A lunar makeover
A similar synergy operated in favor of the Omni marketing team, as well. Fourteen of the company’s 50 hotels lie along the eclipse’s path of totality, including the destination cities of Dallas, Austin, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh. And so adding the overnight stay component of the package was pretty much a matter choosing what rooms the winners will sleep in.
Not that Omni’s marketing department passed up a chance to make a big bang. Director of brand management and marketing Colleen Buckley instructed the company’s interior design team to “blow this out of the park.” And, she added, “they went all out.”
A selected room in each of the hotel properties got a cosmic makeover complete with a midnight sky ceiling, planetary mobiles, sun and star lamps, and blue velvet pillows embroidered with eclipse phases. The doors to these rooms have been done over in sky blue with Southwest’s heart logo enclosing the peephole.
Said Buckley: “It’s just a full-on, decked-out, solar eclipse, cosmo, out-of-this-world galactic themed room.”
Once in a blue moon
Far out, huh? Sure. But the looming question is: If this contest has but two winners, how can these celestial flourishes, fun as they are, benefit both brands on a national scale?
In addition to the buzz created by the companies’ combined efforts on their social media platforms, Melle pointed out that Southwest Flights 1252 and 1721 will also be full of ordinary passengers, some of whom may have no idea about the eclipse or the promotion until they see the special swag in the cabin and, of course, look out of the windows. Word of mouth is still a valid marketing tool, after all.
For its part, Omni will give flight passengers top-tier membership in its Select Guest Loyalty Program.
And what about the vast majority of Americans who won’t be flying Southwest out of Dallas or Austin and don’t live anywhere near the path of totality? According to NASA, the next total solar eclipse that’ll be visible from the United States will happen on Aug. 23, 2044—a mere 20 years from now.