2022 Winners & Shortlists

Why is this work relevant for PR?

The Live Surprise Stunt demonstrates how original thinking, transformative insight and a strategy rooted in earned has influenced brand affinity and created engagement. An idea with an inspiring and authentic storytelling at its core, which contributed to humanize Hilton brand and engage audiences with heart and soul.

Background

How can a hotel brand position itself amidst the worst pandemic in decades? Hotel occupancy rates had dropped drastically during the pandemic, but in the summer of 2021, Hilton saw numbers rise to 50% occupancy in Saudi Arabia and UAE, largely led by staycations and families who wanted to reconnect in a safe space. So with this activation, Hilton aspired to tap into an important human truth that everyone was feeling as a major consequence of the pandemic: the effects of social distancing and the desire to reconnect with loved ones. Therefore, Hilton aimed to tell an authentic story – one that could be unique to Hilton’s properties, while connecting at an emotional level to leave a mark on people’s hearts and minds. Objectives: ● Create meaningful emotional engagement ● Show how Hilton’s properties can help families reconnect safely during a pandemic

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

What if Hilton could showcase authentic loving memories instead of staging them? To do so, Hilton partnered with an influencer Azza Zarour, an actress, singer, and content creator with 3.5 million followers. We flew Azza’s family from abroad and surprised her with them in one of Hilton’s connecting rooms. And the magic happened. On April 21st 2021, we invited her to the Waldorf Astoria Palm Jumeirah, to unveil our new ultra-luxurious suite with connecting rooms. While Azza was doing her live show and exploring the room with her followers, we opened the connecting door…and she saw her family for the first time in many months. Live streaming got extended for an hour instead of a 5-minute reveal. Because we never forget the times we’re together, Hilton wanted to share a new memory lived and experienced by a top influencer.

Describe the PR strategy (30% of vote)

In Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, family is the pillar and, in every study, it consistently scores as what is most important in one’s life. Here, connecting rooms are an important requirement for both Saudi and Emirati families who enjoy the intimacy of having their families truly together when they travel. At other hotels, they’re only confirmed when you arrive at the hotel. Not at Hilton – where connecting rooms are confirmed at the time of the booking. During a pandemic, something as simple as “Confirmed Connecting Rooms” can actually become a much more important part of the experience as it allows families to be together in a safe bubble. Instead of doing a traditional ad campaign, Hilton leveraged the power of storytelling with an influencer to talk about a topic as mundane as “connecting rooms”. The comms strategy was to bring true emotions with an influencer.

Describe the PR execution (20% of vote)

To bring true emotions, when a brand and an influencer come together, the association must be carefully thought ahead. First, Azza has 3.5 million followers. She is a true influencer with substance - as an actress, singer, and content creator - she brings a nice angle to her approach in social media, all of that with a local lens and flair. Something that was important for Hilton to resonate locally. Second, she speaks with heart and soul, that’s another rationale that was a top priority for Hilton to convey that emotional and authentic message to the people, behind their phones. So, when Azza went live to showcase the room with her followers, the idea was to create the strongest emotional impact with her followers: by surprising her and making the buzz even bigger. Azza was a perfect match to connect with the audience and spread the word. And it worked.

List the results (30% of vote)

The biggest outcome of this campaign? A lot of crying. Azza cried. Her family cried. Her followers cried. The cameraman cried. It was a deeply emotional moment watched live by many of Azza’s followers. A fun fact is that the most used emoji in the live comments changed during the session. While Azza was exploring the hotel room, it was 😍, the “heart eyes emoji”. And when she opened the connecting room and her family came in… you guessed it, it was 😭, the “loudly crying face emoji”. As you are reading this, we know that we are blessed in this region to have already had the opportunity to reconnect with our loved ones. If you haven’t been able to yet, we hope that you’ll be able to experience this joy and that it will be so intense that you will all 😭 bawl your eyes out. With Love, Hilton.