Westin Hotels & Resorts:

PR Jumpstarts Westin’s New Hotel with Visibility and Revenue Pre-Opening

Opportunity

Westin has tapped Cookerly over the years to support the brand in key Atlanta markets spanning downtown, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (the world’s busiest airport) and suburban hubs. A recent example is publicity for The Westin Atlanta Gwinnett, a posh 348-key, full-service hotel in the heart of Gas South District’s 118-acre campus featuring an arena, convention center and theater in Gwinnett County, Ga.

Strategy | Execution

  • Maintained steady drumbeat of coverage 10 months before opening, targeting local media and trades spanning hospitality, conventions and meetings business.
  • Partnered with Explore Gwinnett, the county’s tourism and film office, to add hotel executives as story sources highlighting the location as the missing piece to boost Gwinnett convention business.
  • Scheduled media briefings with key reporters to share construction progress for a drip campaign leading up to the opening.
  • Facilitated media tours of the hotel before the grand opening to generate buzz, highlighting restaurants, rooftop bar, fitness studio and 27,000-square-foot meeting space.
  • Created cadence of stories and personnel announcements to keep hotel in the news cycle.
  • Developed and shared press materials to generate coverage: Release, fact sheet and images.

Results | Impact

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Audience reach across trade, local print and online
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In-group and corporate business hotel bookings helped by media attention before opening, with 30% new to Gwinnett County

Notable coverage:

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Atlanta Business Chronicle, Gwinnett Daily Post, What Now Atlanta, Georgia Trend, Bisnow, Urbanize Atlanta, HospitalityNet, Convention South, Smart Meetings, Hotel Management, Meetings Today, Hotel Executive and Hotel Online