Park Hyatt
The Brief
The Park Hyatt Toronto partially renovated an impressively sized space adjacent to their hotel lobby. The space was created to host pop-up events and seasonal hospitality experiences. The Park Hyatt approached Very Polite to develop the concept, naming, messaging, and PR strategy for a seasonal event to be held in the space from November 23 to January 1. The event needed to be holiday inspired, while the industrial, unfinished interior demanded a concept that could build a sense of rustic comfort into the messaging while maintaining the brands’ elevated approach.
Approach
Very Polite developed a concept for the Park Hyatt Toronto called ‘Holiday Bothy at the Park’. The concept used bothies — small cottages commonly found in national nature reserves and remote mountainous areas in Scotland, Northern England, Ulster, and Wales — for inspiration. These simple shelters are always left unlocked, providing a temporary respite for travellers to feel at home during a period of exploration. The open-door policy, rustic comfort, and atmosphere of warmth all led to the sense of connection we hoped to create with the pop-up concept.
The branding concept was designed to scale and adapt to different events and even locations. The ‘Bothy’ was positioned as the core concept, while the logomark allowed for seasonal or event-specific descriptors to be built into the lock up for built-in modularity. The team developed three events – all aimed at different audiences with unique partnerships and experiential touchpoints for differentiation. The first event was a press and influencer event aimed at building awareness around the hospitality experience and to introduce the pop-up to the public through social channels.
The second event featured a partnership with Glenfiddich and designed as an elevated whiskey tasting and food pairing experience for members of the local F&B industry. The event featured personalised bottle engraving for a special keepsake and a signature cocktail menu featuring Glenfiddich.
The final event featured a partnership with local jewellery designer Leah Alexandra. This event invited members of the retail and fashion industry to shop the jewellery collection and get ‘sparked’ with a permanent gold bracelet of their choice. An exclusive cocktail menu and influencer engagement aimed to boost foot traffic and drive awareness with local audiences and potential hotel clientele.
The Outcome
All three events gained impressive coverage. Collectively, the events earned Traditional 132 hits and nearly 140 million impressions with traditional media, while earning 778 hits and over 35.5 million impressions with social media. In total, the three events earned over 175 million impressions.
In addition to impressive metrics with our earned media coverage, the events had 100% guest turnout and reached all invitation targets. Each event garnered positive guest feedback and high-quality content capture to drive awareness amongst desired audiences. The events picked up national coverage in publications like the Calgary Herald, National Post, Toronto Sun, Curiosity, and Yahoo! Canada.