Best Western Contest Drives Traffic Online

-- Hotels, 5/1/2008

Leveraging its marketing position as the official hotel company of North America’s most popular motor sports circuit, NASCAR, Best Western International held an online contest in March for the chance to get a funny photo plastered on the hood of Best Western’s #99 car during an internationally televised April 11 race. A photo of the electrified hair of 4-year-old Benjamin Tedeschi of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was selected from 50 finalists by online voters at BestWesternRacing.com.

The contest, which centered around an April Fools’ Day theme, succeeded in promoting Best Western’s alliance with NASCAR and casting the hotel company in a playful light, while simultaneously driving Web bookings, says Dorothy Dowling, senior vice president of marketing and sales. “About 50% of our total business is through our Web site, and the success of this promotion was extremely important to continuation of that online traffic,” Dowling says.