When 126 million want to swim in the same pool
Mike Walder and Marc Wöltinger from Allink on Villa Honegg's viral hit.
One thing in advance: Even if Allink as the agency of Villa Honegg would like to be responsible for the viral hit "Stairway to Heaven" - we didn't plan it. But it shows the impact a strong story can have when it comes to life and moves people around the globe.
As always, it all started innocently enough. The Brazilian blogger Fabi Gama posted a shaky video of the hotel pool of Villa Honegg on her Travel blog. A little later the clip was published by Discover World on facebook shared - the rest is history: Within a very short time, 126 million people worldwide have seen the video.
The following figures illustrate what happened behind the scenes at the hotel: In just three days, a turnover was achieved via the website that the hotel would otherwise have generated in two months. Another 900 inquiries were received by e-mail, plus countless bookings via hotel portals.
From an online marketing perspective, you have to admit: This publicity is unique and can hardly be planned. But you can pave the way to it. The starting point is always a strong story that immediately inspires. In the brand story of Villa Honegg, the unique location with its breathtaking view played the main role from the very beginning: in the development of the brand strategy; in the logo, which refers to the topography with its stylized contour lines. And in the imagery, which consists of over 500 shots taken by a local photographer and is available to all journalists, bloggers and fans. available online is.
With an active social media strategy, the brand value "unique view" was consistently played on and repeatedly addressed in Facebook posts. The website is also aligned with this brand strategy in order to awaken the right expectations and dreams in the guest - and ultimately to convert these into reservations via the online booking tool.
And from Villa Honegg's point of view? For the small, exclusive boutique hotel, the story is almost paradoxical: one triggers delight among 126 million people, but can only cope with this rush of visitors to a certain extent, since only 23 rooms are available. But at the same time, the desire arises from exactly that exclusivity, were it not for 126 million potential guests...
Mike Walder (Managing Director, Partner), Marc Wöltinger (Senior Copywriter & Concept Designer), Allink
20 minutes: http://www.20min.ch/schweiz/zentralschweiz/story/17872797
Daily Mirror: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/people-losing-minds-over-incredible-8961374
