Design Project - Hostelworld YCN Live Brief

HOSTELWORLD YCN LIVE BRIEF 2019

https://studentlyit-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/r/personal/l00128613_student_lyit_ie/_layouts/15/Doc.aspx?sourcedoc=%7B2E90973A-872D-4376-92BA-76A7FDAFD07D%7D&file=Presentation%202.pptx&action=edit&mobileredirect=true Link to presentation in week 3 of module.

Brief:

We need YOU to inspire more students to travel, stay in hostels and book via Hostelworld.

Outcome:

My aim for this project was to inspire students to travel, educate young people on the benefits of travelling and encourage them to book with Hostelworld.

I approached this brief by booking a trip to Amsterdam and using it as an opportunity to challenge my photography and videography skills. I wanted to create an online campaign for Hostelworld to show students how you can travel and not break the bank.

I used Instagram to display my campaign because it is the most popular social media platform of my target audience (18-24 year olds). I took photos of unique experiences and used a grid theme to display facts about Hostelworld, in hope that it would convince my target audience to book with them.

I used Lightroom to colour tone all the photos so there was a consistent theme to the Instagram. I also compiled footage from the Heineken Experience to make a short promotional video.

I began by experimenting on an Instagram planner app I found called Preview. This app helps you decide what theme you would like to go for, which order you would like to post your content in and I found it very useful for finding appropriate hashtags for my posts.

I experimented with the colour palette provided by Hostelworld's brief and decided that Black and the Hostelworld orange went best together.

I chose the Grid theme so I could show the content I took (photos and videos) and in the text boxes I could portray all the important points on the brief. I used the text as an opportunity to sell Hostelworld and get knowledge out there of why you should travel, the benefits of travelling and staying in hostels and why you should book with Hostelworld.

I wanted something easy-on-the-eye. After all Instagram is a Photo generated website. Instagram is also the most popular of social media platforms for my target audience. I can second that, as a student that falls under my target audience of 18-24 year olds, I use Instagram constantly. Whereas, years ago Facebook would have been the most popular platform, people my age have moved onto the more visual Instagram and have left Facebook to our parents!

I wanted to make the campaign it fun/friendly and inviting. All while informing students/young people on why they should travel and stay in hostels.

Above, are some more Preview formats I tried. I decided to go with the middle one because once you click onto the page you will see a fact and convincing content. I wanted consistency in posting so I decided to go with the pattern: Picture, Quote, Picture, Quote and so on.

Next came setting up the Instagram. As Hostelworld as such a famous brand, they already have their own Instagram so I thought I would set up a Travel version directly targeting students/young people who want to travel but just need that extra push!

I chose their Logo as the profile picture to stick to the theme and in the bio is a short explanation of what the Instagram is all about. (the meaning/goal of the campaign).

#MeetTheWorld is the slogan for the campaign. I added this hashtag to every post I uploaded. It is short and simple and encourages students to get out there and see the world & meet new people.

Above, is a screenshot from the Preview app. It helped a lot when choosing hashtags for the Instagram posts. I chose appropriate, popular hashtags that people would search in hope that they would see the content I had uploaded.

Preview helped break down hashtags into categories and I chose which suits the pictures best. After a few posts I could see which hashtags had to most effect and began using them on most posts.

I followed the advice from the Project Pack Guidelines and used words from the "Who we are" section to try portray the correct tone of voice.

I wanted to encourage students and young people not to be scared and go to out travel and meet new people.

Learn about other cultures and broaden their knowledge on other languages, foods, religions and lifestyles.

One of the best things about travelling to other countries is the food! Food Photography is massive on Instagram so some of these hashtags were very popular and I knew it would get this post some coverage (screenshots only take directly after posted, see Instagram for likes etc)

What better way to make students want to travel than to show them that they can wat chocolate for breakfast every day?

Hostelworld came with a Case Study in its brief on why students are more employable when they travel. I thought why not use this as it is a great addition to the Quotes section on my campaign. By showing students that travelling will make them more employable, newly graduates, like myself will jump at the excuse to go abroad.

Simply stating some facts and statistics on why travel makes you more employable is enough. Where does Hostelworld come into play on this? Well, I am simply stating the fact that you should travel to make yourself more employable and you can stay in hostels and not break the bank along the way!

Most newly graduates or students like myself cannot afford to travel with all the college fee's and part time jobs but Hostelworld is cheap and cheerful so it makes it possible.

The final look of the Instagram. I will continue to post my photos/promo videos in this pattern.

Heineken Experience

I created a promotional video on Premiere Pro of the Heineken Experience in Amsterdam. I wanted to show unique experiences and the Heineken Experience can only be done properly in Amsterdam! I shot a lot of footage along the way and came up with this:

I began to think how to upload this to the Instagram and I came up with the solution that using it as a Sponsored Ad on Instagram would work best for Hostelworld. It shows young people, experiencing something new and having fun!

Sponsored Ads are a great way to get word out to the public about something they are interested in. As I did not pay for a sponsored ad on the instagram here is a template of what it would look like if I had: