Inspired by the National Park Service Centennial, which occurred in 2016, Ideas Collide and Best Western Hotels & Resorts launched a sweepstakes, “100 Years of National Parks,” encouraging travelers to discover the natural beauty of the greatest national parks across North America, and the Best Western hotels along the way. The campaign utilized spectacular imagery to showcase the parks and inspire travelers to get out and explore.

Goals:

• Educate travelers about the National Park Service Centennial and the destinations served by Best Western properties, including properties in close proximity to the parks
• Increase bookings at Best Western properties
• Increase engagement with its social media community by using stunning imagery, exciting content and a lucrative sweepstakes
• Increase enrollments in Best Western’s loyalty program, Best Western Rewards

The campaign content featured customized videos highlighting national parks to inspire travelers with the amazing activities and exceptional beauty that the parks have to offer. To film footage for those videos, the brand’s content creators visited more than 19 national parks, including Zion, Haleakala, Kenai Fjords, Banff, Yosemite and Everglades, to show consumers the adventures that await them at nearby hotels.

Ideas Collide helped Best Western to interact with the National Park Service’s and other like-minded brands’ social media accounts using the National Parks Centennial hashtag, #NPS100. This integration was crucial for exposure and creating an interesting dialogue about the Centennial celebration.

Best Western’s “100 Years of National Parks” sweepstakes garnered better than expected results including: