Fairmont, Priceline and the San Francisco Association are all taking advantage of Super Bowl-sized marketing opportunities!

North America’s biggest event – the National Football League Super Bowl – is bigger than ever this year. Kicking off on February 7th, this is the 50th edition of the American football championship, the sport that has become known as the ‘golden’ gridiron game. Unsurprisingly hospitality and tourism firms from across Bay Area have been looking for golden opportunities to target guests with new and innovative offers.

With several prime properties in the area, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is one of those.

Broncos fan, Tom Klein, who is regional VP and GM of Fairmont San Francisco - and member of the Super Bowl Host Committee Advisory Group - says this is an opportunity to prove, once again, that San Francisco is ‘the city that knows how’.

 

Organisations like the San Francisco Association (SFA) are also using the opportunity to deliver a great visitor experience. Just in time for the Super Bowl the city association has launched a trip-planning app, powered by the Utrip platform.

The idea, says Lynn Bruni, SFA VP Marketing Communications, is to utilise the newest technologies available to help visitors find places to go that best match their unique interests, budget and timeline.

Another feature of the app is that it provides the association with the opportunity to showcase and feature San Francisco Travel business partners.

Online travel agency Priceline is another brand that is using the hype around Super Bowl to debut a new multi-faceted ad campaign - Whatever’s on the line, Priceline’. It launched first in February using Facebook’s mobile targeting platform, with a series of personalised videos but the first high-profile TV spot titled ‘Cousins’ will go live in the pre-game show Super Bowl 50 on February 7. The next four advertisements – all posing the same question ‘to go or not to go’ will roll out in the first quarter of the year.

Future benefits

Whether a hotel, OTA or city association, travel firms understand only too well that Super Bowl is far more that just game. It is a week of events and activities that will draw more than a million people, not to mention a huge global audience. In essence, it sells itself – and is undoubtedly, a huge benefit to hotels, restaurants and local businesses in San Francisco (which is also playing host to EyeforTravel’s upcoming Social Media & Content Strategies for Travel (March 14-15) event.

So confident is Fairmont that the money will come, it is promoting ‘extraordinary’ bundled packages for anything between $50,000 and a million dollars. One of the group’s packages – Fairmont San Francisco’s Million Dollar Fantasy Big Game 50 Package – includes a philanthropic donation of a mere $150,000.

And Fairmont hasn’t had to try that hard.

“We actually used our normal online, social and warehouse databases, but didn’t use any different or unusual marketing channels as the earned media response to our packages has truly moved the needle,” say Klein.

He is, however, also quick to point out the philanthropic nature of the entire event. The host committee, he says, has agreed to direct 25% of all funds raised to high-performing charities throughout the area.

Another boon for San Fran brands is the 100 million viewers that watch the games on television each year, making it one the of world’s most-watched events. And in 2016, with the Bay Area hosting the milestone Super Bowl 50, even more viewers are expected than ever. So, any marketing mileage could prove hugely beneficial in the future.

Run successfully, Klein believes that events like this will help to generate bookings in San Francisco for years to come.

“We believe the Bay Area can lead the way and begin a completely new era of innovation, engagement and fan experience for the next 50 Super Bowls and beyond,” he says.

And with the area being located in the heartland of innovation and technology, it is sure to be the most connected and shared Super Bowl ever – providing another boost for innovative brands.

One innovation from Fairmont, for example, has been to add directions and events to its in-room tablet, allowing guests to schedule their time and help them navigate round the city. 

This has also been a focus for SFA. And if you are talking innovation, Utrip’s technology delivers personalised recommendations using a combination artificial intelligence and human experience.

“Our goal is to bring in human experts who make authentic local recommendations, to combine that with individual preferences of travellers, and then to use AI and machine learning to do the heavy lifting of sorting schedules, finding routes, and managing all the pesky little details of travel,” says Gilad Berenstein, CEO Utrip.  

Bruni believes that striving to find innovative technologies to enhance a visitors experience with San Francisco before, during or after their visit definitely increases engagement. “It also enables our high number of repeat visitors to discover new things to see and do or get a local's perspective,” says Bruni.

Revenue with a difference

Though the guest experience should always be top of mind, getting it right will create revenue-generating opportunities.  Though no specific projections have been made, revenue estimates from previous Super Bowls run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

No wonder then, that every city that’s ever hosted a Super Bowl wants to do it again. And San Francisco is no exception! 

“I personally believe that we should not look at this event as a ‘one-off’ and, as a world-class tourist destination, we show our visitors how well we manage this event, we will be in with a chance to host future Super Bowls,” Klein says.

For a hotel chain like Fairmont, which has several distinct properties in the area - Fairmont San Francisco, Berkeley, Sonoma and San Jose - there are plenty of opportunities for upselling and cross-promotion.

“Each hotel has crafted unique offerings and packages,” says Klein but is also capitalising on extending unique experiences that bundle, for example, wine tours, spa, tennis, golf and more.

Don’t miss EyeforTravel’s upcoming Social Media & Content Strategies for Travel (March 14-15) event to be held in San Francisco where you will hear more from brands like Fairmont

Robert Gray, editor of Open Mobile Media, conducted the Q&A with Fairmont’s Tom Klein