
Holiday Inn Express | Melbourne
Cutting through the competition in busy Melbourne










One Rail Australia

Mercedes College

Cutting through the competition in busy Melbourne
Holiday Inn Express is IHG’s fastest growing hotel brand. It has continued to expand in Australia since its launch in 2016.
Within three years, Pro-invest Group developed and launched four hotels – Sydney Macquarie Park and Brisbane and then Adelaide and Newcastle, which communikate et al executed.
The opening of the flagship property, Holiday Inn Express Melbourne Southbank, saw the hotel group take on the competitive Melbourne accommodation market. With this decision came a need for a strong integrated marketing strategy.
We needed to:
The ‘simple, smart travel’ brand was showcased for the first time to a Melbourne audience through a combination of:
Our team developed the campaign tagline “Less boring, more exploring”. This alludes to the endless opportunities to explore what Melbourne has to offer and also incorporates the brand premise of ‘simple, smart travel’ – we give you what you need so you can spend more time on what’s important to you!
The campaign included a public activation, held in Queensbridge Square in the Southbank precinct. We had a greenscreen photobooth which allowed people to select their favourite Melbourne event, grab some props and get snapping! The photos were then printed out, sent via text and broadcast on a digital billboard in the Melbourne CBD.
There were also free iced coffees, snacks and a live DJ, creating a fun atmosphere for everyone to enjoy while relaxing in the styled event space.
Other elements of our campaign included:
These activities resulted in a very effective opening campaign, with the hotel enjoying strong visibility in the market and experiencing strong bookings throughout its opening period.
The greenscreen booth was an absolute hit at the public activation, with:
The social media campaign was also a great success, leaving Holiday Inn Express Melbourne Southbank with powerful marketing assets. Some key stats include:
When commenting on the campaign, the client noted “we absolutely smashed it out of the park” and “we should all be really proud of the activation and the amount of positive traction we received.”
The communikate team really took the time to understand our business. They very quickly came up to speed on our products and the nuances of our very technical and specialised industry. They’ve written accurate and engaging content to be used in industry publications, our electronic newsletter, and on LinkedIn, which has performed really well.
I have worked with communikate et al for many years in a number of roles. They form an integral part of our team at Walara, having taken the time to understand our community and the two businesses that merged to develop a brand name and identity that reflects our shared values and vision for future growth in the lower mid-north region. communikate has created an extensive range of content and communication assets to establish us as a leading provider of aged care services in the region. We’ve received nothing short of positive feedback from our residents, their families and our staff.
communikate et al’s design work is visually impactful, and they partnered with us to help bring our vision to life. Our tagline ‘flourish’, is an excellent reflection of our core values, beautiful botanic campus and our genuine aspirations for every young person in our care.
communikate’e professionalism, relatability and ability to give life to our vision is commendable.
The South Australian Museum worked with communikate on a SA Tourism Award submission. The submission is a huge task with many moving parts and communikate helped bring it all together seamlessly. Always a pleasure working with CK!
The visual impact of the creative was exactly what the Local Government Association was looking for to engage audiences and drive an increase in nominations from traditionally underrepresented groups on council.
As a result of the advertising we saw a particularly strong increase in candidates identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and many more candidates from culturally diverse backgrounds.
We have really enjoyed partnering with communikate on some key projects and appreciate their responsiveness and the quality of service they provide. communikate’s ability to be agile and quickly act on changes to strategy has been impressive and has resulted in us being confident in the fact that they keep the best interests of our campaign front of mind. The level of detail they provide in their reports has ensured we’re able to learn from our hits and misses and adapt our future strategies accordingly.
Bec, Henry and the team understood our brand from the get go and it showed from concept to delivery. During an intensely busy time for our team, they worked seamlessly with us to develop and manage an integrated campaign... The results were outstanding and put the hotel in an excellent position to launch into a competitive market, with strong occupancy experienced. We really value our partnership.
We have been hugely impressed with the way communikate et al have immersed themselves in learning our brand and respecting our approach. It felt like they just ‘got us’ from the start! It has been such a pleasure working with their professional, smart and dynamic team.
We love the Daily Moves branding that communikate et al created. It is friendly, flexible for different applications, and our marketing collateral stands out from the rest. We have received a lot of compliments from participants and stakeholders who love it just as much as we do.
communikate et al were an integral part of the King William Road upgrade team from the initial community consultation right through to completion. The brand they created fit the project perfectly. They took the time to understand the complexities and always delivered with strategic oversight, ensuring things were done with purpose and meaning. Having them on board was invaluable.
Head Office
Upstairs 200 The Parade,
Norwood SA 5067
Get in touch
Telephone +61 8 8331 1444hello@communikate.net.au
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