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PROBLEM:
Marriott was launching a dedicated mobile app for iPhone®, BlackBerry®, and Android™ devices. With numerous competitors occupying the travel app space, Marriott needed to break through the crowded app market and get the attention of the hard-to-reach target.
SOLUTION:
Deliver a three-part consumer touch-point strategy:
Beeby Clark+Meyler and Marriott developed an innovative and multi-channel campaign that utilized paid, owned, and earned media to reach the smartphone-enabled traveler segment.
Research showed the target to be heavy users of mobile apps, social networks, and travel sites. The campaign leveraged multiple touch points within these areas to get the app in front of the target. QR codes and SMS codes were used extensively throughout all relevant media touch points to make downloading the app simple, immediate, and quick.
Paid: Print (USA Today), Paid Search, Mobile Display, Search Retargeting Banners, Integrated with 3rd party boarding passes using QR and SMS, integrated placements within popular travel apps such as Tripit, and Facebook ads using QR codes as the thumbnail image, allowing direct download.
Owned: Homepage Takeover, Email, QR codes on Room Keys and Handouts, Marriott.com pages and banner ads.
Earned: Social Media Channels (Facebook, Twitter, and Marriott Insiders), Internal Communications Channels. Public Relations, Blogger outreach, and a short, fun video on YouTube.
RESULTS:
On the first day of the campaign, the app reached #1 in the iTunes App Store’s Travel category. By the second day it had become the first travel application to ever break the top five overall most popular apps at the #4 spot.
The Marriott Mobile App achieved over 600 thousand downloads in four months. Hilton achieved only 150 thousand downloads in the same amount of time.
Over 70 thousand QR and SMS codes were scanned or texted, generating downloads in an innovative and intelligent way
