INTERNATIONAL REPORT—Sheraton wants to take guests on an experiential journey that is at once memorable and Instagrammable.
The global brand has launched “Heart for the City,” an interactive love note for each city it will travel to—Seattle; Cairo; Sydney; Beijing; Bengaluru, India; and Santos, Brazil—vividly bringing to life the distinctive traits and characteristics of the locale.
“As Marriott International’s most global and oldest brand, community is deeply rooted into Sheraton’s history. With a footprint in more than 70 countries worldwide, Sheraton has become a part of the community fabric, the hosts and the gathering place for locals and guests alike,” said Indy Adenaw, VP and global brand leader, Sheraton Hotels. “We are at the start of our transformation, and through this tour we are looking to celebrate the communities that make up the heart and soul of our hotels. Heart for the City will celebrate the diverse people, places and cultures that make up the Sheraton family, both in and outside of our properties, honing in on community voices and their value to the brand.”
One of the main goals of this tour was to create experiences where guests and locals will be immersed in a future vision of the Sheraton hotel experience.
“There will be transformation rooms and programming in which visitors will get a peek at the upcoming redesign of Sheraton via a dynamic projection mapping experience that will show visitors how the brand will utilize space redesign and curated amenities and services to enable gathering and productivity,” said Adenaw. “The designation ensures that guests are receiving the best that Sheraton has to offer, providing the highest benchmark on product and service, while also displaying iconic signatures of the city, bridging the hotel to the community.”
With Heart for the City, Sheraton will celebrate communities and the brand’s role within them, offering up one-of-a-kind immersive experiences designed specifically for each destination.
“The tour is a way for us to celebrate communities around the world—the diverse people, places and cultures that make up the Sheraton family, both in and out of our four walls,” said Adenaw. “Each experience features fun and unique visual perspectives on local icons, places and ideas central to the city’s identity. The tour includes complimentary community programming at the hotels, where brand partners, local businesses and thought leaders will lead in-depth discussions and presentations in their areas of expertise. Each of the stops will allow guests and locals to gather, engage and be entertained as they experience the city and the Sheraton property like never before.”
To further establish Sheraton’s public perception as the “world’s gathering place” and tell its story, the brand took to Instagram to broadcast the Heart for the City global experiential tour. “Instagram is the most preferred platform to further that storytelling narrative, where the brand can share visual content and increase overall brand reach,” said Adenaw.
Sheraton has seen success with the tour, with guest participation at the launch events ranging from 150-250 people at each—aside from the 1,500 in Canada, according to the company.
“Having been ingrained in the city for three decades, the Sheraton Grand Seattle served as the perfect backdrop for the second stop on Sheraton’s global tour,” said Adenaw. “Known for its iconic architecture, innovative companies, thriving music scene and beautiful landscapes, Seattle is a unique cities in North America, where you can climb the Space Needle without ever leaving the ground and travel back in time for a classic cup of Starbucks coffee at the historic Pike Place Market—a location of rich history and vital importance to both Starbucks and the Emerald City. Each stop on the tour offers an array of Instagrammable opportunities, whether you’re eating breakfast next to the Pyramids of Giza in Cairo or walking along the Sydney Harbour Bridge.”
Change is coming for the Sheraton brand, and this is just one way of raising that awareness. The upcoming redesign illustrated via projection mapping will help guests to further understand how the brand will utilize space redesign and curated amenities and services to enable gathering and productivity.
“Our guests want a taste of the local culture and want us to bring the experience into the hotel, which is exactly what this tour offers,” said Adenaw. “Heart for the City provides our guests with an unexpected journey through the city without ever leaving the hotel. Each of the stops will allow guests and locals to gather, engage, and be entertained as they experience the city and the Sheraton property in a whole new way, further establishing the brand as the ‘world’s gathering place’ in the public’s eye.”