Last month, FIVE opened a new resort in JBR to add to its growing portfolio of hotels and resorts. Campaign Middle East Editor Justin Harper spoke to Ahmad Khair, Director of Digital Marketing and E-Commerce at Five Hotels & Resorts, to find out more.
How was the marketing approach for the new JBR Resort different from previous hotel launches?
FIVE recognizes the importance of creating engaging content with the right message and employing disruptive and innovative strategies to capture attention and drive conversions. FIVE LUXE's digital marketing strategy took an evolved approach by leveraging past and current insights from our wide range of brands. And loyal customers, database. The team used remarketing ads that focused on “lookalike” audiences and targeted his established FIVE-centric brand base to reinforce strong engagement.
You tailor your marketing strategy to each location, how did it execute at JBR?
The marketing strategy was carefully designed to suit the hotel's unique characteristics. FIVE LUXE stands out with special suites such as the After Party Suite, the Incredible Suite with XL Pool, and the Come Play Spa Suite. We offer distinctive and exclusive products to discerning luxury lifestyle travelers at home and abroad.
Does the new hotel address a slightly different target market?
There are nuances in target markets. While there is some clear overlap with other FIVE hotels and resorts, JBR's focus on specific interests such as resorts and private pools varies, and its focus on domestic as well as source markets such as the UK, Saudi Arabia and Germany has shown great interest from The newest FIVE icon is UAE.
Please tell us about your approach to social media.
With Millennials and Gen Z being a major consumer base, social media is an important marketing tool for reaching and engaging this audience. This is an important part of how guests discover FIVE and get a glimpse of the experience, thereby making FIVE one of the most important promotional channels.
Featured 'Vibe at FIVE' and 'Instagrammable Moments' drive and encourage authentic reviews and user-generated content (UGC) from guests, influencers and content creators, which are further promoted and organically Encourage more community engagement.
How do you work with influencers?
As a digital-first brand, influencers are an integral part of our digital marketing strategy. To launch FIVE LUXE, we strategically partnered with high-reach, performance-driven influencers who aligned with the brand's positioning and target audience to truly communicate the launch. Including influencers in the marketing mix increased and amplified reach, engagement, added credibility to the marketing strategy, and increased expectations for opening.
And what are your results?
In April, the number of user visits to the FIVE LUXE website increased significantly, totaling 298,000 visitors (up 56 percent month-on-month). This spike in traffic resulted in 497,000 total views (+67%) and 2.2 million total events (+40%) on the website.
