“Be Nice to New Jersey Week”
Won 2010 HSMAI Silver Award
Situational Analysis:
The Affinia Manhattan is located near Penn Station, the commuter hub for New Jersey.
Marketing Objectives:
Build awareness for the hotel in a fun and innovative way that would also get the staff engaged, while increasing revenue in July. Since Q&C was engaged in June, so there was a tight turn-around time
Target Audience:
New Jersey residents.
Research, Planning and Implementation:
Q&C discovered “Be Nice to NJ Week” (July 4-10) while searching for an idea. Bingo!
“Be Nice to NJ Week” wasvailable to NJ residents or individuals with NJ birth certificates for the month of July. It included 13% off room rates (NJ was one of the 13 original colonies), two Jack Rose cocktails (invented by a Newark restaurateur) and a Jersey-themed menu at the hotel restaurant, with Taylor Ham, Jersey tomatoes, and Italian “sub” sliders. From NJ or not, all hotel guests received 20 percent off dinner.
The front-of-house staff and GM wore “I ♥ NJ” tees during the kick-off week.
Message:
While the Garden State of New Jersey gave us music legends Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi, and Frank Sinatra, the excitement of Atlantic City and 127 beautiful miles of beachfront, it still ends up in the punch line of bad jokes. New Jerseyans needed a break, and Affinia Manhattan was prepared to give them one.
Results:
Be Nice to New Jersey went live on Affinia.com on Wednesday, June 30. In just 31 days, a 139 room nights were booked, totaling over $33,000 in room revenue (ADR $240/night). This was a tremendous pick up for the hotel in a short time period. In addition, Q&C secured placements in New Jersey and Metro NY media including The Bergen Record newsletter, Down the Shore with Jen (a popular New Jersey Blog), and Eater NY’s Twitter handle @EaterNY (13,408 followers) tweeted about the Nile’s New Jersey-themed menu in honor of the celebration.
Budget:
Out-of-pocket expenses: NJ t-shirts ($860) and a photo shoot ($500).
