Situational Analysis:

Best Western Hotels & Resorts’ strategic 12-year partnership with Disney ABC was extended to The Walt Disney Studios for the second consecutive year through an engaging, high-profile alignment with Disney-Pixar’s Toy Story 4, the latest installment of the beloved animated franchise. The partnership aimed to increase Best Western’s awareness among Disney ABC’s audience of families and to drive participation in Best Western’s summer promotion for Best Western Rewards (BWR) members, which offered members a $20 gift card after their first stay.

As part of the integrated marketing campaign, Best Western and Disney leveraged TV commercials, social media, digital advertising, direct marketing and in-hotel promotional materials to effectively reach travelers at every touch point and drive increased awareness of Best Western’s summer promotion. The campaign utilized strategic media buys and native placements to further optimize the campaign, resulting in increased bookings.

Marketing Objectives:

Primary marketing objectives and goals for Best Western’s 2019 summer partnership with Disney-Pixar’s Toy Story 4 were to:

• Drive hotel reservations on bestwestern.com during the peak summer travel season
• Position Best Western as a trusted travel partner for families and fans of Toy Story 4
• Leverage innovative marketing strategies and techniques to connect with Disney’s audience of kids and families across multiple touch points
• Uniquely engage Disney audiences to increase brand awareness for Best Western Hotels & Resorts
• Maximize Best Western’s most impactful partnership opportunity by building a clear connection between summer travel and the sponsorship
• Foster positive brand association with strong storytelling, differentiating Best Western from the competitive set

Results:

The 2019 campaign resulted in impressive engagement rates, achieving established goals and objectives. Results for the integrated campaign include:

• 2,100+ North American hotels displayed in-property assets prominently in lobbies
• Co-branded social posts on Best Western’s channels delivered more than 10.7 million impressions and 54k+ engagements
• YouTube skippable video featuring Toy Story 4 clips delivered more than 2.1 million video views to date
• Display media generated over 3,300 clicks to bestwestern.com
• More than 500,000 travel cards were distributed as part of the promotion
• Display media generated 69% of total reservations on bestwestern.com
• $118M total during the Toy Story 4 opening weekend, setting the record for fourth-largest launch for an animated film to date and third film in 2019 to cross $100 million during opening weekend