• by Karl Greenberg , May 4, 2007

The Homewood Suites by Hilton is launching a national contest called "Simple Moments" that centers on the tron board in New York's Times Square. The effort, which launched April 16 and runs through July 15, encourages people to upload a photo depicting their favorite moment at home or during a family vacation in a photo gallery on homewoodmoments.com.

A panel of judges will pick three winning photos from the gallery that best aligns with Homewood Suites' brand, and then use the shots in three different advertisements for the Hilton sub-brand in up to 12 Times Square billboards.

The photos will also be part of an ad push. The three winning photos will be displayed within a Homewood Suites advertisement, on an electronic rotating billboard in Times Square, during the month of September.

Hilton says this is its biggest campaign yet. "We are looking at video and cellular elements we could potentially incorporate to the campaign in an effort to invite more interaction with our business travelers as well as families on vacation," says a spokesperson. "There is a trend within the travel industry that more and more people are merging a business trip with a family vacation--and we have the ideal hotels for both."

Hilton is targeting business travelers who need to stay four or five nights--or several weeks while traveling--as well as business travelers who stay for just a couple of nights. It's also after leisure travelers who need a comfortable place to stay over the weekend or for a week or more while vacationing with family.

Homewood Suites, which Hilton launched in 1989, has 197 hotels open with another 120 in the pipeline. Each hotel has a convenience store called "Suite Shop" on site, an exercise facility and guest laundry at most locations.