• by Tanya Gazdik , October 10, 2012

TownePlace Suites by Marriott is launching its first national ad campaign.

The brand's new ads and tagline appear in airports and rental cars across the country. The effort is scheduled to run through the end of the year.

Creative focuses on the personal touch that the brand provides to its extended-stay guests, including the campaign's road warrior "Frank." Featured is the signature TownePlace Suites "hello" that travelers see and hear upon entering each of the brand’s 200 properties nationwide.

As part of the advertising campaign, Bethesda, Md.-based TownePlace Suites introduces a new brand tagline, “Add life to longer stays,” which is targeted at travelers who spend a lot of time on the road.

"Hello, Frank" appears throughout the air travel experience in locations across the country. The campaign aims to demonstrate the brand's friendly personality, as well as the individual attention that all guests receive during each of their stays, says Loren Nalewanski, vice president and global brand manager, TownePlace Suites.

“We feel that it is important to be creative in our outreach and look for placement opportunities that will reach road warriors who most benefit from our services,” Nalewanski tells Marketing Daily. “From print ads to booking sites, social media applications to airport security bins, travelers are getting their information from a multitude of channels and the way they are making reservations has changed.”

Frequent business travelers are in and out of airports and cars on a daily basis, so it was an ideal fit for TownePlace Suites to reach them during their journey, Nalewanski says.

“From airport security bins to car rental GPS devices, we want to be with them every step of the way,” he says.

As the brand was gaining awareness, industry-targeted advertising was the initial strategy, Nalewanski says.

“The growing popularity and expansion in recent years of the brand now positions TownePlace Suites for a much broader audience, and taking a regional approach allows the brand to reach more travelers and potential guests than ever before,” he says.

The timing for the first national effort coincides with a growth spurt for the brand, he adds.

“With more than 200 properties nationwide and growing, this is the perfect time for us to showcase the incredible portfolio the brand has to offer,” Nalewanski says. “Anticipating incredible continued growth, TownePlace Suites expects to grow its number of hotels by more than 40 percent by 2015, focusing on urban locations and secondary markets across the United States and Canada.”