Hyatt Creates Comedic Hijinks With Iliza Shlesinger Campaign

Hyatt Regency recently joined forces with Comedy Central and funny girl Iliza Shlesinger to launch the custom content series “It’s Good Not to Be Home” to celebrate the simple human truths about traveling.

“Travelers told us that they enjoy the freedom travel provides to break from routine, meet new people and find new inspiration,” Stacey Snyder, director of brand experience for Hyatt Regency, told [a]listdaily. “Comedy felt like a natural way to bring this insight to life, whether that was highlighting how, on the road, you can sleep sideways, steal all the toiletries, or eat dessert first.”

Pegging Shlesinger’s with influencer marketing duties seemed like a natural fit for Hyatt as the always-travelling comedian brought her own experiences to the series.

“Comedians are road warriors so teaming up with Hyatt Regency on the ‘Good Not to Be Home’ campaign was a natural fit,” Chris Ficarra, senior vice president of integrated marketing for Comedy Central, said in a statement. “Working with Iliza and her cute dog Blanche, we developed custom shareable funny content to engage fans on CC.com, on air and across Comedy Central’s social-media platforms.”

Snyder joined [a]listdaily to discuss the hospitality company’s upcoming marketing strategies, and to offer a sneak peak into forthcoming campaigns.

What went into Hyatt merging comedy into its marketing campaigns How did that serve as the right collaboration for the company’s integrated global marketing campaign?

Hyatt is in the business of caring for people so they can be their best. That’s our purpose as a company. Caring for people is sometimes as simple as making them laugh, so for Hyatt Regency — the largest brand in the Hyatt portfolio — this is a way to demonstrate care that fits with the brand. The collaboration with Comedy Central stemmed from an insight we heard from travelers: the simple human truth that, sometimes, it’s good not to be home.

How did choosing comedian Iliza Shlesinger come about, and how did her personality fit the campaign?

We found Iliza Schlesinger with the help of Comedy Central. She is the perfect comedian to bring to life the experiences we all feel when we are traveling. And as a comedian, she spends a lot of her time on the road and was able to bring her own personality to the series.

How does a robust custom content series like this enhance brand awareness and marketing power for Hyatt than traditional methods of year’s past?

In today’s world, we know that people are seeking experiences. Making people laugh is an experience we can offer even when people are outside our hotels by teaming with Comedy Central on this content series. It extends from TV across social channels and even into Comedy Central’s Snapchat Discover stream, which is exciting for us.

Why was it imperative to incorporate Snapchat? What does it do for the brand that other social media can not?

We know many of our guests use Snapchat, so we made the platform part of the Hyatt Regency brand’s largest-ever integrated marketing campaign. Not only did we feature custom content featuring Iliza on the Comedy Central Snapchat Discover feed, but we are also among the first hotel brands to offer branded Snapchat filters when you stay at any of the more than 80 Hyatt Regency hotels across the U.S. and Canada. These filters just offer another opportunity for Hyatt Regency to engage with guests while they’re staying with us. And because we are among the first hotel brands to offer this, we look forward to seeing how our guests like it.

What are some of Hyatt’s chief marketing initiatives for 2016?

In 2016, travelers can expect to see Hyatt continue to focus on delivering clear, distinct brand experiences across each brand in our portfolio. It’s an exciting time as the entire company is focused on building long-term relationships with our guests by caring for each individual so they can be their best.