HONOURING HERITAGE, EMBRACING INNOVATION

HOW DID THE PARTNERSHIP WITH 80 DAYS BEGIN?

Kasper: I started here about a year ago and from my second day, I was already tasked with exploring the potential of working with 80 DAYS. You were recommended after meeting someone from our team at the LHW conference. That instantly stood out because it meant you were already immersed in the travel and hospitality space. When I looked into your portfolio, I saw how valuable it was that you worked with many hotels. You’ve tested different approaches and learned what works — something we lacked. While our previous agency was delivering good results, we needed a true specialist to reach our long-term objectives.

Together we did a soft test. I handed over the account and asked, 'what would you do?' before we’d even signed. The response was really professional, clear and fast. That gave me immediate confidence. We signed in my first month, and since then, it’s been a really positive collaboration. We've seen clear growth in performance, revenue, and bookings. That’s thanks to your expertise and your way of working; structured, tested across many hotels yet specifically tailored to our brand and product.

WITH A BRAND AS HISTORIED AS DE L’EUROPE, HOW DO YOU USE DIGITAL MARKETING TO CONNECT WITH TODAY'S LUXURY TRAVELLER?

Kasper: We’re very focused on high-net-worth individuals, so it’s a niche audience. Digital marketing helps us tell our story to them in a compelling way — especially through visuals. We’re doing more with image-based ads and video content, which really brings the hotel to life in the digital space. It also helps that our product — especially the ‘t Huys suites — is so visually striking. That directly influences ad performance. We’ve also used this kind of content beyond just 80 DAYS campaigns — for example, when we reopened our Michelin star restaurant Flore, I ran a campaign myself to raise awareness. We used almost testimonial-style video ads to tell the chef’s story and elevate the restaurant online and it worked very well. So we know how powerful visual storytelling can be when done right.

Kirsten: I would add, for De L’Europe, we’ve gone very niche in our targeting. The budget’s used with real precision — we’re not going broad or mass-market. We’re focused on high-quality brand awareness among people who are genuinely likely to stay. We’ve done a lot with first-party data — building lookalike audiences from previous guests, using that for PMax and Demand Gen and feeding those insights into Meta too. Visually, everything we do is aligned with Tristan and the brand team at the hotel. That consistency — making sure our ads really reflect the on-property experience — has been integral to our success.

HOW DID THE CAMPAIGN STRUCTURE FOR ‘T HUYS DEVELOP?

Betul: It’s such a unique product, so we took a phased approach. First, we needed awareness — so we ran a Demand Gen campaign for upper funnel audiences. We had great assets from the hotel, which made a huge difference. Once we’d built interest, we paused that campaign and launched a PMax campaign to capture bookings. Having that awareness-first approach ensured the lower-funnel campaigns worked far more effectively. We’re now seeing significant direct revenue and bookings coming from those suites as a result of that two-stage approach.

Kasper: Absolutely, that approach has definitely shaped how we think. While the launch of the suites happened before we worked with 80 DAYS, your campaigns have really helped drive revenue post-launch. And the effect spills over — people might see a ‘t Huys ad, but still end up booking a regular room instead. That initial hook is powerful. We’ve even joked that it’s our Trojan horse. People come for the visual impact, but then they explore more, stay and dine with us. That’s the kind of long-term value we’re building.

Besides that, in the last year working with 80 DAYS we’re really building a more advanced approach to our advertising and currently connecting it more closely to our PR activity. So, for example, if we have a feature in the New York Times, we actively and timely add these to our paid media campaigns as audience triggers. This means that those organically expose to these articles, if they qualify for our other triggers, are more likely to be served an advert on social or through search. We’re starting to align much more and exploring ways to automate that to help foster a more seamless, omnichannel experience.

The performance data we receive from 80 DAYS helps us to work much more closely with our revenue manager now too.

ANY FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE PARTNERSHIP?

Kasper: We’re very happy with the working relationship - it’s been really collaborative. We’re pioneering together every day — and seeing the results in our revenue and bookings. You guys know what you’re talking about and actually, 80 DAYS has become almost institutional within the hotel — people reference you by name.

Even beyond our advertising, I’ve reached out for support on tracking for other projects like our restaurant sites and you just jumped straight on it.

In the past year we’ve been building things from scratch — and having you as a partner has made a big difference. Everyone internally is starting to think more digitally, and it’s exciting to be working with you to drive that shift.