Intercontinental Hotels Group PLC: Stay Smart campaign
Mark LaneOVERVIEW
In 1998, after being in business for seven years, Holiday Inn Express, the limited-service offshoot of the famed but ailing Holiday Inn brand, had no clear identity apart from its namesake and was in danger of being left behind in a burgeoning segment of the hotel industry. Its parent at the time, Bass PLC (the Holiday Inn brands later became part of the Intercontinental Hotels Group PLC), enlisted Fallon McElligott (later renamed Fallon Worldwide) of Minneapolis to establish a personality for the young brand. The result was the "Stay Smart"...