Homewood Suites Debuts Winning Contest Billboard Ads

Homewood Suites is giving three contest winners their 15 minutes of fame on an electronic billboard in New York City’s Times Square.

An electronic billboard in Times Square displays one of three winning photos in a recent Homewood Suites contest

The three winning photos are as part of an online contest tied to its “Simple Moments” advertising campaign. The campaign is designed to show the simplest things in life matter the most (Promo Xtra, May 7, 2007).

The winners are: Kim and Bryan Gray of McCordsville, IN, for their photo depicting their twin boys swimming underwater; Beth Alferink of Mansfield, TX, for her shot of her son sitting in a field of blue bonnets and Jamie Hogg of Temple, TX, for the picture of her son’s first trip to a baseball game.

The Gray family flew to New York last week to see their winning photo on the electronic billboard. The two other winners and their families will make the trip later this month, a spokesperson said.

In all, Homewood Suites received 1,225 entries, the spokesperson said.

“The Simple Moments contest allows our real families to be in the ultimate spotlight up in Times Square and provide a fresh look to our advertising campaign,” said Bill Duncan, vice president of marketing and sales, Homewood Suites by Hilton, in a statement.

The billboards, which will rotate, will be viewed by about 1.7 million people each day, the company said.

Draftfcb handles advertising for Homewood suites and Ruder Finn Inc. handles PR.

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