ALWAYS WARMER CAMPAIGN
SITUATION
Bahrain Tourism and Events Authority was seeking to partner with a leading OTA to launch the destination to UK consumers, to make it stand out over other Middle Eastern destinations and other “island” beach destinations such as Mauritius, the Seychelles and the Maldives. The main goal was to attract premium UK travellers during the winter months. Bahrain is located in the Arabian Gulf and is the only island country in the Middle East. With a warm climate all year round and the warmth of the Bahraini people, there is the opportunity for truly authentic ‘winter sun’ holidays.
ACTION
Hills Balfour developed a campaign to position Bahrain as offering “a warmer island welcome” with a call to action through Expedia to drive bookings during the winter season. This related to the warm and welcoming people, whilst also playing on the word “warmer” relating to sunshine. The target audience was affluent millennials looking for a more authentic experience connecting them to a destination, and with whom “warmth” would resonate.
OOH digital billboards were created and distributed across London, with temperature and precipitation sensors that targeted passers-by with live messaging vs Bahrain – “Just started to rain again? It’s 23 degrees and always warmer in Bahrain today.” A landmark, short-form digital video series created on location in Bahrain supported this, with stories of real people of Bahrain and their warmth, how they welcome people, inviting you to join them. The video series was then distributed digitally through highly targeted content partnerships and a data driven strategy targeting winter sun online search behaviour. Expedia was the OTA partner to drive bookings, served through the Warmer Bahrain campaign portal housing all video content, live weather and local warm welcomes.
RESULTS
The Always Warmer campaign generated 1,790 passengers to Bahrain (+37%)
26 new tour operators featuring and selling Bahrain
278 articles, generating a total PR value of £4,703,274 and a total circulation of 1,259,780,462
+20 million campaign impressions
+50,000 clicks to tour operator partners
10 million ‘Bahrain engagers’ retargeted
