Launching the new Holiday Inn brand and hallmarks to the owners, investors and senior managers in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at 7 overlapping conferences and exhibitions earlier in 2008 was a mammoth task. InterContinental Hotel Group's agency, Pimento, and their UK and US marketing teams took over the Farnborough FIVE complex for a week long launch and chose Free Rein to build and manage the web development - including multiple websites, email marketing, online booking and ecommerce functionality.

Their needs

Pimento planned an exceptional series of conferences and a major exhibition to launch the new Holiday Inn brand and invited over 6000 guests ranging across the owners and operators, trade and supply companies to the largest rebrand in the hotel chains history. They needed an internet marketing agency to develop the websites, email marketing, event management support, online booking and payment service - a technology focused company that could also take on management of the contact database and manage the online payments including cancellations and refunds.

The timetable was extremely tight, their requirement for accuracy was paramount and the ability to react quickly and flexibly to changing and developing requirements. In short they needed a technology agency as a partner who would be a safe pair of hands on a very high profile client.

The audience was diverse in nationality, time zones, interest perspective and welfare/travel requirements.

The solution

Pimento and IHG were developing the message and conference agenda during and after the time set aside to build the website. Free Rein chose, obviously therefore, to create a content managed system that supported;

• multiple websites, content managed

• choice of design templates

• website dependent booking options

• grouped event management statistics

• streaming video links

• integrated email marketing with matching designs

The websites booking module was linked to a SECPay account (part of PayPoint) which allowed the Free Rein system to manage the entire payment process through to successful (or otherwise) completion.

The final solution was extended during the programme to handle an exhibition website and booking system for exhibitors. The email marketing solutions was used for delivering instructions and post event correspondence including driving the feedback responses.

Result

The result - Pimento relied heavily on Free Rein to develop and manage the systems, liaising directly with the IHG marketing contacts, managing the finance accounts and daily reporting on booking and invitation responses.

Holiday Inn is the largest hotel chain in the world and is one of six brands that IHG own. The event was a resounding success with the web activity delivering all that was required without any headaches or concerns for IHG or Pimento.

Solution Components

• Content Management System (CMS)

• Event management

• Online Booking module

• Online purchasing

• Finance house integration

• Email Marketing

If you would like to know more about this project and how we could help you.
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