by Anthony DeMatteo
Staff Writer
The first national advertising campaign by Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts kicked off Thursday.
A multimillion dollar campaign featuring six people including golf legend Lee Travino, musician Alice Cooper and comedian George Lopez, features spots on television and the Internet.
The campaign plays upon Crowne Plaza’s branding as “the place to meet” as the spokespeople discuss life and golf in a hotel meeting room in a series of six 30-second ads.
“The sponsorship and the ad campaign is huge for us getting our name out there,” said Janice Dailey, director of sales and marketing at the Jacksonville Crowne Plaza. “We are the perfect size for meetings, that’s why we chose, ‘the place to meet’ in branding.”
Also on Thursday, Crowne Plaza launched a “golf portal” at crowneplaza.com/golf, which will provide content for a golf initiative the company has undertaken.
Crowne Plaza is attempting to raise at least $2,000 at each of its hotels for the Cure Kids Cancer Coalition by soliciting small donations to correlate with birdies shot during the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial in May.
“We really took a bigger role from a local standpoint,” said Dailey. “We’ve already surpassed our $2,000 mark. We’re a competitive group here, so we take an active role in initiatives the company is involved in.”
The “Birdies for Charity” campaign runs through Sunday.
Dailey said Crowne Plaza is growing rapidly, expanding from a chain with fewer than 100 hotels to one with twice that number in about a year.
Keeping with this year’s golf theme, employees at the Jacksonville Crowne Plaza – for a $2 donation to the cancer organization – can wear golf shirts to work each Friday.
“The sponsorship of the golf event is perfect for us as a brand,” she said.
Dailey said she thinks the hotel will get feedback from the ad campaign soon.
“It should be almost immediate,” said Dailey. “It’s an exciting time for us.”