The Overstay Checkout
ROLE: Co-creative, Comms Strategy
CLIENT: Art Series Hotels
AWARDS / ACCOLADES : WARC Global Innovation Prize 2013, Gold Effie 2013(Original Thinking), Silver Cannes Lions (Promo & Activation) 2013, Silver Effie (Travel), Bronze Effie (Small Budget), Ranked #5 in the WARC 100 Smartest Marketing Campaigns, ADMA Gold Award (Travel / Hospitality), ADMA Silver Award (PR), PSFK Top 20 Retail Innovations of 2012, Creativity Pick of The Day, Adnews Game Changer of the Year Finalist, Bestadsontv- Best Interactive
OVERVIEW:
“A new to world checkout system where you don’t have to check out until the next guest booked into your room checks in”
BRIEF:
Art Series Hotels needed a way to increase leisure traveller bookings during their quieter summer period.
After a series of successful summer “stunts’ like “Steal Banksy”, we were asked to come up with a solution that could be re-used. A promotion that could be rolled out whenever they had a slow period.
STRATEGY:
If it was to be re-used, we knew we needed to come up with an idea that would continually give value to the customer. So we looked at the main pain points of their leisure customers and unsurprisingly, after a night out on the town, rolling out of bed in time to make the 11:00 check out was a major grievance.
We investigated the 11:00 check out. Why did it exist? Why 11:00? Did it matter if the hotel was full or empty?
It turns out it was a bit of a sacred cow in the industry. If the hotel wasn’t full, it was actually beneficial for travellers to stay on as they would spend more money on amenities like the bar, restaurant, room service and the spa.
With this, the “Overstay Checkout”, a new to world checkout system where you didn’t have to check out until the next guest checked in, was born.
The campaign was tremendously successful and applauded as a genuine product innovation, creating true value for both the consumer and hotel at no additional expense. The consumer got the chance to stay on free, the hotel turned unused inventory into incentives to attract people to stay and reaped the financial benefits of guests staying on using the hotel amenities.
The hotel made considerable profits from rooms that would have otherwise remained empty and the guests appreciation on sites like Tripadvisor helped push the hotel up to the highest ranks in review sites helping attract further guests down the line.
