Best Hotel And Lodging Online Campaign

In 2011 Japan suffered one of the greatest natural disasters and due to the incredible circumstances the hotel and travel industry suffered greatly. We were tasked with the effort of creating a marketing strategy to increase awareness of Japanese hotel offerings, increase the number of bookings and drive strong revenue growth.

We needed to develop a strategy consisting of a limited budget of $5k that would run from August 22 through September 30 while generating revenue at an 11% cost of sale. We operate on a cost-per-action basis in which publishers are paid a commission on a booking that has been completed.

To achieve our goals, we identified our top 25 partners who generate the highest revenue levels for our Japanese properties and reached out to them with a bonus proposition. We would offer a bonus incentive on top of their standard commission if they generated a booking for one of our Japanese properties. Of the 19 hotels within the region we assigned a bonus commission between 1-3% based upon hotel priority.

The campaign strategy proved to be successful as the total number of bookings associated with the properties increased by 293%. The revenue generated from these bookings had increased by 278%. All of this was accomplished at a 9% cost of sale which was below our benchmark of 11%. The total cost of the commission paid to our publishers totaled $3,742 which was below the overall $5k allotment. We achieved our goals and developed a blueprint for future campaigns.

Contributors:

Performance Marketing Specialist:	Ryan Hudgins
Performance Marketing Manager:	Sanarr McLaughlin

INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS GROUP

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