Global hospitality leader, Accor, is delighted to announce the receipt of a Silver accolade for its 100 Bites of Singapore marketing and advertising campaign at the annual The Drum Awards for Marketing held in Singapore on 30 May 2024.

The campaign – crafted as part of the Singapore Tourism Board's SingaporeReimagine Marketing Program (SMP), which supports innovative destination marketing plans to inspire travel to Singapore – ran during the last quarter of 2023 and resulted in a 172 percent increase in room reservations across the Group's network of hotels in Singapore.

The Drum Awards is a global awards program that recognizes the best people, companies, and practices in the marketing and communications industry and focuses on outcomes rather than outputs for a measurable effect.  The awards are considered a benchmark of recognition in the industry and celebrate groundbreaking creativity and strategic genius across all sectors, disciplines, and channels.

Through a tech-enabled dining experience, the 100 Bites of Singapore campaign afforded diners the opportunity to learn more about Singapore's rich, storied past and featured four restaurants, handpicked from Accor's diverse portfolio in the Garden City.  Each of the establishments offered a sustainable dining-focused cultural immersion experience, inspired by the vibrant multicultural hawker and local culinary traditions found in their respective neighbourhood.  As diners journeyed through Singapore's past, they were accompanied by a holographic virtual host, Allie, who shared the cultural significance and sustainable origins of each bite they took.  Born from generative art and powered by live motion capture technology, Allie was reachable via a QR code, which directed diners to a web-based augmented reality platform.  A companion video then took diners on a visual tour of each restaurant's neighbourhood to learn more about the colourful culinary culture that inspired each menu.  At ibis Singapore on Bencoolen, Allie hosted a live stream on social media to give tourists a preview of the experience, whilst an AR experience enabled foodies to take a virtual bite and see animated cultural motifs come to life.

Embracing diversity while minimising waste, each of the menus that formed the 100 Bites of Singapore programme included a minimum 60 percent locally sourced or sustainably produced ingredients.  Through the universal language of food, the initiative sought to engage both new and returning visitors to Singapore, inviting them to savour the rich tapestry of flavours and traditions the city has to offer.

Commenting on the success of the 100 Bites of Singapore marketing and advertising campaign, Kerry Healy, Chief Commercial Officer, Middle East, Africa, Turkey & Asia Pacific, Premium, Midscale & Economy, said, "With the travel and hospitality sector going through a renewed vitality post-pandemic, it was time to reignite Singapore as the go-to travel destination.  Our primary objective was clear; to raise overall brand awareness for Accor post-pandemic and reinstating our market prominence while simultaneously driving visitors to Singapore through room bookings across Accor properties.  Recognizing the competitive landscape, we understood that simply offering monetary incentives and adopting a one-sized fits all advertising approach would not suffice.  We needed an innovative strategy focused on delivering distinctive proposition, motivating travellers, both long haul and short haul, to book with Accor.”

Collaborating with Dentsu Creative for the ideation process, Accor's Brand Marketing team recognized that to amplify the true essence of Singapore and attract visitors to book was through highlighting Singapore's multifaceted food culture, giving birth to the 100 Bites of Singapore campaign. 

Kerry Healy continued, “With this innovative concept in mind, we recognized that adopting a multi-phased and audience-first methodology was critical across our varying audience clusters. Moreover, we have leveraged on the burgeoning trends of metaverse, livestreaming, and augmented reality to further amplify our efforts in raising awareness.”

The campaign was an overall success for Accor, beating planned impression targets and generating 172 percent higher room bookings at an improved cost per acquisition (CPA) versus the pre-pandemic era.  The return on advertising spend (ROAS) was also up, reaching an unprecedented ROAS versus the pre-pandemic era and marking the highest ROAS achieved by Accor to date.

100 Bites of Singapore was developed by ALL - Accor Live Limitless, Accor's Lifestyle Loyalty programme that enhances the Accor experience during and beyond the hotel stay.  In addition to offering an unrivalled choice of stays across 40+ hotel brands in 110 countries, ALL - Accor Live Limitless helps members live their passions every day with over 2,000 worldwide events, from local discoveries to the year's biggest sporting and musical events and chef masterclasses. Discover ALL – Accor Live Limitless at all.com.

###