Title	HOTEL CALIFORNIA
Brand	VOLKSWAGEN COMMERCIAL VEHICLES
Product/Service	CALIFORNIA CAMPER VANS
Category	E05. Sponsorship & Brand Partnership
Entrant	ABBY PRIEST Stockholm, SWEDEN
Idea Creation	ABBY PRIEST Stockholm, SWEDEN
Media Placement	PHD Stockholm, SWEDEN
PR	ABBY PRIEST Stockholm, SWEDEN
Production	ABBY PRIEST Stockholm, SWEDEN
Post Production	ABBY PRIEST Stockholm, SWEDEN

Name	Company	Position
Andreas Morne	Abby Priest	Account Director
Oskar Hellqvist	Abby Priest	Creative Director
Sebastian Brännén	Abby Priest	Art Director
David Alledal	Abby Priest	Copywriter
Pia Roos	Abby Priest	Project Manager
Louise Lundqvist	Abby Priest	PR Director
Lukas Andersson	Abby Priest	Designer
Christian Gustavsson	Abby Priest	Photographer
Alexander Dahlin	Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles	PR Manager
Maria Johnsson	Head of Product, Marketing and PR	Head of Product, Marketing and PR
Lotta Brattin	HOBO	General Manager, HOBO Hotel
Per Ledin	Abby Priest	Art Director
Frida Ronge	TAK	Culinary Director
Albin Lindau	Abby Priest	Project manager
Veton Metaj	Freelance	Fashion Stylist
Amanda Höglund	Freelance	Film
Ida Lauga	Agent Bauer	Set Designer
Elias Svedberg	PHD	Digital Client Manager
Joachim Thimsporr	PHD	Client Director

Why is this work relevant for PR?

In the midst of a burning pandemic, 'Hotel California' combined consumer insights, contextual relevance, and an unexpected brand collaboration - enabling marketing cut-through in an age of noise. The A PR-led campaign succeeded to make RVs interesting for a new, younger, picky group of consumers. A one-month phased narrative of key messages, announcements, and content releases was planned to engage Sweden's lifestyle- and news media and online influencers. The "Rooms" sold out in 3 seconds and the campaign became a Swedish media sensation in the summer of 2020. It generated an estimated earned media reach of +18 million and an

Background

In the year 2020, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles wanted to make a brand relocation and rejuvenation of the motorhome segment with the aim of increasing the awareness and purchase intention of a new and younger target group (25-45 years). However, this younger audience, also very trend sensitive, wouldn´t define a new camper as “cool” and would rather spend the night in a designer hotel than in an RV. Originally, the camper category was mainly targeted to and purchased by elderly folks of 55 years or older, so we needed to change the perception of the brand for this younger group. It needed to feel fresh, modern, and of course, covid-19 friendly.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

To encourage young people to hit the road, we decided to place the campers in a memorable, stylish, and unique context. In collaboration with the design hotel HOBO and hotel mogul Petter Stordalen, we launched 'Hotel California' - a designer hotel suite, you can drive. A hospitality innovation that offers a new way to experience roads and countrysides. The initiative took the glamping trend to new heights packing all the amenities of a hotel room into Volkswagen California camper vans such as crisp bed sheets, hotel robes, Bluetooth speakers, hair fans, magazines, etc. We also teamed up with an award-winning chef creating an onboard tasting menu including a careful selection of on-the-road recipes.

Describe the PR strategy (30% of vote)

With our trend, sensitive audience in mind, we knew that we had to target the right type of media and create the right type of Pinterest-friendly assets. The campaign was split into five phases: Tease, Announce, Maintain, Peak, and Close. Key assets of videos and imagery were tied to each phase. The ambition was to get Sweden’s top tier dailies and lifestyle outlets to talk about ‘Hotel California’ and we identified five target verticals: News, Culture, Food, Automotive, and Lifestyle. The strategic PR tools included under-embargo interviews, press release distribution, blogger outreach. Furthermore, we created a SoMe-script for owned channels and teamed up with a selective, handful of influential Instagrammers showcasing how a summer getaway in our campers would feel like.

Describe the PR execution (20% of vote)

Using Dropbox as the press kit, filled with highly visual content, we managed to speak directly to our conscious target audience. Over a period of about six weeks, we got a reach of over 18million and appeared in top tier dailies, notable lifestyle magazines, and talk worthy podcasts.

List the results (30% of vote)

By opening a boutique hotel together with Petter Stordalen, we succeeded in our most important objective - to make RVs interesting for a new, picky group of consumers. Follow-up of the campaign was done via “Volkswagen Brand Survey 2020”: Campaign effect/result vs. concrete goals Primary KPIs: 1. Recommendability - Can you imagine recommending Volkswagen motorhomes to others? KPI: at least 75% Results: 97% 2. Purchase intention - Can you imagine buying a California 61 or Grand California within a couple of years? KPI: 60% Results: 75 3. Product experience. What is your rating for the overall experience of Hotel California? KPI: at least 75% positive Outcome: 94% Secondary KPIs: PR Exposure 1. Goal in media reach: 10 000 000 Outcome: 18 000 000 2. The goal in PR-value: 4 000 000 The outcome in PR-value: 6 000 000.