Bid to Forever

Bid to Forever made the name Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila synonymous with the phrase “the perfect wedding”. It transformed wedding planning into a fun and exciting task, turning the process into a bidding war among soon-to-be-wed couples with two luxurious wedding packages as the end reward.

Objectives

Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila, the only 5-star hotel in Metro Manila, wanted Filipinos to associate “the perfect wedding” with the Sofitel brand. Currently, it is among the most sought wedding venues in the country because of its scenic view of Manila Bay, unmatched luxurious amenities, superb food selection, and topnotch service.This goal then translated to the following measurable objectives:
1. Campaign impressions of 5 million over a span of 3 weeks
2. Engagements of 100 thousand over a span of 3 weeks
3. Leads numbering to at least 100, which can be realized into actual revenue over the period of 3 to 5 years

Strategy

To realize Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila’s goals and objectives, digital was chosen as the best medium to run the campaign for the following reasons:
• It was cost efficient;
• Easier to implement and more suited for executions that need to quickly pivot, whenever necessary; and
• Results can be generated and measured in an instant.In the development of the campaign strategy, it was noted that wedding planning for Filipinos is something that’s stressful because it took a lot of time (for some it’s months, and for others it can take years), resources (getting married has become so expensive in the Philippines), and patience (since you have to deal with a lot of people like the Church, the reception venue, and the caterer). This was something Sofitel can take action: turning a daunting process into something that’s fun and more exciting.So how can wedding planning be fun and exciting, and be made into a less stressful task? We turn it into a game of sort, where all you have to do is bid an amount you are willing to spend and Sofitel will take care of most of everything couples’ needed (overnight stay for the couple before and after the wedding, reception venue, catering, car service for the bride, flower arrangement, sound system, a string quartet, and even salon and spa treatments for the couple) to make their wedding day the perfect one – their first day to forever.With this idea, Bid to Forever was born – a campaign that made wedding planning fun and exciting, and, at the same time, made potential customers just want to give out their personal details. Because who wouldn’t want their wedding to be perfect and be at a 5-star hotel at a price one are willing to pay.

Execution

In Bid to Forever, a website was created to manage the overall rollout of the promotional campaign. In it, couples wishing to join can register, view the inclusions of each of the wedding packages up for grabs, and submit their respective bids.There was no sign-up fee to join the promotional campaign, which enticed participants to register and join. There was also no limit as to the number of times a participant can send a bid. And they can even bid for both packages, giving couples more chances at winning.The website also prominently shows, in real-time, the amount of time left to send bids and the prevailing highest bid. This makes it easier for participants to decide whether they should send a new bid to beat the current highest offer.Bid to Forever also made use of Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila’s Facebook page to promote the campaign and remind everyone how much time is left to join the promotion.

NOTE:
The actual website was taken offline after the promo ended. You may, however, view the beta site to check the design and functionalities used in the actual website.You may access the beta site by clicking here.

Results

After running for almost a month, Bid to Forever succeeded in meeting its objectives of reaching an unprecedented number of soon-to-be-wed couples from all over the Philippines, engage the campaign’s target audience, close more than 2 million pesos in sales, and even gathering leads for potential wedding events set to happen in the next 3 to 5 years.With the help of Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila’s Facebook page, the campaign earned more than 7.6 million social media impressions and more than 238 thousand in engagements.In terms of participation in the campaign, Bid to Forever garnered more than 200 bids per wedding package, closed in more than 2 million pesos in realized revenue from the two winning bids, and earned about 200 leads with a combined potential revenue of 62.7 million pesos for the next 3 to 5 years.The campaign also earned Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila the distinction of Outstanding Marketing Campaign of the Year from Virtus Awards 2020 of the Hotel Sales and Marketing Association Philippines, besting the marketing campaigns of other luxurious hotels in the country.