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Hospitality CRM
The Visionaries and Disruptors:
Celebrating Game-Changing
Marketing in Hospitality
Introducing the Marketing Lookbook 2026: a curated showcase of the most creative and impactful marketing campaigns and emerging trends in hospitality – designed to inspire industry peers, spark new ideas, and celebrate the brands that set the bar high.
What does game-changing hospitality marketing look like right now?
Understand the forces shaping hospitality
Trends worth your attention
Jump to Trends
Insights to drive growth
Jump to Insights
Campaigns with impact
Jump to CampaignsTrends worth your attention
Emerging trends
The hospitality industry has always moved in rhythm with culture.
Trends are more than fleeting aesthetics; they are reflections of shifting behaviours, emerging desires and the subtle undercurrents that shape how people choose where – and how – they spend their time.
For operators, understanding these movements is not simply about staying on trend, but about interpreting them with intention: allowing them to inspire storytelling, sharpen brand identity and spark campaigns that feel both relevant and resonant.
Interiors
Jump to InteriorsExperiences
Jump to ExperiencesVisuals
Jump to VisualsEngagement
Jump to EngagementInteriors
Interior design becomes a foundation for emotional connection;
Soft & Serene
Curved, softly silhouetted designs in breathable, nature-inspired fabrics and textures blend organic calm with contemporary comfort to create restorative, multigenerational spaces.
Rich & Earthy
Earthy tones of cacao, olive, clay and blush are paired with soft pastels and natural stone and wood details to ground spaces in crafted, enduring elegance.
Maximalism & Drama
Regency romance meets theatrical indulgence through ornate glazed glass, wallpapered ceilings, sculptural lighting, soft metallics and sparkling textures that transform every corner.
Experiences
Guest experiences become catalysts for loyalty;
Nostalgia
A deep cultural nostalgia draws guests toward experiences and environments that revive the comfort of earlier eras, blending fond memory with present-moment discovery.
Listening Bars
Intimate venues blending pub warmth with DJ culture offer a refreshing alternative to clubbing, drawing a connection-seeking generation into curated vinyl and crafted soundscapes.
Small Doses
Mini desserts and tiny cocktails are surging in popularity, offering guests quality without commitment and the freedom to savour greater variety in smaller, tapas-style doses.
Visuals
Visual language becomes a tool for differentiation;
The Power of Visuals
By understanding where design is heading, hospitality operators can translate rising aesthetics into impactful brand moments and shape experiences.
Naive Design
When venues are grounded and authentic, and their visuals embrace imperfection, it creates brands that aren’t just seen, but genuinely felt.
Punk-Grunge
In a culture chasing perfection, mess signals honesty. Punk-Grunge taps into that instinct, channelling urgency and resistance through texture.
Engagement
Smarter operations, deeper personalisation and friction-free guest journeys;
Experience-Driven
Instead of traditional promotions, brands are crafting story-telling campaigns rooted in life moments: burnout, transitions, quiet celebrations, personal resets.
Hyper-Personalised
Data is no longer used to just interpret or predict – it is used to quietly anticipate and hyper-personalise. Reducing friction, simplifying interactions and creating the feeling of understanding.
Streamlined Interaction
The result of fully connected systems is a unified brand experience in which every touchpoint – the website, the reservation, the visit, the payment, the follow-up – feels coherent.
Explore each trend in more depth and learn how to turn them into lasting brand relevance.
Insights to drive growth
Turning trends into lasting brand relevance.
Trends can generate quick engagement but often fade fast when not coupled with strategic substance.
The key to longevity is aligning with trends that complement your brand strategy and vision long-term.
- Lead with genuine value
- Tell human stories
- Practice what you preach
Evolving city and consumer dynamic leads to emerging opportunities
As cities evolve beyond the traditional nine-to-five rhythm, a new frontier of opportunity is emerging: the night economy. In the UK alone, the night economy contributes 4.1% of GDP, generating £93.7 billion.
