Hilton debuts global brand campaign with ad starring Paris
Hilton has enlisted entrepreneur, socialite and great-granddaughter of the hotel’s founder Paris Hilton as part of a new brand campaign.
Paris Hilton stars in Hilton ad / Business Wire
Dubbed ‘For The Stay,’ it marks a new approach for the brand’s marketing strategy. It will no longer focus on the traveler’s destination and “minimize the role of the hotel,” which chief marketing officer Mark Weinstein, chief marketing officer at Hilton, said it had been guilty of in the past.
“The idea of The Stay was incredibly natural to Hilton, and yet no one else was talking about it. As others tout the generic virtues of travel, minimize the role of the hotel and the hotel team members, and romanticize the destination, through our platform and the campaign it inspires, we’re reminding travelers that ‘It Matters Where You Stay’ and boldly affirming ‘Hilton. For the Stay,’” he added.
It features a series of light-hearted ads that play on the complexities of traveling. Using humor to highlight some of the common pitfalls of travel, the series of shorts pokes fun at what can go wrong when booking or on a trip.
In one, viewers see a family stressed out at the airport, trying to board the plane with all their luggage in tow and the chaos that often accompanies that. In another, the chain takes aim at rivals such as Airbnb by depicting what can go wrong when the reality doesn’t live up to the expectations of a holiday rental.
Generating extra buzz, the hotel chain has tapped Paris Hilton to star in one of the commercials. Playing to the stereotype, she checks into her room carrying one of her pet dogs with an array of designer luggage in tow.
Renowned actor Catherine O’Hara has also lent her voice to the campaign.
It has been backed by spend on TV, audio, print and out-of-home (OOH). The 13 commercials will launch first in the US, followed closely by the UK and select Asia-Pacific and Middle East markets. Hilton has also tapped various social media influencers to bring it to life via Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter, as well as various experiential activations.
“In developing the campaign, we were inspired by showing the realness of travel; the tensions, the hardships, the too-high expectations,” added Amy Ferguson, chief creative officer at TBWA\Chiat\Day New York. “It goes against convention in the hospitality category and it’s an exciting space for the brand to own.”
-
KFC’s 14-minute Evil Dead-inspired film might give you nightmares
-
Debut Hotels.com campaign from W+K takes the style of dating app profiles
Interested in creative campaigns? Check out our Ad of the Day section and sign up to our Ads of the Week newsletter so you don’t miss a story.
