Challenge
Hilton San Francisco Financial District opened in January 2006 following a $40 million dollar top-to-bottom redesign of the landmark property at 750 Kearny St.—the former site of a Holiday Inn Chinatown. With a soft opening, Hilton was challenged to raise awareness for the new hotel to attract upscale business and leisure travelers from the Bay Area, as well as feeder markets nationwide. With LCI charged with this task four months following the opening, a high-profile opening event and campaign was not viable. LCI needed to develop creative strategies to build buzz for the hotel within San Francisco, target markets and the hotel industry.

Strategy
To engage key consumer travel and trade media with the new hotel, LCI developed and executed the “Hidden Gems of the City by the Bay” press trip which leveraged the Hilton’s unique location at the crossroads of San Francisco’s vibrant Financial District, North Beach and Chinatown neighborhoods. In addition to creating a memorable experience at the hotel, the trip provided media an opportunity to discover a new iPod-inspired Barbary Coast walking tour of San Francisco, as well as little-known dining, cultural, and touring treasures in the neighborhoods surrounding the property. This strategy generated encouraged feature coverage of the hotel that highlighted its distinctive destination location.

LCI leveraged Hilton’s pet-friendly package to generate media attention, both locally and in key feeder markets nationwide.

In addition, LCI also sought product placement on syndicated game shows to garner national visibility for the property.

To inspire local buzz for the Hilton, LCI promoted special events at the hotel—including jazz performances by renowned California vocalist Betty Fu, outdoor summer happy hour “Cocktails on the Bridge” and a Wine Maker dinner—to local media. LCI also facilitated event opportunities at the Hilton with key “buzz-building” organizations such as the San Francisco Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and Commonwealth Club to introduce the property to new local audiences and encourage positive word-of-mouth.

Results
LCI secured unprecedented media attendance for the press trip including: Meetings West, Smart Meetings, The Meeting Professional, TravelWorld International Magazine, Travel Weekly, Metro Newspapers, ACCESS Press, North San Diego County Magazine, South Bay Accent Magazine, Steppin' Out Magazine, as well as two widely-published freelance writers. Nearly all attending journalists are covering the new Hilton in upcoming publications. Several media commented that “Hidden Gems of the City of the Bay” was the best press trip they had ever attended.

The New York Daily News featured Hilton’s pet-friendly package. LCI secured an in-person meeting, hotel tour and photo shoot with the San Francisco Business Times to generate upcoming feature coverage for the Hilton. National game shows, including “The Price is Right” and “Wheel of Fortune,” will showcase Hilton San Francisco Financial District as an on-air prize in 2007.

In addition, two Public Relations Society of America mixer events and publicity in PRSA newsletters introduced the Hilton to hundreds of local professionals and generated new business leads for the hotel. The Hilton San Francisco Financial District is now selling out on a consistent basis.

Testimonial
“The LCI team put together the perfect press trip for the Hilton San Francisco Financial District.  They delivered a creative new angle and a unique itinerary that resulted in greater media attendance than we could have hoped for.  Many of the media present remarked that ours was the best press trip they had ever attended!”
-- Mark Everton, General Manager, Hilton SF Financial District