The Hospitality Awards 2022: ibis Styles media campaign

Hospitality ON contacted candidates from the 2022 edition of the Hospitality Awards to discover why they decided to submit their project, what benefits it has brought them, and how they hope to see their idea grow. Discover ibis Styles Always the Same Comfort, Never the Same Style – finalist in the Best Media Campaign category.

Hospitality ON: Why did you submit your project for the Hospitality Awards?

ibis Styles: The ibis Styles branding campaign had results far above the standard.

The copy and the media plan created brand equity according to Kantar tests and campaign results:

• Top 3% of the most distinguishing campaigns tested
• A brand awareness lift at +7 pts (vs norm at 4 pts)
• A View Through Rate of 79% vs a 55% average rate

Moreover, the campaign had immediate coverage in the specialised press and is in AdForum’s Top 5 “Best travel ads” with an average score of 8.1, compared to 3.4 for the other ads.

In addition to the advertising campaign, in-hotel and social media activations have been developed.

60,000 night masks are offered in ibis Styles’ rooms to improve the customer experience. A QR code printed on each mask links to the ibisstyles-stories.com platform to discover all of the brand’s hotel styles.

On social media, four creators have created a piece of art linked to the individual style of the hotels where they have stayed.

Why did you choose to put in place this project?

The uniqueness of ibis Styles’ offer was not yet sufficiently known and the difference between ibis and ibis Styles was not clear enough. Each ibis Styles has a unique and creative theme: a specific hotel concept, to distinguish ibis Styles from the other economy brands.

Moreover, the awareness of the brand needed to be boosted.

That is why we created a new film and broadcast through a TV and digital campaign.

The film invites us to discover, in a humourous way, the incredible diversity of hotel styles through the eyes of a woman who is amazed every time she turns on the lights in a different ibis Styles room. It then ends with the campaign signature: ibis Styles, always the same comfort, never the same style.

What have been the benefits of it to your company?

This campaign allows ibis Styles to be identified as the hotel brand that offers different experiences, with inspiring designs. Thus, by differentiating itself from other ibis brands, it is able to assert its unique positioning to reach a target that did not consider it before.

Above all, this campaign creates an internal consensus and a sense of pride. Some of our hotels’ employees had fun imitating the scene from the film and posting it on social media. For us it was an unexpected result and perhaps the best outcome we could have hoped for.

How do you hope to see your project grow from here?

When a campaign has such results, it would be a shame not to capitalise on it and exploit its assets further. That’s what we want to do.

Beyond that, we will continue to deploy activations that show the uniqueness of the brand.

What inspiration have you taken from the other projects in your category?

That reminded us that humility is a key value for brands. You have to constantly challenge your brand in order for it to last over time.

Is it important to have industry awards, in your opinion?

Yes, because industry awards help fuel the competitive spirit within an ecosystem. Keeping up with what others are doing is fundamental to improving.