Westin Hotels & Resorts wants to put travelers back in the driver's seat. On Jan. 9, the global hotel chain will unveil "Let's Rise," a new marketing campaign that showcases its role in helping travelers keep up their regular routines, even when on the road. The push is the brand's first work from San Francisco-based Venables Bell & Partners, which Westin tapped as creative agency of record nine months ago following an RFP.
Earlier this year, Westin, which is owned by Marriott International, upgraded its image with a brand refresh and redesign focused on wellness—in sleeping, eating, moving, working, playing and more. The new campaign is the next step in further communicating this identity to customers, said Brian Povinelli, senior VP-global brand leader, Westin Hotels & Resorts.
"We felt we needed to do a better job of explaining why Westin has this well-being positioning and really do much harder work to build the emotional connection through the marketing campaign," said Mr. Povinelli, who noted that Westin has not has a global campaign of this scale since 2011. In recent years, Westin, which has 210 worldwide locations with another 50 in the pipeline, has promoted its "For a Better You" campaign.
The new push will include TV, radio, print, digital and out-of-home—advertising that will cost the chain around $30 million. In 2015, Westin spent $12.4 million on measured media, according to Kantar Media.
Key components of the new messaging arose from research Westin conducted over the last 12 months. The brand found that 71% of travelers said they had trouble maintaining routines on the road.
"A big theme that arose is the idea of control—travel is disruptive to your routine," said Mr. Povinelli. "We offer to make it clear to them in our communications how we help give them control back."
In addition to Venables, Westin works with Mfa Ltd. for PR, and PGR Media and Razorfish on media duties.