The Old Inn is a family-owned hotel that has been in business for 30 years. In 2010, the hotel decided that its brand image needed more consistency so they set about improving it. They improved their logo and brand image, cleverly using the hotel’s building as inspiration for the rebranding. The black and white exterior is reflected with a monochrome palette and the hotels interior with touches of rich colour and damask. The rebranded look was rolled out in promotional literature, giftcards, the hotel’s website and social media channels, as well as a promotional foldable tote bag.
As the rebrand was completed, the hotel heard the announcement that Northern Ireland would be introducing a 5p plastic bag tax. They decided to use this news item as a launchpad to further promote the hotel and increase brand awareness. They commissioned Smart bags to create a foldable promotional tote bag which is deal for shopping trips and would act as a walking advertisement for their brand each time it’s reused.
How The Old Inn are using Promotional Bags in their Marketing Campaigns
The printed tote bags are given to guests for free as part of The Old Inn’s “Shop ‘til You Drop’ accommodation package (which includes drop off at local shopping venues for guests). Guests who are not on the “Shop ‘til You Drop” package can buy the bag at the hotels reception. They have also been sold for a discounted price at events in local shopping centres.
The Foldable Tote Bags were also used in several Facebook and Twitter campaigns. The Old Inn ran a Facebook competition – the prize was two bottles of champagne presented in the custom-made foldable tote bag. The bag also contained a voucher for a mystery amount and entrants had to try and guess how much the voucher was worth. The fan with the closest guess won the goody bag!