Client: Radisson Hotel Group
Period: 2025, under eight months
Approach: Media relations, executive profiling, business and trade media, consumer and influencer storytelling
The Challenge
Radisson Hotel Group was opening hotels across Africa faster than any operator on the continent, with more than 300 signings and openings behind it and a pipeline still building. The market had not caught up.
Coverage was landing property by property, so every story was about a hotel and none was about a company. Meanwhile competitors and general tourism narratives held the space where the growth story should have been. A business that was leading a category was not being credited for it, and the audience that mattered most — developers, investors and partners — was reading none of it. There were under eight months to correct the picture.
The Hook
Where a story lands matters more than how often it lands. A hotel covered by the travel desk is a destination. A hotel group covered by the business desk is an investment case.
Everything ran off a single line, positioning the group as a leader in Africa’s hospitality growth story, and that line stayed identical whether it landed in an investment title or a travel magazine. The aim was reach of a particular kind rather than volume: linking the brand to Africa’s growth often enough, and consistently enough, that the two read as one story.
HLS built a storytelling framework across three territories. Growth and Expansion turned pipeline, signings and development data into headline-led stories. Africa in Motion placed the brand inside macro conversations covering tourism recovery, economic growth and the continent’s rising cities. Experience and Relevance layered consumer and lifestyle storytelling over the top, keeping the brand present in everyday travel decisions.
The Line
The press office was rebuilt around proactive storytelling, so that every placement reinforced the same leadership position rather than reporting a separate event.
Development pipeline data and market insight were translated into narratives with a headline in them, securing coverage in Business Report, African Review and Tourism Update. The business and trade conversation was then held consistently through Business Live, Bizcommunity, Engineering News, Tourism News Africa and Business Events Africa.
Executives were placed across Channel Africa, Smile FM, OFM and Business Live, turning leadership into a visible contributor to industry debate rather than a source of quotes about openings.
Storytelling was aligned to real economic and tourism moments, including G20-related angles, Heritage Day and World Tourism Day, which carried coverage into Travel & Tour World, Hello Lifestyle and Southern Africa’s Travel News. Consumer relevance came through lifestyle placements in IOL, Getaway, Get It Magazine, Sunday World and GQ South Africa.
Creator stays across key South African destinations brought the experience to life, working with Spiwe Moyo, Gemaen Taylor, Candice Bodington, Pitsi Sathekge, Nelly Zwane and Jayda Kiing.
The Sinker
60% to 70% of coverage in business and trade media, in front of investors, partners and industry stakeholders rather than travellers alone.
- More than 130 pieces of coverage in under eight months
- 90 million total reach across business, trade and consumer media
- Coverage in 20+ publications across Africa and internationally, beyond the South African mandate
- Multiple executive interviews across broadcast and business platforms
- Influencer collaborations delivering over 600,000 reach and 127,000 engagements
Radisson came into the year with a growth record the market had not registered and left it with a position the press now repeats without being asked. The record-breaking story of more than 300 signings and openings, the group’s position at the top of the continent for hotel openings, and the Central African property launches all ran as earned coverage carrying the same line. Seven in ten placements reached the business and trade audience — the audience that signs development deals — and the brand now owns a growth narrative that a competitor would need years and a great deal of money to take back.
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