Accor Hotels awards a ‘Wintervention’ to the residents of one of Australia’s coldest towns
Accor Hotels and Thinkerbell have sent an entire Tasmanian town on an interstate holiday to the Gold Coast, launching a new campaign for the hotel brand.
The campaign launched on Seven’s Sunrise, when weatherman Sam Mac visited one of Australia’s coldest towns, Waratah, and gave away the holiday to every member of the town when they were expecting only a few lucky winners.
The campaign has since used footage of the Waratah residents on holiday to create a range of television spots.
The campaign is titled “Wintervention”, demonstrating that Accor Hotels has a range of affordable ways to take a break from winter.
Bridie Commerford, Accor vice president of marketing, guest experience and communications pacific, said that domestic tourism was the best way to fight the winter blues.
“Exploring Australia is the best way to get out of a winter slump – from sport to shopping, bars to beaches, we have it all. We were delighted to surprise Waratah residents with such a unique opportunity. They soaked up the sun and enjoyed some fantastic activities on the Gold Coast, staying at Novotel Surfers Paradise,” said Commerford.
Jim Ingram, chief creative tinker at Thinkerbell, said in a statement: “Pulling off a surprise party is pretty tricky, pulling off a surprise interstate holiday, for an entire town, on live breakfast TV is mind-bending and a testament to all involved. We’re incredibly proud to have delivered such a great experience for some very deserving Waratahnians.”
The campaign will run across multiple channels until September.
Credits
AccorHotels
VP Marketing, Communications & Guest Experience: Bridie Commerford
Director AccorHotels, Economy & Midscale Brands: Kellie Parker
Brand Manager: Tim Gray
Assistant Brand Manager: Jess Roberts
Brand Executive: Anne Co
Communications Director: Ginni Post
Communications: Cynthia Dammerer
Guest Experience: Marion Hohnen and Kate Milross
Thinkerbell
Creative Tinker: Anna Yates
Creative Tinker: Tom Vizard
Lead Thinker PR: Tarah Miller
Production Tinker: Jess Evernden
Head of Production: Sam Cavanagh
Lead Thinker: Aden Eltchelebi
Chief Thinker: Adam Ferrier
Lead Creative Thinker: Tom Wenborn
Head Thinker PR: Cath King
Chief Creative Tinker: Jim Ingram
“…an entire Tasmanian town…”
Population 227. They sent 70. That’s 31%. Less than a third. Not an “entire” town. If you’re lying about this, what else is BS in this campaign?
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It’s even WORSE than that Checksum.
While Wikipedia says 227 that is the 2006 Census. It has grown a massive 7.9% to 245 in the 2016 Census!
That is a 0.77% compound growth rate which when extrapolated to 2019 means the population is probably 251 people.
Finally, I didn’t realise that it was compuslory for all residents to go away on the holiday.
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Wow! Great fun and terrific promo…. Congratulations Accor (Bridie and the team?), Sunrise (Sam Mac & his clever producer?) … and rasberries to “checksum” and “checksum checker” – looks like the whole town was invited to participate… inspired idea to give it to all of them!!
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