Holiday Inn Club Vacations
Holiday Inn Club Vacations had recently acquired a collection of timeshare properties scattered across Texas. While somewhat dated, the company believed these properties held great long-term potential. But, since the acquisition, visitation and ownership had been dropping, so the company first needed to prove that there was a viable market for the resorts in Texas. So, they engaged us to help drive short-term rentals in order to test demand. As experts in all things Texas, we were more than equipped to help.
While traditional timeshare owners tend to skew older, we identified a new primary audience: young families with kids. A deep dive into this audience revealed some unique travel habits. First, their average trip had gotten shorter; 2-3 day “getaways” were more common and appealing than a weeklong vacation. Second, these families were willing to travel at off-peak times like fall and winter, when bookings are typically at their lowest. And third was the rising importance of "multi-generational" travel, with many trips including, and being paid for by, the parents of adult children.
What was most important to this audience was the value they got for their travel dollar; so providing family friendly, added value experiences on site was key to attracting visits. Not to mention, this audience was more likely to engage in “repeat travel” behavior coveted by destination brands. So, Holiday Inn Club Vacations needed to begin building relationships with them immediately if they wanted them to become the club members of tomorrow.
We recommended that Holiday Inn Club Vacations put timeshare sales on the back burner and instead, focus on booking 2-3 day rental packages to introduce their new audience to the Texas properties. We also identified fall as the ideal time for driving nightly rentals, and now all we needed was a way to package and brand the event, delivering our audience an experience they wouldn’t find anywhere else.
Inspired by the sweet relief that comes with the breaking of the Texas summer heat, we created Falladays: a six-week celebration at two of that states most popular resorts. Our name was intended to create a branded Holiday Inn experience while redefining the way Texans experience the fall season—it’s like the holidays. From here, we created an identity and then it was on to planning the fun.
The properties were uniquely dressed for all things fall, sure to give families a memorable experience and plenty of opportunities to check that family photo off the list. Over the course of six weeks, we hosted a unique series of events and programing that embodied and elevated the fun spirit of the Holiday Inn Club Vacation Brand. And, as if the event wasn’t already irresistible, we made the deal a little sweeter with an offer that potential guests couldn’t turn down: three nights for the price of two.
As Texans ourselves, we knew that our audience was all too familiar with the 100-degree hibernation that comes in the later months of summer. So, we whipped up a plan to reach them at the height of their summer suffering to get them geared up for fall. We created consistent, fun messaging utilizing a sophisticated targeting strategy across a variety of channels. And, we leveraged tactics such as programmatic, site-direct, paid search, social, print and radio to reach our audiences within a locally relevant geo footprint.
:30 Radio - "Deck the Falls"
Meanwhile, the online customer experience was just about as dated as the resorts. Central to our strategy was the creation of a content rich, conversion-driven microsite dedicated to the resorts and the rental package. So, we tied it all together with an integrated, 8-week communications plan to drive traffic, nurture engagement, and also win back existing owners who had stopped visiting the resorts in recent years.
Since social media was such a key touch point for our primary audience, we also leveraged trusted Texas influencers to authentically connect with local parents and showcase all that Falladays had to offer. Our influencers garnered tons of engagements and impressions across Facebook and Instagram.
Not to mention, Falladays also brought in some earned media, making an appearance in local publications such as DFW Child, and even received shout outs on primetime TV from SA Live and Daytime with Kimberly and Esteban.
Falladays was a huge hit. In addition to increased web traffic and bookings, we also saw a vast improvement in guest experience rankings thanks to the on property activations and experience. And today, we’re proud to say we’re looking forward to many more Falladays to come at Holiday Inn Club Vacations resorts across the country.
