FROM ABANDONED TO BEING NAMED “THE INN PLACE TO STAY.”
Route 19 Inn is a case where our brand story infuses every corner of the product. Built in 1948, this classic motor lodge originally operated under a different name and had been abandoned for a decade. Working with the owners to turn it into a brand and product appealing to modern audiences, we built its brand story around a Retro Road Trip, with a personality that’s Whimsical, Nostalgic, Scenic, Connecting and Rejuvenating.
Our goal was to transport guests back to the post-WWII, pre-Interstate glory days of road trips, when its location on US Hwy. 19 was along the main route into America’s favorite national park, the Great Smoky Mountains. We adopted an aesthetic we call Midcentury Mountain, and brought in local artists to create Instagrammable moments, transforming the property into a vacation-resort dreamscape called Route 19 Inn.
Our integrated marketing team has extensive experience in the travel, tourism and hospitality space, having led campaigns for some of the most popular destinations, theme parks, museums, attractions, hotels and resorts. We had fun leveraging that experience to create this new brand.
Brand Anthem Video
Social Media Videos
Digital Ads & Social Media Graphics
We designed branded merch that sells like hotcakes, including this Poster in collaboration with A.B. Newton & Co., purveyor of collectible destination art.
Route 19 Inn is one of the 3 most-talked-about hotels in the Asheville / North Carolina Smoky Mountains region by travel media, topped only by the iconic Inn at Biltmore Estate and Grove Park Inn (2 properties our team has also had the privilege of helping with their brand storytelling). Route 19 Inn was named the Inn Place to Stay by Our State Magazine, and one of the Boutique Hotels to Put on Your Radar by Style Blueprint.
Google users rate the experience a 4.8, higher than venerable properties like the Ritz Paris (4.7) and The Plaza Hotel New York (4.5). The hotel has such a fandom, one guest even got a tattoo of the logo – an honor typically reserved for cult brands like Harley Davidson.