Campaign: Hayman Reopens

Client: Hayman Island

Agency: DDI Creative

Background

Hayman is among the world’s premier island resorts. It offers a genuinely unique combination of nature, five-star service and facilities, representing the best of Australia on the world stage. In February 2011, however, this iconic island suffered from major damage to physical assets due to the impact of tropical cyclones Anthony and Yasi, causing temporary closure of the island.

Technology allowed damaging news to spread fast – news of the cyclone and Hayman’s closure travelled globally and instantly. Technology also allowed consumers to become more informed and more demanding, and to switch loyalty and change travel plans swiftly.

While physical assets were able to be replaced, a rebuild of the brand was necessary in the run-up to Hayman reopening on 1 August 2011.

Objectives

The overall objective of the campaign provided by Hayman was swift business re-establishment upon reopening and specifically:

          – maximise communication with customer base and trade to minimise damage

          – re-establish wedding and conference credentials and availability

          – give meaning and understanding to New Hayman and a reason to visit

          – drive early occupancy, and

          – engage and convert customers.

Strategy

DDI’s solution to rebuilding the brand was to develop a single-minded, compelling integrated campaign based around a solid human insight and decades of experience in the travel industry.

Research of key social trends uncovered that people feel life is becoming faster, more cluttered and stressful. People seek rewards, but these days it is less about possessions and more about what we experience and feel. It became evident that there’s been an evolution in the way luxury has been defined: first by ‘things’, then ‘experiences’ and now ‘moments’.

This key consumer insight, coupled with Hayman’s rational benefit of being a private sanctuary of natural beauty, relaxation and adventure where great experiences and moments happen, formed the foundation of the brand strategy.

The ‘Hayman Moment’ became a clear differentiating feature that would integrate location and emotional connections, ‘Moments’ being personalised experiences among natural beauty and authentic luxury.

With the ‘Hayman Moment’ DDI also differentiated Hayman from competitors, where advertising and communication is all about the ‘location’ or ‘nature’.

To support this positioning, Hayman’s brand values were also evolved from a focus on the resort, to a focus on the guest and shared experiences: family and togetherness, enrichment, authentic luxury and quality. This added value to the customer experience would become a crucial part of rebuilding the Hayman brand to be strong, consistent, differentiated and appealing.

A number of key strategies were identified to begin driving Hayman’s differentiation and the journey to rebuilding the Hayman brand:

1. Reopen communication – highly targeted trade, print and digital media in the lead-up to island opening

2. Brand communication – develop an integrated campaign across all media to convey the ‘Hayman Moment’ Beach Villas launch – develop an integrated campaign to introduce the newest beachfront accommodation on Hayman to support business re-establishment

3. Calendar of events and promotions – execute monthly promotional events based on lifestyle, food and fashion to generate PR, increase profile and repeat visitation

4. Tactical communication – develop tactical press and digital activity based on a calendar of events and seasonal periods to compete in price and value

5. consumer loyalty program – develop a four-tiered consumer loyalty program to drive loyalty and advocacy; each membership level (Residential, Ambassador and Member) to be customised with specific benefits/rewards and services

6. Engage digital activity – increase online presence, electronic direct mail (eDM) communication and develop streaming film relevant to each of Hayman’s core targets to allow a richer, more engaged connection with the viewer

7. Launch social media – launch Hayman in the social space with the introduction of a Hayman Social Reporter and developing social initiatives engaging several social platforms

8. Weddings and conferences – re-establish business from these markets with increased activity in targeted media

9. Trade engagement – individual trade segment action plans, and

10. Maximise media and PR exposure – maximise new events for media interest and exposure, celebrity outreach for Beach Villas and New Hayman, secure luxury alliance partners for promotional events.

 

Through historic analysis, demographic shifts and shifts in the changing visitor profile to Australia and Hayman, the following key markets were identified:

Domestic:

          –Couples, mid to high net worth

          –Families, mid to high net worth

          –Wedding market

          –MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) market – conference and events

          –trade, and

          –Hayman loyals.

International:

          –International couples and families from the US, the UK, Germany, Italy and Asia.

 

Execution

DDI’s experience and logic suggest the more expensive a holiday is, the more considered its purchase. The purchase path is longer and the influence of different media and different opportunities to see is required for conversion.

The combination of print, magazines, digital, cinema and outdoor was the recommendation to deliver the right messages in the right number of highly targeted touch points to fulfil objectives.

Multiple communication platforms were selected with efficiency to our target audiences in mind:

          –travel and luxury magazine advertising

          –newspaper advertising (travel sections)

          –trade, weddings and MICE advertising

          –PR

          –digital advertising

          –search

          –social media, and

          –outdoor.

The main print campaign was fully supported by DDI through an integrated digital campaign, including online activity, hayman.com, search and social. The digital campaign was highly targeted with an aim to:

          –increase unique visitors to the website

          –increase organic search through hayman.com, PR and social media activity

          –leverage the hayman.com call to action

          –arrest the poor value social commentary

          –engage and convert consumers via social platforms, and

          –start the journey of understanding Hayman is where great experiences and moments happen.

The following channels were designed, developed and utilised:

eDM

eDM design and content was improved and aligned to new creative execution and online strategy. Reservations pre-arrival and departure, follow-up technology and eDM communication were also implemented.

Online banners

Brand and tactical executions targeted to Hayman’s core target groups: couples, families, weddings and conferences.

Hayman films

Four Hayman films were developed and highly targeted to each of Hayman’s core target groups, allowing a richer, more engaged connection with the viewer. The films allowed for a highly visual showcase of the destination, but also for people to identify with the emotion and feeling of actually being there – enjoying, laughing and experiencing the ‘Hayman Moment’.

Website

Hayman.com was optimised and updated with new brand content, such as the Hayman brand films. The website is also to house the newly launched ‘Hayman Social Blog’, providing a link to all digital channels.

Social media

Travel is built on recommendation; hence, launching social was a key consideration in the rebuild plan. The channels that formed part of the social strategy included: Hayman Social Blog, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Flickr and Social Outreach.

The creative

DDI was fastidious about the content and treatment of imagery to ensure intimate and genuine ‘Moments’ were captured and New Hayman brand values coursed through each image. Supported by the written message, a simple, powerful, highly visual and integrated campaign was born.

The results

The resort opened on 1 August and initial interest has been high. The first weekend advertising for the relaunch campaign witnessed an increase in website visitors of 137 percent – which leapt on the day of opening by a staggering 248 percent. Initial bookings converted throughout September were strong, providing initial indications that Hayman is back, and looks like it is stronger than ever.