The Launch of a New Lifestyle

Canopy by Hilton is a new lifestyle brand by Hilton Worldwide. It’s the energizing hotel in the neighborhood offering simple guest-directed service, thoughtful local choices, and comfortable spaces.

For six months leading up to the October 15th brand launch, teams worked side by side designing the launch, drafting integrated media materials, and honing key messages across social and traditional media platforms.

To support brand launch, the social media team, specifically, was tasked with developing an engaging online experience bringing to life the excitement around brand launch to hoteliers, investors, travel enthusiasts Hilton loyalists, and potential guests alike.

The social media strategy included launching all social platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest) with on-brand creative, as well as designing a scalable content strategy that could be built upon in 2015. Platforms were augmented with a dynamic paid media strategy—connecting timely key messages with lucrative target audiences.

From the launch on October 15th, 2014 through April 1, 2017 – the following strategies and tactics help guide Canopy by Hilton’s integrated campaign:

First Look Under the Canopy: Live social coverage from Canopy launch at Global Partnership Conference featuring exclusive first-looks at the Canopy brand and interviews on-site with key stakeholders.

Driving Brand Messaging: One of the main goals in developing brand content strategy was to create a content series that could emulate the look and feel of Canopy by Hilton on social media without any physical properties opening until 2016. The #ThoughtfullyLocal campaign weaved stories of local influences and the This or That? campaign encouraged fans choose between experiences at a destination.

Media Outreach: To help continue brand momentum from launch, Canopy by Hilton created a unique media outreach effort through several activations including ALIS Social Postcards and the Lodging Conference Evening Tasting – a nightly sample of locally brewed beverages.

To date, media outreach has generated nearly 500 MM impressions across a wide range of top-tier media outlets.

Since launch, Canopy by Hilton has added ~15,000+ new fans to social media channels.In the first week of launch alone, launch benchmarks were exceeded by at least 10% on social media

Within the first month of launch, Canopy by Hilton generated over 30 MM social media impressions, half of which took place during the brand launch.

The Canopy launch video was the highest engaged post of the campaign to date with 350+ engagements and 2,000 video views.

Canopy’s Twitter Chat with John Vanderslice was particularly successful, adding over 10%+ of Canopy’s total fan base in just 30 minutes (109 new followers).

Canopy by Hilton dominated conversations on digital channels during ALIS, owning 38% of total mentions compared to other brand competitors in attendance.

CanopybyHilton.com saw 55,000+ sessions in the first month of launch alone, with users averaging 9 pages per sessions. During this time, viewers also stayed on site for 2 minutes– almost double the industry average.