Sandals Resorts
Miami, FL
Sandals Resorts is a privately held, family-owned company that was started over 30 years ago and leads the all-inclusive industry in the Caribbean by offering guest more amenities, luxury, innovations, and choices than its competitors. The company boasts fifteen locations across six Caribbean Islands: Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Antigua, The Bahamas, Grenada, and Barbados. The Digital Ring leveraged existing relationships with Sandals Resorts and Milio’s Sandwiches and created a promotional partnership to award a once-in-a-lifetime trip for two to any Sandals Resorts courtesy of Milio’s Sandwiches.
Development: landing page development
Strategy: branding
Creative: design / copywriting / art direction / naming / graphic design / advertising / collateral design / video / signage
Social: social media strategy / editorial calendar creation / promotions / social media monitoring / community management / reputation management / analytics and reporting / social management / campaign creation / contest development / content creation / graphic design
I work with many marketing agencies, and I have to say, it was refreshing to work with a company that is so detailed. From conception to completion, you can rest assured that a campaign with the Digital Ring will be executed flawlessly. Not only are they innovative and creative, but more importantly, they deliver what is promised and in the case with Milio’s - they over-delivered. I also appreciated the communication through the entire promotion process. My team felt like part of their team. The Digital Ring truly is a well–oiled machine.
A CHALLENGE TO EXPAND REACH
In 2015, Sandals, an award-winning company that leads the all-inclusive hospitality industry in the Caribbean, partnered with The Digital Ring to create a giveaway campaign with the following objectives in mind:
1) Build Sandals’ email list, creating opportunity to market to a larger audience
2) Collect customer data to further segmentation efforts in an effort to create more targeted, personalized ads
3) Expand Sandals’ reach in the Midwestern states of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa
CREATING WINNING PARTNERSHIPS
The Digital Ring hit the ground running, leveraging an existing relationship with Milio’s Sandwiches to create a promotional partnership between the organizations. The prize for participating customers? A once-in-a-lifetime trip for two to any Sandals Resorts, courtesy of Sandals and Milio’s.
Like all good partnerships, the relationship between Sandals and Milio’s was mutually beneficial. Through The Digital Ring’s marketing efforts, both organizations would grow their email lists, maximizing communication to prospective consumers. Beyond that, both companies would receive valuable customer insight – demographic and behavioral data – that would further future efforts at segmentation and personalization. The cherry on top? Milio’s – a Madison, Wisconsin-based restaurant chain – boasting locations across the Midwest, had established an eager fan base in Sandals’ target states of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa.
The campaign involved a multi-week Sandals “takeover” of Milio’s digital and print platforms. Milio’s communication during that time frame – email, social posts, website banners, radio commercials, in-store collateral, direct mail and a TV ad – featured some element of the Sandals campaign directing customers to enter the giveaway.
CAMPAIGN RESULTS
The Sandals campaign proved successful in 2016 and ran again in 2017. Below details results from the 2017 campaign:
- Close to 5,000 people entered the giveaway
- 61% were brand new entrants, having not entered the same giveaway in 2016
- As a result of the campaign, Sandals gained 1,900 new email subscribers
- Milio’s gained 1,800 new email subscribers
- The campaign reached a Facebook & Twitter audience of roughly 240,000 people
- The campaign drove 250,000 people to the Milio’s website
The campaign was just as successful from an aesthetic perspective, winning a 2017 ADDY Award, administered for excellence in an online/interactive advertising campaign.