Risky business has proved fruitful for online accommodation provider Quickbeds.com. Divisive marketing tactics have culminated in rapid growth, just six months after the brand’s million dollar re-launch.
The decision to use former AFL legend and human headline, Warwick Capper, as ambassador for the launch of their new-look B2C website last year raised eyebrows across the board, but recent spikes in web traffic and revenue have shown this calculated risk to be a strategic win for the brand.
The consumer side of the business, which relies solely on website popularity, has experienced 130% growth in online traffic in the last financial year following the launch of the B2C site.
General Manager of Quicbeds.com John Feenaghty says the main motivation in using Capper, apart from the obvious alignment with the brands’ new ‘cheap and easy’ tagline, was to ensure Quickbeds was recognized in the crowded market of online accommodation providers.
We knew that standing out from the crowd in a highly competitive and commoditised market was going to be crucial to survive,” Feenaghty said.
Feenaghty said a holistic marketing strategy using offline brand awareness to drive results online that integrated social media, had been particularly successful for the brand.
“Our Facebook page has grown steadily, now boasting over 11,000 fans and is one of the most successful of its kind in the country. It enables us to communicate with our customers in an extremely interactive and engaging way,” he said.
To raise offline brand awareness, Quickbeds undertook an integrated marketing strategy incorporating television, outdoor and radio advertising in conjunction with off the wall viral promotional stunts. These tactics in addition to display and search engine marketing resulted in record traffic levels to the site.
“When I took this project I knew I wanted to do something different with the brand but I was still surprised when I found myself sitting in the middle of Australia Square in Sydney, in a bed with Warwick Capper, while people took photos of us and uploaded them onto Facebook”, Feenaghty said.
