THE TENNESSEAN, a personal luxury hotel, opened in Knoxville in April 2017 and immediately relied on the extensive travel and tourism experience of our team to make a splash with their grand opening.
THE TENNESSEAN Hotel
INSIGHT
Knoxville is more than college football and mountains — it’s a rising hot spot for luxury travel.
STRATEGY
Develop a message telling the unique story behind the hotel and its innkeeper – a native Knoxvillian looking to bring a one-of-a-kind level of luxury to his hometown.
ACTIVATION
We worked with the hotel team and Knoxville Visitor’s Bureau to determine top driver markets to the Knoxville area. This data was used to develop a targeted strategy that reached national media by highlighting the luxurious and unique aspects of the hotel. From the architectural details like the tuxedo wrapping around the hotel to design features that reflect the Tennessee River – the theme of the property – we coordinated media stays with some of the nation’s top travel writers to secure editorial features, social media posts and blogs about the personal luxury and accommodating staff at THE TENNESSEAN Hotel.
RESULTS
As a result of our efforts, the hotel has topped lists such as the Forbes Travel Guide Hot Hotels and been nominated for Southern Living’s 2018 South’s Best Hotel. Within the first six months of the hotel’s opening, THE TENNESSEAN was featured in local and regional outlets including the Knoxville News Sentinel and Birmingham Magazine as well as a variety of top tier media outlets such as Condé Nast Traveler, HGTV.com, TravelChannel.com and CNN Travel. Garden & Gun has also featured the property multiple times and looks to the hotel team as a resource for future stories as a result of our coordination.
In total, we have secured more than 555 million media impressions for the hotel to date.