Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?

Moxy is unknown in China. We activated an Offline to Online experience among Chinese Gen Z – titled “Make Moxy Yours”. The first hotel to be “crowdsource designed” by its target audience, on Douyin. First, an art exhibition with 9 Shanghai emerging Gen-Z artists who helped to design the hotel. The event had 407 media coverages, ad value 1.4m USD, PR value 4.4m USD. Douyin launched in parallel with UCG campaign. Our 9 artists inspired over 7,000 artists to create videos for Moxy = a total of 450m views, 6m likes. The hotel occupancy increased by over 500% post campaign.

Background

Marriott International was launching its Moxy Hotel brand into China, globally targeting Gen-Z travellers. Moxy Hotel was completely unknown in China. Our challenge was multi-fold: create awareness, drive launch footfall and grow and sustain a prospective new clientele among a young audience. To top it all off, Marriott International asked us to launch on a channel that no one at Marriott had ever worked on, Douyin (Chinese version of TikTok). Our goal was to create a strategy to reach China’s Gen-Z audience, giving them a reason to follow and engage with us and ultimately stay at the hotel.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

Traditionally, young Chinese people follow family and society expectations in return for the support they receive. It’s an expectation that continues at university, an important pillar of Chinese culture, where, unlike the West, activities other than studying are seen as a distraction. Falling in love, gaming, dance, etc are frowned upon as diversions with the resulting impact that a young person’s journey of personal development is often suppressed and delayed. Although China’s Gen-Z is the first generation who sees their country as globally successful with national confidence, they still carry the cultural tension of traditional values from their families, vs the modern expectations of the world that surrounds them – a conflict of the collective vs the self. We felt that an approach that identified and collaborated with Shanghai’s underground culture-shaping creators would drive awareness and mobilise our broader audience who identify with the same values and attitudes.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

China’s Gen-Z, this young, free-spirited demographic was our target audience because among this group are those who are changing Chinese culture today and tomorrow. Our aim was to stand alongside those who follow their own path – to make Moxy a beacon that attracts all who have been brave enough to pursue their own ambitions, and not society’s. The goal was to create an environment and community that celebrates and inspires a new generation of brave trendsetters. By giving them a platform to be around kindred spirits who have dreams like theirs, and a network who can offer support, we would propel new talent towards their vision of success and appeal to a new type of hotel customer who chooses Moxy because it embodies their own attitudes, beliefs, and culture.

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

We stood alongside our principles, audience, and hand-picked 9 Shanghai up-and-coming creators for their raw talent and bravery – individuals who have made sacrifices in pursuit of their own dreams. Giving them a stage to express themselves by inviting them to design permanent furnishings, glassware, fashion, DJ sets, art, and graffiti for the hotel. To spark interest, we invited them to design Moxy branded Mystery Boxes which they shattered live on Moxy's social media channels. Over several weeks, they engaged new audiences and attracted followers of their own as they brought their creations to life in a series of documentaries and live chats. To drive participation with our target audience, we invited Shanghai’s creative community to create and share videos under the #MAKEMOXYYOURS hashtag. Over 7000 videos were submitted generating a phenomenal 450 million views.

List the results (30% of vote)

We attracted and engaged a new young Moxy clientele who feel at home at Moxy because they identify with the creators we worked with and are now flocking to the hotel. Video: the campaign generated over 450M video views (15x estimate) Engagement: over 7K user-generated content videos were created based on our hashtag challenge (2.9x estimate), and our content received over 7M likes! Reach: Moxy brand, Moxy Shanghai Hotel and the campaign hashtags generated 500M views Brand awareness: we attracted over 443K visits to our Douyin channel homepage Intent: The location tag on Douyin for the Moxy Hongqiao Hotel received over 140.8K views during the campaign period Impact: Hotel occupancy rose 500% in the weeks following launch, hitting 93%