Case study
Overturning poor reputation and media blacklisting
The incoming General Manager inherited a difficult legacy. A period of leadership instability had led to mixed customer experiences and reviews, and the hotel was blocked by key local media due to a conflict of interest. Our brief was to help restore its reputation.
Snapshot
MEDIA
Successful PR, raising brand profile
⬆
Repeat retail and business bookings
AWARD
Application success – raising profile further
The strategy
We suggested that the hotel stage social, business and charity events of sufficient scale that it would be impossible for the local media to omit them. We provided introductions to brands with aligned values to curate an events calendar that had greater magnitude than the hotel could achieve on its own. This additionally helped increase the hotel’s database of warm retail and business customers, which we leveraged further through digital marketing campaigns to encourage repeat bookings and positive reviews, alongside proactive social campaigns and sector award applications. All this was wrapped in a charm offensive with the local media, nurturing our strong relationships with the editorial and sales teams.
The outcome
Sharp Minds met the objective of increasing brand recognition for Hotel du Vin within the target locality as a go-to hospitality venue for domestic and business events.
We successfully overturned the media blacklisting, securing monthly coverage in target local publications. Helping the hotel secure five prestigious award wins within two years further raised its profile and brand currency with target demographics. Combined with improved online reviews, the poor perceptions due to previous inconsistent customer experiences were largely reversed, with repeat customer bookings increasing.
Sharp Minds worked hard to build relationships on our behalf with journalists in target publications, with the net result that we now appear in almost every issue of one publication and have managed to get coverage in another that had previously blanked us. They think far beyond the brief, providing adaptable support and blue-sky thinking, creating the partnerships necessary for game-changing initiatives.
James McComas, General Manager - Hotel du Vin, Tunbridge Wells
