Wink Hotels’ first property hasn’t opened its doors yet, but the brand’s influence is already rippling across Vietnam.
With QUO’s help, they’re exploring new and intriguing ways to engage with the Indochine 2.0 generation. Together, we’ve demonstrated that you can amass a social-media following before you’ve even finished building your hotel. In short: If you build it, they will come.
It all started when Vanguard Hotels approached QUO to help create a hotel brand that would pro-actively re-define hospitality in the Indochina region. With a revolutionist mindset, we set about creating a brand that would build bridges between old traditions and modern trends by identifying the unique character of Vietnam and how it is transforming.
Read the brand background: Giving a Wink to Vietnam
Once the brand was built, we were ready to take it further. To accomplish this, we turned to social media to help Wink build a presence that reflects their Indochine 2.0 philosophy. This was not going to be your typical hotel Facebook page. Instead, we planned to turn Wink into an online persona and trendsetter.
Building a Presence on Social Media
The social media presence we helped Wink build foregoes repetitive slogans and artificial renders of hotel bedrooms in favour of engaging with an audience in sync with the Wink Hotels’ mantra – see Indochina with fresh eyes.
QUO developed a social-media strategy and platform-spanning content plan to help Wink promulgate its message. The brand speaks to its target audience through Facebook and Instagram posts about music, art, fashion, style, trends and a little light-hearted philosophy. These also direct readers to the Wink emag, home to longer-form blog posts covering everything from hangover remedies to upcoming art exhibitions.
Status QUO: More ‘Social’, Less ‘Media’
From fashion to food, QUO has helped Wink create a curate a dynamic social-media presence. The brand is already emerging as a go-to source for what’s hot in Vietnam – all experienced through the lens of Indochine 2.0. As that presence grew, Wink prepared to deepen its relationship with its target audience.
Next order of business: a photography contest to engage the local audience and collect some good, old-fashioned user-generated content.
Indochine 2.0 Photography Contest
In a calculated multi-level strategy, QUO helped Wink arrange a photography competition on their platform. We reached out to Wink’s vast audience of followers, asking what Indochine 2.0 means to them. The caveat: the answer had to be presented in photographic form along with the hashtag #winkphotocomp2018.
The enthusiastic response reaffirmed for all that Indochine 2.0 is defining of a cultural phenomenon that resonates in Vietnam. Wink received nearly 300 photo entries from people across the region, with both professionals and amateurs joining in and sharing their photos. Wink’s following almost doubled in the process.
The competition brought fresh eyes to Wink’s social media platforms, but it also gifted the brand with an archive of stunning photos that communicate the Indochine 2.0 aesthetic. What’s more, winners may have future opportunities with Wink, and at the very least gain great exposure in both digital and traditional forms.
QUO, Vanguard Hotels and Justin Mott from Mott Visuals pored over the entries to select a winner. In the end, a young freelance photographer named Hồ Nguyễn took first prize. Her work was exhibited alongside several runners-up at Through the Eyes of Wink, an exhibition hosted at Toong co-working space in Saigon. It gained such a great response, Toong subsequently offered to feature the photos in another one of their spaces to keep up the positive momentum. Following the first exhibition, Vietcetera produced a piece interviewing four photographers from the competition and showcased their work. You can watch Vietcetera’s video below.
Turning Virtual Followers into Real-World Guests
Wink is bringing something new to the region, and we are proud to be a part of the revolution. Soon the brand’s virtual followers will be seen striding into Wink’s lobbies and sinking into comfy sofas against sleek glass walls. Digital check-in. Stellar local art. Strong coffee culture. What began online will be fully realised in vibrant, physical spaces hosted by the hotel. Don’t forget to like and follow Wink on all their platforms (linked above)!
Editor’s note: The featured image at the top of this article was taken by Instagram user @dongqtrung, a finalist in the Wink Hotels photography contest.