“We live in the here and now, and so does our voice. It’s bold and bright, irreverent and outspoken, tuned in and turned up. More playful than provocative, we find the wit at the moment and embrace the unexpected. Relaxed and casual, we know who we are and don’t have to prove it.”
– W Fort Lauderdale
W Fort Lauderdale – a Marriott Brand – came to us to redefine the lifestyle marketing of two of their brands:
W Hotel – an energetic beachside hotel that pairs bold attitudes and exclusive amenities with a vibrant social scene to provide a tropical escape from the ordinary.
W Residences – a luxury beachside residential complex attached to W Fort Lauderdale Hotel, where oceanfront living is reimagined by melding exclusive vacation amenities and the outgoing W personality with sun-kissed beaches and breathtaking ocean scenery.
In this, we created a lifestyle branding campaign that joined the best elements from each brand, delivering playful, evergreen media to each specific audiences in a style unique to their expectations, desires, and fascinations.
W Fort Lauderdale Hotel and Residences converge on multiple marketing and lifestyle dimensions. Ironing out a clear distinction between the two required ultra-specific content. At first glance – from the consumers’ perspective – these two brands are practically identical. Consumers arrive at this generalization because W Hotel and W Residences share the same real estate, amenity-based experiences, and branding. Beneath the surface, however, they are radically unique. They vary based on factors as significant as their industry, marketable audiences, values, and tone of voice.
Another challenge was selling joint resort and regional experiences without diluting or devaluing one brand extension to benefit the other. This was made more difficult as a portion of the marketing direction involved portraying resort amenities, such as the restaurants Steak 954 and El Vez [which are not exclusive to either the residential complex or hotel resort] as being exclusive to both. We had to show the consumer that these amenities are provided by the W brand to improve the guests’/owners’ experience. To achieve this, we lightly applied W branding to these non-affiliated businesses, which connected them with our lifestyle marketing in a very positive way, ultimately leading to improved social media engagement and following, as well as increased hotel bookings and real estate interests. Contact us to discuss your marketing needs and learn how we can craft ultra-specific content for your brand.
We started by establishing the lifestyle differences between W Hotel and W Residences. This was largely determined by their varying audiences. W Hotel appeals more strongly to young professionals, socialites, and disruptors – the enthusiastic partygoers eager to meet new people and see where the night goes. Whereas, W Residences’ market is more akin to successful, upper-class couples and singles, business professionals, seasonal residents and investors. Since both campaigns involved extensive social media marketing, creating content these audiences would familiarize with – content that would encourage them to take action – was essential for success.
At W Hotel, living in the moment – living loudly and unapologetically – is the lifestyle. Here, you are whoever you feel like being. Our audience isn’t afraid to disrupt the status quo – to feel sexy and act on it.
We showcased this freedom and lust for life by using one model to demonstrate various personality types. We wanted to show our audience that no matter who they think they are or how they typically socialize, at the W Hotel they can embody any personality, style, and confidence.
be playful.
be flirtatious.
be mysterious.
be carefree.
At W Residences, beachfront living reimagined is the lifestyle. Here, you have a place to call home – an oasis to relax, a landscape to explore, a community to embrace. Our audience knows what they want in a luxury beachside condo. Our goal was to show them how much more enjoyable life is at W Residences.
We showcased this unrivaled beachside address by highlighting all-inclusive conveniences and showcasing the edgy aesthetic of the residential complex. In that, we showed our audience that W Residences is more than just a place to call home – it’s a place to enjoy life.
explore.
unwind.
After establishing the lifestyle differences between W Fort Lauderdale Hotel and W Hotel fort lauderdale Residences we fine-tuned our portrayal of resort amenities and beachside location to capture the attention of these demographics and convert their interest into action. The W Hotel audience prefers to see real people enjoying their stay – how the exclusive resort amenities help them to escape the ordinary, own the moment, and live it up.
The W Residences audience, however, is more attracted to media that shows off the luxury of the space. In that, they prefer a more descriptive representation – content that shows what makes the space luxurious, how it is reserved exclusively for their enjoyment, and why it is unmatched by local competitors.
To deliver on their guests’ lifestyle expectations, W Fort Lauderdale Hotel and Residences open their doors to some unlikely guests: your pets. A pet-friendly hotel on Fort Lauderdale beach is a rare commodity given that the beach is not dog-friendly. This is one of the main instances where the two brands collaborate and use shared content in their marketing.
Our “doggie” marketing initiative was created to show W Hotel and W Residences audiences that their pets are not just welcome to stay at the W – they’re treated just like our most star-studded guests. Photographing an eclectic range of dogs in some of the most iconic spaces in the hotel and residential complex doing otherwise humanly things [like hanging out on the WET Deck] added a light-hearted tone to our marketing message. This ultimately improved the consumer-brand relationship. The success of this initiative showed in increased social media following and engagement, as well as positive hotel reviews referring to pet-friendly spaces and staff.
This segment of branding required ultra-specific content. perhaps the most noticeable difference between the W Hotel Fort Lauderdale audience and the W Residences audience is the way they spend their time dining and socializing.
Given that the W Hotel Fort Lauderdale demographic is younger, as well as temporary guests, they are more attracted to content that shows-off the energetic social life at W Fort Lauderdale. This demographic wants to party throughout their stay. They want to enjoy the exclusive hotel offerings loudly and unapologetically.
The W Residences audience does not respond to this type of media. Rather, they prefer a more restrained representation of life at W Fort Lauderdale. They want to see that the restaurants and lounges on site are – in a way – reserved primarily for their enjoyment. Sure, they still like to socialize and mingle with hotel guests, but when it comes to marketing content, this demographic responds more favorably to content that shows what they are buying into.
