The recent campaign ‘India Road Trip’ by Radisson Group of Hotels is a curation of road trip routes, so as to let the guests plan adventurous journeys and enjoy staycation offers at any of the Group’s operating hotels. The trip can be inclusive of places right the famous Golden Triangle to the views of the Himalayas, or palm-lined beaches, to cities with impressive historical monuments, guests can choose from over 26 circuits designed to keep every kind of traveler in mind. Media Samosa dives into the Radisson Hotels marketing campaign, understanding how the brand plans to own the road trip niche.
The Insight
‘India Road Trip’, according to the spokesperson is Radisson‘s answer to pent-up travel demand in the market. The brand claims that its business has registered a steady uptick in leisure demand and believes that this trend will continue to drive the bulk of its business through 2021.
The brand, furthermore, is present in 60+ cities with 97 operating hotels, which was an opportunity to host guests driving anywhere in the country within 5-6 hours of motorable distance. The foremost concern of the brand, as stated, is safety and security. With the Radisson Safety Protocol and an alluring staycation offer, travelers can be assured of a safe, and comfortable experience.
According to Radisson Hotels, there is a renewed confidence among its guests to undertake domestic travel and road trips, which has emerged as one of the most prominent trends after the lockdown. With India Road Trip, it aims to leverage this interest and make travel planning and execution experiences easier for travelers.
The group of hotels has created a one-stop-platform where guests can choose from 26 drivable circuits divided into short, medium, and long-distance drives from major cities. These circuits cover some popular routes and exciting destinations like the famous Golden Triangle, views of the Himalayas, palm-lined beaches of Goa, or cities with impressive historical monuments. Moreover, Radisson has rolled out a ‘staycation’ offer, which includes benefits like daily breakfast, drinks for up to two guests per night, and an extra 10% off for Radisson Rewards members.
The brand has deployed a two-fold marketing strategy – generating awareness on the concept of India Road Trip and driving bookings through a tactical staycations offer. The whole campaign was run across earned, owned, paid, and shared media in an integrated manner. To broaden the reach of the campaign, Radisson also collaborated with third-party digital media platforms. The campaign is now live across all platforms and the offer is available till June 30, 2021.
Moreover, Radisson stated that throughout the pandemic, social media and digital marketing efforts helped them stay close to their guests and deliver the brand promise even when they couldn’t stay or dine in their hotels. For instance, through the #RadissonCares campaign, they reached out to their guests and brought together tips and insights in the areas of housekeeping, food and beverage, elderly care, and health and wellness from recognized service professionals via emails and social media. Additionally, they have also used these platforms to share updates about their refund and cancellation policies to offer maximum flexibility and ease of booking.
Influencer marketing helped brands build trust amongst their audience. And Radisson too fought the cascading crisis of pandemic through social media influencers. After the unlock, influencers helped allay fears about traveling amid the outbreak. Throughout the year, the brand claimed that consumers spent more and more time on social media and interacting actively with content creators. This, in turn, helped at a time when large-scale ad production was difficult.
Influencer marketing has assumed a new dimension in recent times, where creators are supporting brands that endorse a purpose. This is compelling brands to think and act in the right direction. As earning consumers’ trust continues to be the bedrock of marketing activities, Radisson believes that influencer marketing will continue to be relevant.
Radisson claims that it has centered all the communication strategies around safety, flexibility, and empathy. The brand understands that the travel plans in the current situation are likely to change and therefore, it is constantly updating its cancellation policy to offer as much flexibility and planning comfort as possible. To add to it, Radisson has also been leveraging a host of social media and digital channels for consistent engagement with all its stakeholders and assured them about its safety policies.
A number of measures that it adopted to retain the trust of guests included the 20-step protocol for hotels and the 10-step protocol for meetings, and events in partnership with SGS, or designing contactless experiences across F&B services. All these efforts in furtherance added up to the travel journey and instilled a sense of confidence within guests. For instance, it enhanced its food and beverage (F&B) portfolio with new concepts, signature menus, and outdoor catering vertical.
The Radisson Hotels marketing bouquet also offers on-premise and in-room experiences, if and when feasible, like jogging trails and guided picnics. Travelers can also customize their F&B requirements as per health needs and occasions. Bon Voyage cake, local artifacts/chocolates, are some of the giveaway gifts given upon check-out, and many similar service differentiators.
The brand claimed that promoting safety and hygiene will take the forefront of marketing efforts, and will prove to be indispensable to especially the travel and tourism industry.
Tourism marketing should entail the fact that hotels must be required to communicate their hygiene and safety policies regularly to their customers, and will put health concerns at the prime perch for any brand in the travel and tourism sector.
Moreover, Radisson claimed that with uncertainty around travel plans, brands will have to extensively promote flexible booking policies to assure guests’ peace of mind. Most hospitality players have already changed their strategy to focus on leisure guests instead of business travelers. This trend is also expected to continue with many players also targeting weddings and social MICE.
Article by Sneha Yadav & Aparna Bhalla
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