AmericInn, a chain of 220 hotels across 22 markets, faced a daunting challenge: Driving national brand awareness of their exceptionally quiet rooms that feature AmericInn’s patented SoundGuard construction.
Maccabee partnered with ad agency Dalton Sherman to launch a PR campaign that positioned AmericInn as the “quiet hotel” brand. Media kits contained a sample of the noise-abating foam insulation used in each hotel. A PR survey revealed that travelers who had stayed in competitors’ hotels were bothered by the sounds of parties, power tools, snoring, TV sets, bathroom noises and, yes, passionate lovemaking. Media results were stunning: feature coverage for AmericInn hotels in The New York Times, USA Today and The Wall Street Journal.
Maccabee then took AmericInn further by launching the “Sleep Better America” campaign to educate consumers about how to get a better night’s sleep. Employing Dr. Chris Drake of the Henry Ford Sleep Center as spokesperson, “Sleep Better America” premiered at the Big Sleep Show in Chicago and was energized by social media strategies such as live blogging from the show floor and Twitter feeds to alert consumers of new blog posts. The online hub for the campaign was a sleep advice microsite, www.sleepbetteramerica.net, linked directly to AmericInn’s reservation site. Trade show tactics involved drawing hundreds of visitors to AmericInn’s booth to spin the “Wheel of Sleep” and win noise-cancelling headphones, sleep-inducing CDs, lavender-scented eyemasks and stress-relieving pillows. The resulting media coverage ranged from TV interviews on Chicago’s NBC-TV affiliate to publicity in the 5,000,000-circulation Delta Airlines’ Sky inflight magazine.
