The Campaign

Tasked with a goal of motivating global business travelers to reconsider Traders Hotels, we had to respect multiple country regulations and address local nuances when creating BeReady.net. This task was made more challenging by the varied level of government restrictions present in our three critical markets (US, China and Singapore). On one hand, we had a heavily regulated market in China, where we had to seek a license to be recognized as an internet content provider, or run the risk of being deemed “foreign” and banned. This was compared to the free markets of the US and Singapore, where government restrictions were minimal, but our challenges came in the way of winning audiences attention, due to the maturity of the online consumer and the sheer volume of content choices. Despite these differences, there was one unifying factor - a genuine lack of compelling content aimed at addressing the needs of the savvy business traveler. This presented us with a significant branded content opportunity, which Traders Hotels could capitalize on.

Results

Challenge: Previously popular among business travelers on a budget, Traders Hotels was battling the perception of being “old and worn down”. A brand re-invigoration as the “smart choice” and property renovations had begun, but would take time. Objectives: Our task was to motivate global business travelers to reconsider Traders Hotels now – by improving brand perception, increasing consideration, and demonstrating relevance – all on a budget of USD$1.5m. Our key KPIs were to reach one million business travelers within six months and increase bookings. Strategy: The Traders guest doesn’t stay in lavish hotels on corporate junkets – they’re all business, working the night before, to “be ready for tomorrow.” Saying we were the “smart choice” for business hotels in Asia wouldn’t be enough. We had to prove it. Through research, we discovered the Traders Guest spends hours searching, reviewing, and deciphering large volumes of information to simplify their business lives. We saw an opportunity for Traders to make this process easier by developing a branded content platform specifically for business travelers – www.beready.net. Not only would Be Ready provide business travelers with just the type of content they were seeking, it would also be the key proof point to support Traders’ “smart choice” promise, providing differentiated service beyond the physical environment of the hotel. Execution: We shifted media investment from category-generic TV/print advertising, to a long-term branded content platform, BeReady.net. We produced and implemented Be Ready across three platforms – website, tablet and mobile – and curated and developed the content in both English and Chinese to provide business travelers with only the most useful, timely and relevant information. The content is updated weekly and covers key interest areas for our target – business, technology, travel, and innovation and is both fully shareable and mobile, even without a data connection.

With the majority of our budget spent on producing BeReady.net, we had to be targeted with how we attracted business travelers to consume our content. We used the following tactics to deliver a Cost Per Visitor 76% lower than target. • Paid Search and Social placements reached our target when searching for this exact content. • Contextual and search ads on mobile phones and tablets reached guests on the go. • Dynamic display ads pushed out new site content to contextually relevant vertical sites and portals. • High impact site overlays on the BeReady.net website advertised the apps and newsletter.

• Reached 1 million visits in 3 months, beating our 6 month KPI in half the time. • Achieved a staggering 96% average monthly increase in online room bookings • Increased searches for ‘Traders Hotels’ in Asia by 71% since November 2011 (above seasonal trends) • Engaged visitors, with 1 in 3 visitors returning regularly to the site • Received unsolicited press and partnership opportunities from organizations like the BBC and Cathay Pacific, underscoring the relevance of the content • Generated a happy client, and motivated staff: “The BeReady platform is a very important project for the Traders brand with long-lasting and far-reaching benefits. Far more than just an advertising campaign, it’s helping us be even better at servicing our busy customers’ needs, while energizing and engaging our teams in every one of our 13 hotels.” Brendan Inns, Vice President – Brand Communications