Hilton is synonymous with luxury, elegance, and a touch of class. At least it was. It is fair to say that in recent years its brand has become somewhat diluted. Before there was an element of exclusivity associated with the Hilton name, but the introduction of holiday deals and bargain offers tarnished its identity and wasn’t as “cool” as it once was. Rather than using Hilton as a destination hotel that was a much-anticipated visit, people could get discounts for cheap stays on brands such as Wowcher.
Their latest effort on TikTok however was a marketing masterclass that reconnected them with a previously disengaged audience and made us think about everything they have to offer as a hotel chain again. To put it simply: they managed to make a generation of people known for their minuscule attention span, on a platform that plays into that tiny attention span, watch a TikTok for 10 minutes. As the TikTok itself says: “Ten minutes on TikTok is like three years in the real world.”
So, how did they do this? Well, we’ve pinpointed a few marketing tactics that have really captured the attention of users watching this 10-minute ad. Even traditional TV ads aren’t ten minutes long!
Collaboration
The first and most obvious thing to note in this 10-minute ad is that there are a lot of moving players. This isn’t merely Paris Hilton talking to the camera like a traditional Hilton advert would feature. Instead, there are a lot of familiar faces on the screen. The TikTok equivalent of celebrities, the ad features not only Paris Hilton but Chris Olsen, GirlBossTown, Baron Ryan, KelzWright and more.
The best part about this is that it is a true collaboration. These TikTokers aren’t here to also just show up and talk to the camera about how good the Hilton is, but they put their own spins on it. Their talents and what made them famous are actually put to good use. Chris Olsen has a quick witty joke, Kelz Wright reacts to another TikTok that features a meal from the Hilton, and Baron Ryan has a more involved skit that pokes fun at the whole concept of advertising on TikTok.
Irony
This is where we come to the real beauty of this advertisement: its irony. It’s one of the few advertisements that you can imagine viewers saying “I’ll allow it” to. The humour is full of irony and is very meta, two things that Gen Z loves. Baron Ryan makes fun of himself for “selling out”, literally with two versions of himself arguing about whether they should even feature in this 10-minute advert. At one point the disapproving Baron says, “Is that a watermark?” in disgust.
This self-aware humour is a big hit with Gen Z. It feels authentic, for one thing, which is of the utmost importance at the moment in social media marketing. Other examples include the famous Old Spice adverts, which successfully aim its humour at younger audiences after being the fragrance of your grandpa. Much of Twitter marketing is self-aware humour too, like Netflix (a long time ago) saying “Love is sharing a password”, and various fast-food chains getting into online fistfights over things like who has the best fries.
It’s hard to describe what makes for good humour, and we’re certainly no experts, but the Hilton used the best lesson of affiliate marketing: let your influencers do what they do best. Sometimes it’s best to take your hands off the wheel and let funny people be funny.
Subtle shade
Or, more precisely, an attitude of “You know what’s wrong with today’s world…?” Gen Z, like Millennials before them, are getting blamed for everything from house prices to lower marriage rates. They’re ungrateful, lazy, and a myriad of other stupid generalisations that the data doesn’t back. But one thing they are talking about lately is the scam that is AirBnB, which plays into Hilton’s hand very well.
An entire skit that goes on for two solid TikTok minutes, (roughly 7.2 months in real-world time), sees a party of holiday goers begrudgingly doing the dishes and the other cleaning chores around their “rented accommodation”, that is never named, and wondering, like the rest of us, why they paid a cleaning charge.
It’s a smart move to take a problem in “today’s society” and point out that your way is better. And they didn’t even have to name AirBnB to do it. Everyone has the same grumble about it.
Anticipation
But even all the humour in the world wouldn’t ensure that people will watch until the end. The Hilton brand backs this up with a special offer that you can only get from watching all the way through. Initially, Paris Hilton herself promises “the chance to win 10 million Hilton Honors Points, experiences, swag and more”, but you can only get it if you watch the whole 10 minutes.
There is no consequence for not watching all the way through. You won’t miss out on a QR code or promo code only posted at the end of the video. Paris simply offers you a congratulations and the TikTok restarts. But you wouldn’t know that going in…!
