Goal:
Located on New York City’s residential Upper West Side, Arthouse Hotel asked RHC to assist with marketing and PR strategy to help drive revenue to its lobby bar. To support the property’s positioning as a hotel for the arts, RHC developed a concept for a holiday pop-up that would appeal to NYC and beyond as a destination bar.
Creative Strategy:
RHC believed that Arthouse Hotel had a unique opportunity to offer a first-of-its-kind experience to New York City that would surprise and delight hotel guests and out-of-towners. For the hotel to drive the most revenue during the short project period, RHC dreamt up the idea of a themed pop-up bar tied to the Broadway production of Willy Wonka. This would allow the hotel to present a whimsical experience that allowed for various Instagrammable moments of the decor and the delicious creative cocktails conceived by Muddling Memories.
Execution:
- RHC sourced noteworthy partners for Arthouse Hotel to ideate and execute the concept design, entertainment and cocktail menu (served in the most Instagrammable cocktail vessels ever)
- RHC helped to facilitate the ongoing operations of the cocktail program and design installation
- RHC sourced photographers and assisted with design and cocktail photoshoots to capture imagery for media and social media sharing
- RHC identified and crafted unique angles for storytelling positioning Arthouse Hotel as one of the most festive hotel bars in the world and the best pop-up experience for the holidays
- Together with Arthouse Hotel, RHC hosted media and social media launch events to offer tastemakers a first look – or first snap – of the cocktails and space
- RHC executed wide media outreach and collaborated with the property to host multiple one-on-one tastings
Results:
- The cocktails reached viral status with over 1 million shares
- Media coverage surpassed 500 million impressions, including features in publications such as Wall Street Journal, Time Out New York, New York Post, New York Magazine, Forbes, Cosmopolitan, and NBC
- Within two weeks, the revenue generated in a single night exceeded 1000% of the revenue generated on the highest paying night from the past five years
- The agency was retained to bring Arthouse Hotel’s Cocktail Pop-Up’s to life for a 2nd, 3rd and 4th year
- At the time, the agency was among the first to execute a holiday pop-up in New York City, helping to spark an annual phenomenon