Hostelworld: Clickbait Charlie - A shockingly effective YouTube campaign

Hostelworld, a hostel-focused online booking platform, changed outdated perceptions of hostels by booking an unexpected guest to stay in its hostels: the notorious wild man Charlie Sheen.

Background/business challenge

We'd better start by explaining who Hostelworld are, and what communication needs to do for them.

Simply put, Hostelworld are the Booking.com of hostels. An online platform through which young travellers can book beds in over 33,000 properties around the world.

However, most young travellers are still reluctant to do so because they assume hostels will be noisy, crowded, dirty, unsafe and lacking in amenities (Research Now).

They are quite wrong about this, because in recent years hostels have undergone a complete transformation. They now have quiet dorms, secure lockers for your stuff, amazing common areas,...

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