Graduate Hotels Celebrates the Common Threads of the Lifelong Student Experience in New Brand Campaign
Nashville-based Graduate Hotels has unveiled its 2023 brand campaign, ‘Generation G,’ the brand’s most comprehensive campaign to date. Inspired by the Graduate Hotels community, Generation G celebrates the common threads of the lifelong student experience: curiosity, adventure, and enthusiasm for life.
The Graduate community is all-encompassing, welcoming people from all stages of life to experience the best of the world’s most vibrant college towns. Graduate Hotels have become the backdrop for building life’s most meaningful memories—Generation G celebrates the timeless traits that define and connect all Graduate guests. Anyone who considers themselves curious, an adventurer, a lifelong learner, and a lover-of-life is part of Generation G.
“Graduate’s motto is ‘We Are All Students,’ a concept Generation G fully embodies. It’s the idea that no matter how young or old you are, or when you graduated college, there’s always more to discover. There’s always a new skill to learn, a place to explore or dish to try. This campaign captures that spirit of undying curiosity, adventure and wonder that runs so deeply in college towns,” said Michaella Solar-March, chief marketing officer at Graduate Hotels. “Whether you’re about to start your freshman year, a parent dropping your kid off at school for the first time, a foodie, or an adventurer, young or old, you have a place at Graduate.”
Generation G is Graduate’s most ambitious and extensive campaign to date, marking an exciting new chapter for the brand ahead of its 10th anniversary in 2024. The Generation G campaign enables the brand to reach beyond the college market, extrapolating everything that college and university represents: being curious, investing in your personal and professional growth, striving for greatness, and collecting incredible stories along the way.
The campaign introduces members of Generation G through vignettes that explore their stories and relationships to college life and community. From exploring a college town for the first time, to returning to their alma mater for the big game, to imagining the possibilities of studying here, to seeing kids off to school, everyone can be a part of Generation G – everyone is a Graduate.
The 360 campaign was created by marketing agency Known and includes a film directed by Daniel Iglesias Jr and produced by Emmy and Clio award-winning Known Studios. Other elements of the campaign include bespoke college throwback playlists by DJ White Shadow, storytelling slams across the country with The Moth, a limited collectors’ edition Generation G zine available at each hotel, custom branded merch, and much more. As a part of the digital campaign, fans of the brand can win a years’ worth of free stays at any Graduate of their choosing by sharing their most memorable college moments using the hashtag #GenGStaysHere on Instagram (Terms & Conditions apply).
“For anyone who’s ever attended college, the experience doesn't just define who you are, it occupies a special place in your heart,” said Mark Feldstein, president of Known Studios. “This campaign captures the personal connection we all have to our college years through the unique voice and aesthetic of Graduate Hotels, combining powerful nostalgia with an eclectic modern flair in a way that resonates in the most personal way with us all.”
