Goal:
W Hotels of New York tasked RHC with driving awareness and sales of their beautiful penthouse suites. The challenge was to create a memorable way for consumers and media to experience the suites’ spectacular design and daring ethos firsthand. RHC collaborated with W Hotels of New York to develop a first-of-its-kind series for the brand: The W Hotels of New York Tattoo Artist in Residence Residence Series.
Creative Strategy:
With the understanding that the W brand is committed to delivering playful insider experiences for guests, RHC developed the concept for a tattoo artist series. By bringing the world’s best tattoo artists to the properties for a limited time to offer their services to guests, W Hotels of New York provided exclusive access to the coolest talent unavailable at any other hotel in the world.
Execution:
- Together with W Hotels of New York, RHC secured four of the most famous tattoo artists from around the world, including Mister Cartoon and Dr Woo, to partake in the series
- Throughout rotating week-long periods from March – September, RHC and the properties arranged for each artist to reside at one of the four properties
- RHC and the hotels tapped an interior designer to recreate the tattoo artists’ studios within their respective W suites
- RHC coordinated photoshoots for the cocktails and tattoo suites
- Hotel guests were invited to skip the artists’ (minimum) six month long waiting lists
- Cocktails inspired by the artists were served at the hotel bars; RHC sourced graphic designers to create beautiful tattooed menus
- RHC tapped the tattoo artists to design temporary tattoos exclusive to each property; RHC sent custom tattoos to top media nationwide announcing the series
- RHC coordinated launch parties at each property for the artists and their fanbase, hotel guests, and media
- RHC executed wide media outreach pitching the initiative to art, design, travel, lifestyle, and news outlets across print, online, and broadcast
Results:
- Target media such as Condé Nast Traveler, Rolling Stone, Travel + Leisure, Departures, The New York Post, Buzzfeed, and more visited the suites
- Over 100 million media impressions were generated through coverage in target media outlets such as Travel + Leisure, NYLON, Delta Sky, Fast Company, Time Out New York, The New York Post, and Architectural Digest
- Guests specifically booked rooms at the hotels during the residency periods to gain access to the artists