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From the 9th Annual Shorty Awards

Aloft Emoji Room Service

Entered in Integrated Campaign

Objectives

Our goals were simple: demonstrate the innovative, ⌚tech-forward spirit of the brand without much, if any budget; launch something guest facing that would drum up PR as well as social media; be first to ✈pilot!

Strategy and Execution

Our client, Aloft Hotels, is known for pushing the boundaries of innovation and weaving in technology at every turn of the hotel stay. (This was the first hotel brand to launch a robotic butler after all!) Late last fall, inspiration struck during a late night email chain when THINK PR suggested Aloft have some fun and launch the world's first ever Emoji Only Room Service Menu. However, we had one challenge: Aloft Hotels doesn't offer regular room service (it's a select service hotel). So we had to come up with an easy to deliver system as well as a menu that was simple to execute but spoke to the wants and needs of our guests (hangover remedies anyone??) We whipped up a quick press release, worked with our creative agency on a colorful menu and then pitched an exclusive with Mashable

Results

Sometimes, quite simply, creativity and agility are 👑King. We recognized a growing trend among our target travelers and wanted to do something that would stir up PR quickly and with little to no spend. We had several media staying with us at the pilot hotel that week (for the hotel grand opening) and they got to experience it firsthand first. Our final press figures to date: $17,977,721 ad value and 511,452,180 circulation, and counting including Mashable, AP, New York Times, FOX News, ABC News, Travel + Leisure, Conde Nast Traveler, CBS New York, The Guardian, NY Daily News, Daily Mail, The Huffington Post, CNet, The Atlantic, PC Magazine, PSFK, T3, Mental Floss, Bustle, Details, Elite Daily, Skift, Paste, Toronto Sun, Guest of a Guest and Yahoo! Travel.

Media

Entrant Company / Organization Name

Aloft Hotels