Hampton Landmarks

What they asked us to do ...

The Hampton Hotels brand, including Hampton Inn and Hampton Inn & Suites hotels, is an award-winning leader in the mid-priced hotel segment. Building on Hampton’s warm surroundings and friendly service culture and combined with its road-friendly locations, Hampton wanted to use its expansive reach to create a community relations initiative that would resonate with its guests as well as the hotels, their staff, guests and surrounding communities. Cohn & Wolfe’s objectives were to:

  • Make a meaningful impact in the communities Hampton serves (with properties in 49 states);

  • Strengthen brand loyalty to Hampton Hotels;

  • Create community and team member involvement opportunities, and enable local community members to support the program locally and across the country;

  • Generate international, national and regional awareness and media coverage of Hampton’s community relations efforts.

 

What we did ...

Before Hampton originally embarked on its Save-A-Landmark program in 2000, C&W drafted and fielded a survey to more than 1,000 people, which revealed a staggering nine out of 10 Americans believe it is important to preserve the country’s roadside landmarks.  It also showed that 83 percent of respondents feel they share some sort of responsibility for preserving the nation’s landmarks.

Knowing this and with more than 1,450 Hampton hotels along U.S. Highways, 75 percent of the company’s guests travel by car and are often en route to explore pieces of Americana first-hand.  Cohn & Wolfe created the “Explore the Highway with Hampton, Save-A-Landmark” initiative, a campaign dedicated to saving culturally and historically relevant roadside landmarks throughout the nation and beyond.

The Save-A-Landmark program has enabled Hampton Hotels and local Hampton volunteers to refurbish 32 roadside attractions, ranging from the World’s Largest Santa Claus in Alaska to a one-room schoolhouse in Michigan to saving a 100-year-old carousel ruined by Hurricane Katrina and joining veterans in cleaning a World War II destroyer in South Carolina.  Hampton has donated hundreds of thousands of hours and more than $2.5 million toward the preservation of America’s landmarks.
 

Our results ...

  • Placements were featured in the Washington Post, Associated Press, CNN.com, NPR’s "Lost and Saved" program, Preservation Magazine, The Paul Lasley & Elizabeth Harryman Travel Show -- which airs on Discovery Channel Radio and XM Satellite, and numerous local papers where the refurbishments are conducted.

  • Supported solely by PR since its inception in 2000, the Save-A-Landmark program has generated more than 5.3 billion media impressions and nearly $25 million in advertising value thus far, resulting in a 12:1 ROI.

  • Extensive media coverage of Hampton’s efforts has caused local communities to continually rally behind their landmarks.  Two editorials were prompted by the preservation of Jesse Owens Memorial Park, as local residents were inspired to call for more prominent recognition of the landmark by the state of Alabama.

  • In May 2006, Hampton Hotels received the ultimate distinction: the Preserve America Presidential Award.  The first hotel chain ever to be recognized for its efforts, Hampton was presented the prestigious award by President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush at a White House ceremony.

  • In November 2006, Hampton received the National Preservation Honor Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation in acknowledgment of Hampton’s preservation efforts.  This was the first time that NTHP recognized a hotel brand for its contribution to the preservation of America’s architectural and cultural heritage.