two key factors for this: the cost of customer acquisition and their potential for repeat business.
We focused on Marriott’s desired target group of young, sophisticated, and tech-savvy travelers while developing other target groups that had emerged from our own research, including local as well as overseas audiences.
Content Strategy
In order to make the Hua Hin Marriott Resort & Spa stand out among other highly competitive tourist destinations, content marketing was key.
We quickly identified a content routine highlighting Hua Hin Marriott’s key features and benefits while selling the ‘Hua Hin getaway dream’ that resonated well with the target audiences. By attracting them to follow our channels, keeping them engaged with the content, and having them share it with their friends, we funneled parts of this fan base into Marriott’s customers.
Another key aspect of our content strategy was to tie in a call-to-action with our most engaging content to channel audiences to the huahinmarriott.com website and trigger their vacation bookings.
Content Strategy
In order to make the Hua Hin Marriott Resort & Spa stand out among other highly competitive tourist destinations, content marketing was key.
We quickly identified a content routine highlighting Hua Hin Marriott’s key features and benefits while selling the ‘Hua Hin getaway dream’ that resonated well with the target audiences. By attracting them to follow our channels, keeping them engaged with the content, and having them share it with their friends, we funneled parts of this fan base into Marriott’s customers.
Another key aspect of our content strategy was to tie in a call-to-action with our most engaging content to channel audiences to the huahinmarriott.com website and trigger their vacation bookings.
Social Media Advertising
To complement our content strategy, we developed creative ad campaigns to communicate Hua Hin Marriott’s aggressive launch promotion through a variety of Facebook and Instagram ad creative tools. From single-image website conversion ads to the more advanced formats such as carousels, slideshows, and canvas, we engaged the targeted audiences and captured their attention with content served in diverse forms using the latest tools in social media marketing.
Summary
With an aggressive online advertising and intricate content strategy, Hua Hin Marriott Resort & Spa now enjoys a vibrant Facebook presence and community. It has also achieved an exceptionally high occupancy rate within the first three months of operation, making it one of the most successful Marriott property launches in recent times.
Key Results
55,000+
New Facebook fans
19,000,000+
Impressions
10,000,000+
Facebook users reached
140,000+
Stories created
60%
Average occupancy rate
during first 3 months
50%
Direct booking
through website
Testimonial
“Hua Hin Marriott Resort & Spa is considered a success story even within our company due to a very successful launch and financial results. This is also due to the support from Grey Alchemy team! Our social media engagement is great and consistently growing. Thank you for the great work, looking forward to many more achievements together!”
Mr. Roger Parnow
Cluster Director of Sales & Marketing
Marriott International
Testimonial
“Hua Hin Marriott Resort & Spa is considered a success story even within our company due to a very successful launch and financial results. This is also due to the support from Grey Alchemy team! Our social media engagement is great and consistently growing. Thank you for the great work, looking forward to many more achievements together!”
Mr. Roger Parnow
Cluster Director of Sales & Marketing
Marriott International
