Skift Take

The Express brand was lost in IHG’s efforts to promote its larger Holiday Inn properties, but is now facing a significantly more competitive mid-scale market than was present during its former glory.

Holiday Inn Express, one of the fastest-growing chains in the U.S., is hoping that reviving its once-popular Stay Smart campaign will prove a smart move in the ever-competitive midprice hotel market.

Holiday Inn Express today will attempt to bring its brand back to its glory days by re-launching the TV advertising campaign that was a hit from 1998 to 2008.

The commercials showed people successfully completing extraordinary tasks that they weren’t trained for, then explaining it with the punch line: “But I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express hotel last night.”

Have a confidential tip for Skift? Get in touch

Tags: intercontinental hotel group, marketing

Photo credit: The ads show average people completing extraordinary tasks, which they attribute to a night's stay at the Holiday Inn Express. Holiday Inn Express / YouTube

Up Next

Loading next stories