Commentary
Digitas - Holiday Inn Express, "The Smart Show"
- by August 25, 2008
Holiday Inn Express, "The Smart Show"
http://www.awardwork.com/Digitas_IHG_Smartshow/HolidayInnExpressTheSmartShow.ppt
Finalist Travel
Digitas: Ben Jones, senior vice president, creative; Brian Babineau, vice president, media; Jennifer Albrecht, marketing manager; Christine Beardsell: lead interaction designer; John McCarus, vice president, creative; Annaliza Nieve, copywriter; Kim Snow, senior copywriter; Chih Shien Lee, art director; Kati Sabatino, media planner; Mary Grace Whalen, vice president, interaction design. Holiday Inn Express: Steve Ekdahl, director of brand marketing. HBO: Dave Morgasen, executive producer. Hoosick Falls: George Verschoor, executive producer. America Online, Inc.: Matt Drinkwater, regional sales director.
How do you take a highly successful advertising campaign and bring
it online? Print ads repurposed as banners and 30-second spots edited into 10-second prerolls do the trick. But how do you leverage highly interactive social sites and today's Websavvy
audience in order to carry forward your brand's personality? Digitas met that challenge for client Holiday Inn Express (slogan: "Stay smart"), with the creation of "The Smart Show." The
agency hired a host, conducted and publicized a co-host casting call, and then took an hbo production team cross-country from Boston to la. They produced a Webisode every day that showcased the
unexpected things they found along the way. The videos were seeded on YouTube, Veoh, Revver, Blip.tv and iTunes. Online advertising ran in relevant spaces. Community hubs were created on Facebook
and MySpace. People who joined the "Smart Show" Web site received regular e-mails. They even planted a "Smart Show" entry on Wikipedia, leaving no digital stone unturned. Now that's smart.
