Byravee Iyer
Nov 20, 2012

Art Series Hotel's new campaign set to outdo 'Steal Bansky'

MELBOURNE - After the success of the award-winning 'Steal Banksy' stunt, the Art Series Hotels, a boutique hotel group, is now encouraging guests to overstay their welcome in a new campaign titled ‘The overstay checkout.'

The overstay checkout
The overstay checkout

Hotel guests can ask for a late checkout of a few hours or even a few days—until the next set of guests arrives.

The hotel group was looking for ways to make the quiet December month more compelling. “We think hotels keeping rooms vacant is a bit of a waste,” said Will Deague, the company’s CEO. “If people are not using them, why not let guests stay longer, even if it's a few days.” The initiative will run for a month between December and January. 'The overstay checkout' campaign will be promoted across social media and through public relations.

The campaign has been created by Naked Communications Melbourne, which also did the "Steal Banksy' campaign, which went on to win multiple awards, including two Gold Effies, a Gold Cannes Lion and two Spikes. 
 
To ensure higher occupancy rates in the summer months, a Banksy painting was placed in the hotels and guests were given clues to its wherabouts via social media. Anyone who could steal the painting without getting caught could keep it. The hospitality chain estimated ROI on the campaign to be 300 per cent. The campaign helped the hotel get 1500 bookings in four weeks, 50 per cent more than it set out to achieve. It also got $2.1 million in PR value.

For his part, Adam Ferrier, founder of Naked Communications, believes that ‘The Overstay Checkout’ will outdo the Banksy campaign. “Depending on the success, we may instigate the campaign again or they may change their booking model completely,” Ferrier said.

Source:
Campaign Asia

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