How Kimpton disrupted the status quo in social media travel content

Winning Influencer Marketing Gold in The Drum Awards for Marketing Americas is Allison Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, a part of IHG Hotels & Resorts’ luxurious and way of life portfolio. Here is the award-winning case examine.Commitment to variety and inclusivity has been central to Kimpton’s model ethos because it opened its first resort in San Francisco – a long time earlier than DE&I turned a enterprise crucial. For the rising, worldwide boutique luxurious resort model with 78 properties, valuing the uniqueness of individuals and empowering workers and visitors to be their true selves was by no means a fad; it was authentically baked into the firm’s DNA and a promise to each one who walked by its doorways. Kimpton believed that no two people are the identical, and no two stays needs to be both.While the whole travel business appeared to need to embrace and chase inclusivity, have been they actually in their advertising and social media content?It was time to solid a crucial eye on practices, and replicate on Kimpton’s personal content. Was Kimpton doing all it may to authentically show its DE&I ethos to vacationers by its social media content, and maintain itself accountable to the highest potential requirements? As a rapidly-growing chief in the luxurious and way of life resort house, it aimed to mannequin its deeply held values and beliefs in the whole lot it did, showcase numerous views and craft actually distinctive experiences that encourage and empower the world’s numerous world vacationers.InsightEmbracing variety, fairness, and inclusion has reached a tipping level for companies in developed nations worldwide. Consumers overwhelmingly assist manufacturers that show an genuine dedication to hiring a various workforce, serving numerous shoppers, and assembly their clients’ particular person wants and pursuits. Just as no two people are the identical, Kimpton believed that no two vacationers, or travel experiences, needs to be the identical both.But a sweeping glimpse throughout travel social media content revealed how awash we’re in aspirational travel imagery. The fashions are sometimes too white, too well-groomed and dressed, too idyllically blissful — the personification of all-too-picture-perfect lives that don’t really feel — let’s be trustworthy — fairly actual or inclusive. Or no less than, not essentially actual or inclusive to every of us.So how was it that the travel business’s content creators hadn’t gotten the memo? That a number of content remains to be the antithesis of being numerous or inclusive in its look?When is the final time, for instance, that you simply noticed disabled vacationers in advertising content? Or senior vacationers in their sundown years? Or true illustration of the numerous ethnicities, sexual orientation and cultures of society at giant? Uh, like infrequently?The PR staff put world social media travel content beneath a microscope and found a paradoxical reality: no person was actually displaying the reality.Travel content creators have been portraying a travel utopia – a manicured world of engaging, stereotypical folks dwelling completely aspirational lives in unique areas. It was an over-filtered, over-curated, homogenous model of each the world’s vacationers and travel experiences.Consumer perceptions confirmed our suspicions: many simply don’t see themselves portrayed in as we speak’s travel media content. Yet all of them need to be seen, heard, included and understood.Our knowledge intelligence gathered in the U.Ok., U.S., Australia and Japan confirmed that simply 20% suppose travel manufacturers’ social media is life like; solely 22% say content makes them really feel included; 85% need extra inclusive content; 84% consider travel manufacturers can do extra to assist numerous vacationers, and 64% want inclusive travel manufacturers.Approach/TechniqueWe got down to disrupt the status quo in social media travel content, difficult each ourselves and travel content creators worldwide to do higher in extra absolutely representing numerous vacationers and their wants.So, we introduced collectively a various collective of world travel content creators who wished to BE the change, becoming a member of Kimpton in a first-of-its-kind marketing campaign to current a extra truthful and inclusive travel actuality in social media and set a brand new business gold normal.At the coronary heart of the Kimpton Creator Collective was a pledge to “Stay Human” and remodel travel content to indicate extra variety and inclusivity in the travel expertise.Chosen as a result of they typically didn’t see themselves mirrored in travel content, the Creator Collective labored hand in hand with Kimpton to broaden the definition of variety past race, ethnicity, beliefs or sexual orientation.We pledged to throw away the typical creator content transient, finish digital distortion of people in content, and guarantee our creators aligned with Kimpton’s DE&I objectives.First, to deliver world media consideration to the lack of illustration in travel business content, we introduced our Collective to the Kimpton Fitzroy in London to immerse themselves in the model, glean insights from our knowledge, and form the way forward for influencer advertising in travel collectively by their numerous particular person lenses – with the pledge as our blueprint.We hosted a Future of Travel Workshop and filmed our creators discussing their distinctive views. A highlights video was shared with worldwide travel media and featured on Kimpton’s social channels to introduce every creator.Energized by the expertise, every creator produced inspiring content from the occasion and launched it on their channels, displaying their actual, unfiltered selves and their Kimpton experiences.To deliver the marketing campaign alive in 18 worldwide markets, Kimpton launched inclusive creator-curated “Come As You Are” travel experiences and a devoted “Stay Human” Concierge to curate bespoke native itineraries for visitors.OutcomesKimpton’s pioneering Creator Collective generated a universally optimistic media and natural social response in 18 key markets throughout the U.Ok., U.S., Australia, Japan, Thailand, and Singapore. 613 earned placements globally; 2.1B media impressions 6.6M social impressions, averaging a 7.7% engagement price on natural posts; 2,575 social media shares on earned channels 943k views of our Creator Collective video Kimpton elevated its share of business voice to 25% amongst its aggressive set throughout the marketing campaign and presently ranks #1 in SOVReady to get your work acknowledged on a worldwide stage? 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