ibis — ibis Music
ibis, one of the UK’s leading budget hotel brands, briefed us to turn up the volume and make some noise about its music-led brand proposition in 2019. They didn’t want just a one-hit-wonder creative spike, but a 12-month integrated comms program, spanning PR, social and influencers. Our goal was to amp-up ibis’ passion for music, positioning its hotels as destinations for unique music experiences, as well as great stays, with the end goal of driving bookings and building brand loyalty.
To launch ibis’ music campaign this year, we hosted rolled-out an exclusive in-hotel gig series in partnership with Sony UK and rising star Tom Grennan.
Spanning three cities and ibis hotels nationwide, we formed further partnerships with six local emerging artists in Bristol, Manchester and London to support Tom each of the gigs. These included Tom Bright, NXDIA and Olly Flavell.
Together, we gave music fans the chance to access exclusive intimate performances with ibis.
Amplifying the message
To drive momentum throughout the year, we also built out a broader series of press stories around key music events in the calendar, ranging from Glastonbury to other festivals.
For Glastonbury, we gave festival-goers the chance to scrub-up on their long drive home by booking free shower slots at ibis hotels.
We also carried out a partnership with Go Get Glitter, replacing the complimentary toiletries in ibis hotels where big-city festivals are taking place with… you guessed it… glitter!
In addition, we delivered an influencer campaign over the summer, inviting mid-tier lifestyle and beauty influencers to co-create content around festival events, positioning ibis properties as the places where great experiences start and end.
Soundcheck
The ibis team secured 36 pieces of editorial coverage, simply from the gig series alone.
65% of these hits were with top tier national press, including the Mirror Online, Metro (print & online) and The Sun (print and online), as well as BBC radio Bristol, generating a reach of over 48m.
Tickets to the three gigs sold out within the space of 4 hours, with over 3,450 people applying for 200 tickets. Manifest secured 28 top tier media to come down to the gigs, including the Mirror Online, Ok! Magazine, Time Out Magazine, BBC Radio Bristol and Capital FM.
Through the partnership with Zoe London, ibis garnered 25k engagements. The content on her channel exceeded other brand partnerships with the likes by 44%, delivering a CPE of £0.35.
On ibis Instagram, advocacy increased by 280% in May and engagements doubled off the back of the campaign.