Forbes, in collaboration with Courtyard by Marriott, convened an A-list of attendees (business owners, local entrepreneurs, travel enthusiasts, Forbes Under 30 list-makers and Forbes editorial talents) at an in-person event for an intimate roundtable discussion at a Courtyard hotel in London in 2023 (building on the success of 2020’s Passion Driving Success campaign Courtyard launched with Forbes, hosting similar events in Paris and Hamburg).

The event featured a panel of distinguished young business leaders who shared how their travel experiences have fuelled their creativity and professional growth. The goal was to highlight Courtyard’s commitment to empowering guests to pursue their passions and achieve success to Forbes’ unique audience of adventurous entrepreneurs, always on the go.

To extend the reach and impact of this event, Forbes implemented a comprehensive content strategy on Forbes.com. Profiling three of the panellists in a series of visually enhanced articles produced by Forbes and published on Forbes.com, Courtyard was able to share their brand messages through inspiring travel stories to a broader and alert audience of Forbes readers.

To best reach the above-mentioned strategic audience and drive further views to the custom content articles, Forbes
deployed a social media amplification campaign targeted to Courtyard Marriott’s segments and driving back to the articles on Forbes.com, along with a high-impact digital display campaign, which highlighted the event and the articles’ key takeaways. The latter was targeted to Courtyard’s specific audiences through ForbesOne, Forbes first-party data targeting capabilities, in the desired geos.

Trailblazing a journey of passion – a London event

Hosted by Forbes Europe Managing Director, the event took place at Courtyard by Marriott London Heathrow, in June 2023.
The audience (+30 guests curated by Forbes, among which Europe-based CEOs, Founders and Under 30 list-makers) attended a discussion on how the pandemic shaped travel and business, followed by a lunch and networking drinks at the Courtyard.

Speakers, coming from Dubai, Paris or London included:

• Ana Jakimovska, CEO of Culture Trip;
• Mario Maher, Cofounder of Heat;
• Fisayo Longe, CEO of Kai Collective;
• Shereen Mitwa’li, CEO of Naqqe Technologies Inc.
  Emphasizing the importance of balancing work with authentic
  cultural experiences, their stories demonstrated innovation and
  success, leveraging technology and creativity in the ever-changing
  landscape.The Courtyard by Marriott’s brand was prominently featured as a sponsor across all event promotion and collaterals: the partnership included on-site brand activation such as a personalized luxury travel gift station, co-branded banners, a step and repeat. a headshot booth with logo inclusion.The brand/logo also features online, through the event’s invite, reminder and thank-you email; the event’s registration page and on the post-event experience lander. This dedicated landing page on Forbes.com captures top event highlights, including inspiring
  speaker quotes, captivating photographs, sponsor logo, and access
  to the event recording. This robust content experience lives on
  Forbes.com in perpetuity, offering attendees continued exposure
  to the memorable conversations hosted at the Courtyard Marriott.

These meaningful connections and conversations were captured and shared across social media by attendees, speakers and the Forbes editorial team, further amplifying key messaging to an engaged audience beyond the event. Social posts shared during and after the event reached more than 450k followers altogether.

To further promote the event, its key takeaways and Courtyard’s brand message, Forbes and Courtyard launched a series of x3 BrandVoice Premium Posts (Forbes-produced, high-impact digital articles) based on interviews with the panellists:

• ”Luxury fashion spans the globe, and Mario Maher is usually there”
• ”Entrepreneur Shereen Mitwalli says travel ‘motivates me to do more’”
• ”Travel and Creativity are inseparable for London fashion designer Fisayo Longe”
  The two-month promotional flight (Sept-Nov 2023) aimed to drive 144k page views to Courtyard’s audiences in the UK, France, Germany and UAE through Forbes’ 1st party data targeting capabilities – FOrbesOne segments: Upscale travelers, Business Travel, Domestic Travel, International Travel, Personal Travel, Entrepreneurs, Start Up and Entrepreneurs, Small Business, Tech Savvy, Business Influencers, Under 30, Small and Medium Businesses, C-Suite and DMs Audience bundled with rotations across Forbes’ Innovation and Lifestyle channels.
  This included paid promotion on Forbes social media handles, with 1.5m targeted impressions guaranteed across LinkedIn, Meta, Twitter through carousel cards, highlighting key takeouts from the Premium Posts.

Digital display amplification
Still using 1st party targeting method (ForbesOne), the program received extra visibility through high-impact digital ad units – Forbes custom FluidXl and Storyteller units (desktop, tablet, mobile), driving back to the articles and to Courtyard’s owned website. ForbesOne segments were the same as for the Brnadvoice Premium Post, in the UK, UAE, France and Germany.