Wingate Inns' New Advertising Campaign To Feature Brand's First TV Commercial (5/00)

Wingate Inns International, Inc. is taking the next big step in marketing Wingate Inn® hotels to consumers as its new advertising campaign will feature the brand's first television commercial, with the initial spot appearing May 15 on the MSNBC network. The new campaign, which focuses on driving consumers to the brand's website www.wingateinns.com, also features innovative new print advertisements that are appearing in -USA Today and Yahoo! Internet Life Magazine.

"With the brand beginning to reach a critical mass in terms of open hotels throughout the United States, we thought it was the perfect time to unveil our first television commercial," explains Keith Pierce, president and CEO of Wingate Inns International, Inc. "The commercial's creative strategy focuses on the brand's all-inclusive pricing policy, which provides numerous amenities at no additional cost to guests. The ad will show a blank computer screen in which someone proceeds to list our free amenities until the ad says free @ last, and then it will prompt viewers to call our toll-free reservation number or log onto our website."

Wingate Inns' first television commercial on MSNBC, which reaches an audience in excess of 53 million people, will run on both weekdays and weekends during the second quarter. Consumers can look for the commercial on the following weekday programs: IMUS, Morning Line, NBC NewsWire, My MSNBC and Newsfront, while weekend programs will include Weekend Magazine with Stone Phillips, Time and Again with Jane Pauley, Morning Blend, and Headliners and Legends with Matt Lauer. "MSNBC's core audience consists of Generation X and Baby Boomer adults who are upscale, well-educated and tech-savvy, which matches Wingate Inns' target audience," says Pierce, who also noted that the campaign will continue in the fourth quarter.

On the print advertising side of the campaign, a series of six new advertisements which prompt the readers to the brand's website, will run intermittently every other week in the E-World page of USA Today's Life section. Three of the new ads will also appear in the monthly Yahoo! Internet Life Magazine. "Our goal is to build brand awareness by educating consumers and there's no better vehicle to communicate the benefits and amenities of Wingate Inns than wingateinns.com. The print campaign will drive consumers to the website, where they'll be able to learn all there is to know about Wingate Inn hotels," states Pierce.

Pierce concludes, "Overall, we expect the new campaign to take the brand's consumer awareness to an entirely new level, meaning our hotel owners should benefit from increased business. The website is such a great tool for learning about the brand that the television and print advertising campaign should drive consumers to the website, where they'll be educated about Wingate Inn hotels."

Wingate Inns International Inc. is an all-new construction hotel chain that opened its first franchised hotel in July 1996. Its focused service, upper mid-market franchised hotels feature sophisticated, consumer-based technology and comfortable, oversized rooms that were created in response to business travelers' needs. All Wingate Inn hotels are independently owned and operated under Franchise agreements.