Starwood Bed

NEW YORK, Sept. 13 / On September 13, 1999 Westin Hotels & Resorts will launch a new brand advertising campaign that will break in USA Today and The Wall Street Journal. The campaign, created by DDB-Chicago, focuses on the company's newest product, The Heavenly Bed.

The Heavenly Bed is a stylish, luxurious, all white bed with a pillowtop mattress set; down blanket; comforter; duvet; natural pillows and high thread count sheets – a far cry from your typical hotel bed. 52,000 Heavenly Beds are being rolled out in 39,500 Westin guestrooms in 83 hotels in North America – a $30 million investment.

The new advertisements feature models sensuously sleeping in The Heavenly Bed. Some of the ads incorporate elements of Westin's most recent award winning "Who is he/she sleeping with?" campaign. Headlines are: 1) "Good business people go to Heaven." 2) "Work like the devil. Sleep like an angel." 3) "He's the best in sales. He's the best in golf. He deserves the best in bed. Who is he sleeping with?"

"Westin's new campaign is provocative, witty and stylish, just like The Heavenly Bed," said Keith Ferrazzi, chief marketing officer for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc, Westin's parent company. "It is also a terrific complement to our 'Who is he/she sleeping with?' campaign that showed that hotel advertising could be sassy, sexy and successful when it was launched in 1996.

"By focusing on a new, luxury product, Westin's ads also illustrate the company's new brand positioning," continued Ferrazzi. "We have positioned Westin in a new category we call upscale/luxury – in other words, poising Westin at the very top of the upscale hotel segment. In addition, we plan to capitalize upon and expand the company's history of innovation with more products like The Heavenly Bed, positioning Westin as a brand innovator like Sony or Nike."

Westin will spend $2 million on its new campaign between now and the end of 1999. In addition to consumer print advertising in USA Today and The Wall Street Journal, the campaign will also run in travel trade publications including Travel Agent, Travel Weekly and Business Travel News. In-flight commercials will run on major international airlines including American, Northwest, Delta and United. And, for the first time, Westin will use airport dioramas to reach target business travelers in hub airports including Atlanta Hartsfield; Boston Logan; Chicago O'Hare; Dallas/Ft. Worth International; JFK International; LaGuardia; Philadelphia International; and Dulles.

In addition to its new advertising campaign, Westin will also launch a direct marketing campaign to frequent business travelers. Public relations also played an integral role in the launch of The Heavenly Bed. On August 31 the company staged a North American PR blitz with more than 40 events from Wall Street to Whistler and Savannah to San Francisco. The national PR launch took place in New York where The Jack Morton Company created Heaven on Earth at both the New York Stock Exchange and Grand Central Station. Masses of Heavenly Beds were on display at both Manhattan landmarks where New Yorkers were encouraged to give the beds a try. Heavenly Beds were also sighted on The Space Needle in Seattle; descending from the top of The Westin Michigan Avenue on Chicago's famed Miracle Mile; sliding down the "Seventh Heaven" ski run on Whistler/Blackcomb Mountain in British Columbia; and sailing in the Caribbean en route to The Westin Resort St. John.

Westin Hotels & Resorts, with more than 105 hotels and resorts in 23 countries, is owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, inc. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., through its St. Regis; Luxury Collection, Westin, Sheraton, Four Points, and W subsidiaries, is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with more than 700 hotels in 76 countries and 130,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. For reservations please call 800-Westin-1 or visit www.westin.com .

K.C. Kavanagh
914 640-8339