Hughes Public Relations, Adelaide

Crowne Plaza Adelaide - Hughes PR digital case study

New Hotel Tweets Itself Into Adelaide's Social Scene


The situation. In 2010, Crowne Plaza Adelaide was the first newly built, internationally branded hotel to open its doors in South Australia in more than 20 years. Hughes Public Relations worked with the hotel to implement a communications program to raise awareness and generate excitement about its opening. One of the elements of the campaign was an innovative Twitter competition.

Objectives. Crowne Plaza Adelaide’s objective was to position itself as the leading, upscale hotel in Adelaide. It also sought to drive awareness of the hotel’s accommodation and food and beverage offerings among key markets including Adelaide, regional South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales.

Elements. Hughes PR helped Crowne Plaza Adelaide establish and manage a Twitter account and Facebook Page, and then launch a competition called ‘‘Tweet yourself to a night at the Crowne Plaza”.

To enter, people had to follow Crowne Plaza Adelaide on Twitter and ‘tweet’ why they should win. The prize? The whole hotel to themselves and 11 friends for a night – before the hotel opened to the public - with dinner and breakfast  in Redsalt Restaurant and Bar.

On the night, the winning group tweeted about their experience and uploaded photos onto Twitter, achieving broad reach and traditional media coverage.

Outcome.  Crowne Plaza Adelaide enjoyed near-capacity bookings in the first three months following its opening.

As at October 2010, the hotel had a Facebook fan base of more than 800 followers - quite unprecedented for an Adelaide hotel. It also maintains a Twitter account with more than 600 followers.

These two social media accounts are in effect ‘subscriber’ bases that allow the hotel to have conversations with interested audiences – and that conversation to be seen by wider networks online – underpinning a cost efficient and highly effective direct marketing program that sees the venue succeeding ahead of fierce competition.