Miami, FloridaPhone: 305-476-5424

Challenge

Once Italy's borders closed to U.S. travelers in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, we faced a major challenge for boutique hotel Sofitel Rome Villa Borghese. Along with international travel coming to a screeching halt, other obstacles we faced were a dramatic decline in media coverage on international travel, a very saturated mediasphere on "virtual" travel coverage, and an imminent shift in focus from international to domestic travel among media and consumers. How to keep travel, specifically international travel to Rome and Italy, top of mind when U.S. based media and American travelers weren't able to visit?
Our solution? We pivoted our strategy and implemented a lifestyle-driven PR campaign that aimed to bring the Roman Lifestyle and Italian Culture into the homes of our target market, affluent U.S. travelers. Comprising content creation, media relations, and social media tactics, the 6-month campaign offered up expertise from the five-star hotels' acclaimed F&B team, particularly the Executive Chef and Head Mixologist. Additionally, we collaborated with prominent lifestyle figures from The Eternal City to create virtual Rome-inspired experiences and at-home activities to conjure up wanderlust and gain attention.

Objectives

  • Raise awareness of the Sofitel Rome Villa Borghese
  • Keep Sofitel Rome Villa Borghese top of mind among an affluent demographic and key niche markets in lifestyle
  • Provide compelling news for travel media covering new once-in-a-lifetime experiences and virtual activities
  • Build excitement around the eventual return to international travel, particularly to Italy and Rome, for American travelers

Strategies

  • Tap into Americans' love of Italian food and beverage and design in general and Rome in particular
  • Create and generate publicity on new unique and quintessentially Roman travel experiences exclusively offered at the hotel
  • Collaborate with Italy-based influencers to secure no cost ‘Picture Yourself Here' content and raise brand awareness for the hotel across social media channels

Tactics

  • Collaborate with hotel teams to create and promote exclusive content related to the Roman Lifestyle and Italian Lifestyle
  • Develop innovative, once-in-a-lifetime exclusive Roman experiences for hotel guests of all ages that both abide by social distancing rules and generate excitement from travel media, such as the Roman Culture Experience for Families, including tea with a princess
  • Publicize the hotel's classic Roman food and beverage offerings, such as food recipes and cocktails like Cacio e Pepe, Aperol Spritz and Limoncello
  • Conceptualize and promote a new unique floral experience in collaboration with a Rome-based artist available both at the hotel for guests and virtually as a video tutorial
  • Arrange site tours and individual visits for Italy-based media and influencers to share their first-person experience of living the Roman lifestyle at the hotel on their social media
  • Build upon visual assets through press and social media collaborations to help the hotel showcase life onsite when travelers have all been stuck at home

Results

  • Earned media coverage garnered 573,967,952 impressions across 38 placements in travel, lifestyle, food, spa and wellness, and travel trade media
  • Coverage highlights include multiple features on Departures Magazine and Travel + Leisure, Veranda, Chowhound, InsideHook, Elite Traveler, and more
  • Results from social media collaborations garnered over 5.3 million impressions and 134,061 engagements (likes and comments)