CHALLENGE: In 2017, Accor developed the Wintervention retail offer to combat the winter seasonal slump – ‘$25 off per night + $1 breakfast’. This retail offer achieved modest success but over time had lost momentum. The retail message was struggling cut through with Australians and people weren’t thinking about ‘Accor’ when it came time to booking. Within an increasingly large category, one overrun by comparison sites and aggregators, Accor was fading into the sea of retail same.
IDEA: To re-invent Accor’s 2019 Wintervention retail offer our strategy was to bring it front and centre by creating a national branded moment. By gifting Australia’s coldest town a week long wintervention in sunny Queensland Accor gained instant recognition and drove take up of the Wintervention retail offer on a massive scale, proving that big brand moments and retail activations don’t always need to sit apart.
RESULTS: The 2019 Wintervention retail campaign saw a +70% increase in uptake of the Wintervention offer following the stunt, The branded moment also generated 587 earned media mentions and overall, drove a +43% increase in direct uptake of the Wintervention retail offer YOY. This campaign has recently been finalised in the Australian Effie Awards.
