The Story Wave 20

1: Hilton & The Value of a Great Rebrand – Case Study

For years, travel ads have followed the same script. Ad campaigns featured the same idealized travel destinations, but hotels were conspicuously absent. Bucking this trend, Hilton Hotels launched “Hilton. For the Stay” in July 2022, an award-winning rebrand focused on travelers’ stay experience rather than bucket list trip locations.

• “Hilton. For the Stay” won “Best Rebrand” at the AdAge A-List & Creativity Awards in April 2023.
• QuestBrand data likewise signals a largely positive reaction from US consumers. After the rebrand, Hilton experienced significant growth in brand equity and across their sales conversion funnel.
• After its July launch, US adults were significantly more likely to ascribe the following emotional attributes to the Hilton brand: “good value” (+2.3), “dependable” (+1.9), “trustworthy” (+1.7), “fun” (+1.7), and “customer centric” (+1.4).

Read the full case study now!

2: Why Brands Have Little Influence on Americans’ Travel Plans – AdAge Op-Ed

Summer 2023 is expected to be an especially busy travel season. Solely over the July 4th holiday, AAA predicted that more than 50 million Americans traveled 50+ miles from home.

In a recent op-ed for AdAge, Harris Poll co-CEO Will Johnson explored America’s post-pandemic travel landscape – why Americans vacation, and what factors they consider when making travel plans:

• Only 16% of Americans agree that travel has become a higher priority now than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Half (48%) of Americans plan to take a personal trip (not business related) in the next six months.
• Cost reigns – Respondents most often said that cost (66%) influences where they decide to travel, followed by weather (58%), and destination type (51%).
• Young love (or at least brand loyalty) – A third (33%) of Gen Zers, but only 20% of Baby Boomers, prefer to book with the same airline whenever they travel.

3: Modern Fertility Empowers Women to Understand their Reproductive Health – Brand Story

Approximately one-in-six couples struggle to conceive, yet fertility tests and treatments are typically unavailable unless a couple has failed to conceive for a year. Modern Fertility sought to eliminate this year-long information void, offering mail-order fertility tests that are available at a fraction of the cost of in-office care.

• Summer 2022, Modern Fertility launched a campaign – #RefuseTheMystery – featuring elite female athletes to bring awareness to the benefits of understanding your fertility early on.
• Each week, Modern Fertility rolled out videos, highlighting one athlete’s personal testimonial as they explored their fertility data.
• Using QuestBrand data to track Modern Fertility’s brand momentum, we see a steady rise that aligns with the start of their #RefuseTheMystery campaign.
• At its peak in August 2022, momentum among married persons familiar with the Modern Fertility brand reached 56.4, up from 44.1 when the company announced the campaign at the beginning of June.

You’ve read the highlights, now read the full brand story on Modern Fertility’s successful ad campaign.