Digital Printing

Edgy, Yet Relaxing

Starwood Hotels takes unusual steps to market the Westin brand.

Published

17 years ago

September 27, 2007

Jacob Rieskamp Signs of the Times September 2007 Issue

Most hotel advertising follows a formulaic approach; typically, such promotional graphics feature luxuriant beds or in-room amenities that entice would-be patrons to relax or optimize preparations during business travel.

Starwood Hotels, which owns the Westin Hotels & Resorts brand, bucked the trend when it developed its $30 million, multi-platform campaign that promotes the Westin brand. Eschewing traditional hotel advertising themes, Deutsch Inc. (NYC), Starwood’s agency of record, executed a campaign entitled “This is How It Should Feel,” which features exhilarating or sanguine imagery, such as sky divers or a rock garden, to equate enthusiasm to travel.

Deutsch and Mediavest (also of NYC), the project’s media buyer, hired Atomic Props (Oakdale, MN) to fabricate 3-D billboards that provide a larger-than-life forum to breathe life into these whimsical designs.

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