Hilton Taps Foote, Cone for Emotional Appeal to Travelers
Marshall Adds Commonwealth Energy; Bates USA West Cuts CEO, 30 Others
Marketing & Media
by Jennifer Bellantonio
A new campaign by Foote, Cone & Belding Southern California, Irvine, aims to help Beverly Hills-based Hilton Hotels Corp. fill up empty rooms.
The campaign,billings for which weren’t disclosed,features color print ads now running in national newspapers and magazines, including People and The Wall Street Journal. The ads urge people to act on their “strong desire” to travel,something the Sept. 11 attacks put a damper on.
“What gets you going?” the ads ask, with photography and different scenarios that Hilton hopes will strike a chord with travelers.
“People want to travel, like to travel and should travel,” said Tom Keltner, executive vice president and president of brand performance and franchise development at Hilton. “Our goal with this campaign is to connect with the traveler on that emotional level.”
The campaign covers all Hilton brands, including Embassy Suites, Doubletree and Hampton Inns.
Hilton and other hoteliers have been hard hit since Sept. 11, as people slashed and tabled travel plans.
Hilton reported a 38% drop in net income to $34 million for the first quarter. The company said it’s still feeling the aftermath of a sluggish economy, weaker de-mand from business travelers and fewer international visitors.
Occupancy at Hilton hotels declined 4.6 points to 66% in the first quarter, while the average daily rate fell 7.6% to $130.67, according to company reports.
The hotel industry is seeing some signs of stabilization, according to figures from market tracker Smith Travel Research. U.S. hotel room revenue fell 10.3% in March vs. a year earlier, compared with an 8% drop in February, 12.9% in January, 12.8% in December and 16.3% in November.
Powerful Win
Costa Mesa-based Marshall Advertising & Design recently beat out four undisclosed agencies to win Commonwealth Energy Corp.’s advertising account.
The Tustin-based electric service provider made the decision in early April after a month-long review.
Commonwealth is looking to mine new markets for business, since doors are closing in California, according to Diana Marshall, the agency’s creative director.
“With deregulation shutting down future opportunities for their company to expand within California, the goal was to maintain Commonwealth’s current client base while also exploring growth opportunities nationally,” Marshall said.
Roy Reeves, Commonwealth’s vice president of marketing, said Marshall Advertising did a good job presenting creative and strategic plans that addressed the company’s challenges in California and expansion plans.
The OC shop, which counts Cypress-based Yamaha Motor Corp. among others as clients, plans to break its first campaign for Commonwealth next month. The work, which will target current customers and states where energy is deregulated, involves a broadcast and outdoor campaign in Michigan, and a direct mail campaign in California, according to Hank Blank, Marshall’s head of business development.
This Commonwealth win comes on the heels of three other new chunks of business.
In the past few months, the agency also landed work from Advantica Restaurant Group Inc.’s Carrows Restaurants, Nationwide Lending Corp. and the Costa Mesa Conference and Visitor Bureau.
“We’ve been fortunate in this environment to secure three new pieces of business,” Blank said.
Billings were not disclosed for the accounts.
Bates in Turmoil
The mood over at Bates USA West was grim last week.
On the heels of losing another big chunk of business from its biggest client, Fountain Valley-based Hyundai Motor America, the agency is going through another round of layoffs. Chief executive and president Tim Hart was first to go, followed by about 30 or so workers.
Bates, which has lost both Hyundai’s media and creative accounts, still has the car maker’s National Dealer Association business, estimated at about $100 million yearly.
But it may not be for long.
Dallas-based The Richards Group, which was awarded Hyundai’s $160 million creative account about two weeks ago, is already in talks with dealers to try and woo them over.
Industry observers have speculated that the loss of Hyundai may be the end of Bates’ Irvine office, though company executives in New York have refuted the claim.
William Whitehead, president of New York-based Bates North America, the West Coast unit’s parent, said Bates is committed to having a West Coast presence. But he conceded “the scope of that presence has yet to be determined.”
The uncertainty at Bates has started a feeding frenzy for its remaining accounts, including Anaheim-based Pacific Sunwear of California.
Word has it that the surfwear retailer is going to announce a change in its advertising this week, with OC agencies in the running for the business.
