Case Study
The Waldorf Astoria Chicago
We delivered 53,000+ qualified leads to a luxury hotel's reservation desk — at less than 93¢ each.
Hospitality · Digital · Search · Social · Display · Twitter Beta Partner
Overview
About The Waldorf Astoria Chicago
The Waldorf-Astoria Chicago, formerly The Elysian Hotel, is a 188-suite luxury property redefining modern hospitality. It features a two-Michelin-star restaurant, a sophisticated European bistro, and a 14,000 square foot spa. A popular destination for celebrities and senior corporate executives.
The Challenge
Where They Started
The Waldorf-Astoria needed to increase occupancy during late summer and early fall — the slow season in Chicago — while competing against established luxury peers including The Four Seasons, The Drake, and The Ritz-Carlton. The objective: drive qualified leads to the reservation desk efficiently.
Seasonal Occupancy Pressure
Late summer and early fall represented a predictable dip in Chicago hotel demand. Filling premium suites in a slow market required precision targeting and compelling offer delivery.
Sophisticated, Hard-to-Reach Audience
The target guest — business travelers and leisure jet-setters from markets like New York and Miami — required reaching people on their terms, in the environments they naturally occupied.
High Competition for Luxury Travelers
Marquee competitors were also competing for the same guests. Differentiation through channel selection and creative targeting was essential.
The Solution
What We Did
Developed a campaign built around the insight that the target guest was highly tech-forward — and that technology platforms represented an underutilized access point. Deployed geographically, demographically, and behaviorally targeted ads across desktop and mobile on a premium mix of technology, business, and fashion websites. Implemented a destination search campaign on TripAdvisor. Additionally, Olander was selected as a beta advertising partner to run one of the first advertising campaigns ever launched on Twitter (X).
The Results
What We Delivered
- 53,849 Qualified Leads Delivered to The Waldorf-Astoria's Reservation Page
- Less Than 93¢ Cost Per Lead Across the Full Campaign
- 3,614 New Twitter (X) and 1,059 New Facebook Followers — an Ongoing Direct Marketing Asset
I had the pleasure of working with Olander on several projects. It was always a pleasant experience. They were dedicated to doing things right and always delivered above and beyond. True professionals.
Derek Bonney
Managing Director — Tenth Wave