Hilton Americas - Houston
Strategy
An aggressive public relations campaign introduced the hotel to Houstonians, meeting planners across the country, regional tourists and the hotel industry itself. Frequent real-time media pitches around construction milestones, equipment deliveries, and other significant events were distributed at a high frequency.
Results
To promote the Dec 4th opening, Ward secured more than 18 television placements, eight print placements, nine radio placements, and six online placements between October 6 and December 31 – none of which mentioned the scandalous project origin. The agency also arranged a feature story and the cover of Meeting South. In December, 53,000 room nights were booked versus the goal of 18,000. Of the 300,000 total room nights booked by December 20th, 56 percent of them represented new business to Houston. On New Year’s Eve, the hotel booked 560 rooms, nearly 50 percent occupancy, and the restaurants sold out. The catering
manager reported the flood of inquiries for ballroom events and meetings had nearly created an operational crisis because no one had anticipated the level of demand the PR would create. The client – Hilton Corporation – invited Ward back to promote its 10th anniversary, just as a competing convention hotel is under construction nearby.
