Integrated Promotion built around Title Sponsor of PGA TOUR Event
PARSIPPANY, N.J · May 28, 2007 /PRNewswire/ — Global hospitality company Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE:WYN) is launching a blockbuster marketing program including sponsorship of a PGA TOUR golf tournament, a national TV campaign featuring golf legend Arnold Palmer, and the Wyndham Foursome Sweepstakes, all designed to introduce consumers to its unparalleled range of accommodations.
Building upon its title sponsorship of the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, NC (Aug 13-19), Wyndham Worldwide also is introducing its first-ever national advertising campaign, an on-site presence at TOUR events, Internet promotion and, at most of its 6,000-plus U.S. properties, a Wyndham Championship in-room video promoting tune-in to the Tournament broadcast.
"We are very excited about this fully integrated approach to educate consumers about our hotel, rental and vacation ownership brands," said Steve Holmes, Chairman and CEO of Wyndham Worldwide. "We have been a public company for under a year and have already established a strong presence as a major force in the travel industry, giving consumers a wide range of choices in lodging, vacation rental and vacation ownership. The launch of a national advertising campaign is an important step in the evolution of Wyndham Worldwide as a powerhouse in leisure travel."
Wyndham Worldwide and Palmer signed an exclusive marketing partnership to develop Arnold Palmer Golf Holidays by Wyndham. Wyndham Vacation Ownership is developing a signature line of Palmer-branded travel products featuring select golf destinations throughout the United States. The vacation packages will be made available to current and prospective Wyndham timeshare owners and will include a wide selection of activities appealing to all levels of golf enthusiasts.
"Playing good golf is the goal of every person who’s ever picked up a golf club, and the fact that they can use it as an excuse for a vacation is something that I think is wonderful," commented Palmer.
"Partnering with Arnold Palmer, a legend known around the world as one of the game’s most beloved champions, is a tremendously incredible opportunity for us," said Wyndham Vacation Ownership President and Chief Executive Officer Franz Hanning. "Golf has always been among the most popular activities to enjoy while on vacation and this initiative enables us to showcase a wide selection of activities to our more than 800,000 owners and also appeal to golf enthusiasts seeking a world-class vacation experience."
Palmer will also be featured in a national television advertising campaign promoting the Wyndham Foursome sweepstakes that will award four travel packages. The campaign debuts during this week’s telecast of the Memorial Tournament on the GOLF CHANNEL and CBS and will feature Palmer encouraging viewers to enter for a chance to win one of four prizes: an Orlando Golf package including five days of instruction at the Arnold Palmer Golf Academy, a week in the Caribbean at the Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort in St. Thomas, a week in a country home in Ireland, or a week-long California road trip.
In addition to the promotion with Palmer, Wyndham is using its significant distribution channels to raise awareness about the tournament and promote tune-in to the broadcast:
At hundreds of locations across Wyndham’s 10 hotel brands, an in-room video with commentary from Palmer will promote tune-in to the Wyndham Championship, the concluding tournament to the PGA TOUR Regular Season that determines final player seedings heading into the first-ever PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. The video will air between June 1 and August 19th.
Callers to any of Wyndham’s multiple toll-free reservation lines who are put on hold will hear a message from Arnold Palmer inviting them to tune in to watch the Wyndham Championship.
The home pages of all individual brand Web sites as well as WyndhamWorldwide.com will have a click-through banner promoting the sweepstakes as well as a link to the Wyndham Championship site.
Several hotel brand print ads will include a snipe promoting tune-in to the broadcast.
Wyndham Vacation Ownership will have an onsite presence at 10 PGA TOUR Events to drive sweepstakes entries and promote the many benefits of vacation ownership.
Wyndham Worldwide Corporation (NYSE:WYN) is one of the world’s largest hospitality companies. Wyndham Worldwide offers individual consumers and business-to-business customers a broad suite of hospitality products and services across various accommodation alternatives and price ranges through its premier portfolio of world-renowned brands. Wyndham Hotel Group encompasses almost 6,500 franchised hotels and over 539,000 hotel rooms worldwide. RCI Global Vacation Network offers its more than 3.4 million members access to over 60,000 vacation properties located in approximately 100 countries. Wyndham Vacation Ownership develops, markets and sells vacation ownership interests and provides consumer financing to owners through its network of approximately 150 vacation ownership resorts serving over 800,000 owners throughout North America, the Caribbean and the South Pacific. Wyndham Worldwide, headquartered in Parsippany, N.J., employs more than 30,000 employees globally.
ATTENTION MEDIA: Consumers can access the digitized downloadable file at: http://www.wyndhamworldwide.com/media_center
Contact:
Lisa Burby
Vice President Communications
Wyndham Vacation Ownership
407 921 7775 (cell)
407 370 5146 (office)
lisa.burby@wyndhamvo.com
Betsy O’Rourke
SVP Marketing & Communications
Wyndham Worldwide
301 332 6530 (cell)
973 753 7422 (office)
betsy.o’rourke@wyndhamworldwide.com
Chris Smith
Director of Public Relations
PGA TOUR Business
904/273-3379 (office)
csmith@pgatourhq.com
