THE 14TH ANNUAL SHORTY AWARDS

The Shorty Awards honor the best of social media and digital. View this season's finalists!
From the 9th Annual Shorty Awards

The Knickerbocker Hotel : A Brand Redesign

Finalist in Brand Redesign

Objectives

The Knickerbocker Hotel's social media identity was unidentifiable. Its channels consisted of dark hotel photos, uninspiring UGC, and generic copy. The Knickerbocker Hotel's social media should paint the same illustrious picture that their deeply rich history does. Our goal for the social overhaul was to grow their audience, increase engagement, and build awareness by creating visually engaging social channels that inspire travelers to chooseThe Knickerbocker Hotel among a sea of Times Square hotel options.

Strategy and Execution

We wanted to shed light on the beauty of The Knick – from its luxurious rooms, celebrity chef and rooftop bar, to it's unparalleled history and location in the heart of Times Square. With so much material, their current social strategy did nothing to utilize this.

First, we noticed there was an obvious lack of direction - no coherence in chosen visuals, and low-quality photographs. A warm and welcoming color scheme was chosen based off of the the hotel's actual design and logo. By focusing on this new palette, we were able to create an immediate refresh of the hotel social media channels that noticeable right away. We scheduled a specific photoshoot for social media imagery, curating the shot list around our new color palette and focusing on the details of the hotel; the moments that turn a regular stay into an extraordinary experience.

Once we addressed the visuals of the feeds, we then focused on the fact that currently, the hotel had no promotional help in terms of paid social media advertising. We began with a modest budget of just $250 per month and within the first quarter saw an increase in page likes of 239% and an increase in monthly engagement by 726%.

Finally, we onboarded an influencer program to generate an even larger reach and presence by partnering and collaborating with travel, fashion, and lifestyle influencers. This allowed for the hotel's new visuals to be shared to much larger audiences, as well as encouraging guests to enhance the quality of their UGC.

Results

Our main goals were to grow the audience, raise awareness & increase engagement on the Knickerbocker's social media channels as well as to give the Knickerbocker a brand new look.

Since the start of our overhaul, the hotel's social channels have seen incredible growth in less than one year:

866% growth in Facebook followers

237% growth in Facebook engagement (interactions)

275% growth in Twitter followers

84.1% growth in Twitter engagement (impressions)

118% growth in Instagram followers

86% growth in Instagram engagement (interactions)

Media

Entrant Company / Organization Name

Chandelier Creative, The Knickerbocker Hotel

Links

Entry Credits