From a business standpoint, hospitality is positioned at the centre of this ecosystem. Extended hours, late-night menus, nocturnal events, music programming and immersive cultural experiences are all becoming strategic levers.
Year-on-year analysis from DesignMyNight shows how guest priorities evolve over time.
During the last World Cup, DesignMyNight recorded 750,000 World Cup-related searches – dwarfing the platform's average 142,000 annual sports searches.
This demonstrates how rapidly demand can intensify due to event fluctuation or cultural moments, and why timely, insight-driven programming can be powerful.
By monitoring the data, businesses can adapt quickly and cater to demand.
What market leaders think
"The brands that will thrive this year will be the ones that get serious about storytelling. They’ll share the everyday stories that make hospitality alluring and sexy.
Hospitality marketing is shifting from broadcasting to sharing. People don’t just want to see what’s on the plate. They want to understand why it matters."
George McCluskey
Co-founder of Bread+Butter, a creative marketing agency working with indie hospitality brands in Brighton & Hove
What market leaders think
"The future of marketing in hospitality depends on disciplined use of data: using robust measurement to inform recommendations, deepen customer understanding, and evaluate impact.
When marketing combines strategic insight with commercial accountability, it earns its rightful place at the board table – not as a support function, but as a driver of sustainable growth."
Ann Elliott
Founder, Ann Elliott Hospitality Consultancy
Campaigns with impact
The campaigns setting the bar high
From bold concepts to clever strategies, these are the visionaries and disruptors that have invested in the unconventional and turned their venues into destinations.
Flower Power 75: Nationwide Digital Campaign
To celebrate a refreshed cocktail menu, The Botanist partnered with Beefeater Gin to develop a nationwide digital campaign centred on the Flower Power 75. Aligned with the brand's partnership as the official home of Channel 4's First Dates, the campaign wove storytelling, digital engagement, and CRM intelligence to create a fully integrated customer journey.
- 326k organic reach
- 996k Meta impressions
- 5,000 prompted visits in 14 days
- 30,000 new CRM contacts
Negroni Bar by Campari at The Alchemist Monument
The partnership created the UK's first permanent Negroni Bar at The Alchemist Monument, combining Campari's deep-rooted heritage with The Alchemist's distinctive experiential approach. By tapping into a resurgence of classic, spirit-forward cocktails, the campaign established the Negroni as a hero serve and positioned the venue as London's leading Negroni destination.
- 8,000 classic Negronis sold across estate
- 11.4k venue page views
- #1 Google ranking for "Negroni in London"
- 141k collaborator content views
Lost Dimensions: Halloween Brand Activation
Beavertown's Lost Dimensions activation repositioned the brand as synonymous with Halloween through an immersive, narrative-driven experience celebrating the brand's irreverent 'Never Normal' positioning. Rather than relying on traditional Halloween tropes, it encouraged guests to embrace spontaneity, quirkiness and creative exploration.
- 23.4k total content interactions
- Sold out a week before launch
- 89.3k average content reach
- +11% YoY Halloween brand association
Giant Dumpling Activation
A playful, high-impact moment designed to spark interest across TikTok, Instagram and influencer communities. Built around a fun, competitive eating-challenge format, the activation showcased the restaurant's personality while delivering content that audiences would naturally want to share. Three well-known eating-challenge influencers participated, including one live YouTube session.
- 24M+ estimated combined reach
- 27 pieces of digital & social coverage
- Long-tail reels attracting followers weeks after
Manchester Pizzeria Launch: Community-Driven Campaign
Pizza Pilgrims launched its first Manchester pizzeria with a vibrant, community-driven campaign combining Napoli heritage with the distinct character of Manchester. Key moments included a collaboration with acclaimed illustrator Stan Chow and genuine roots in the city's hospitality scene through a partnership with Festa Italiana.
- 122M collective PR reach
- 180k opening content views
- 40:60 booking to walk-in ratio
- 600+ Pizza Masterclass covers
Espresso Martini Bar: London's First Dedicated Activation
Conceived as London's first dedicated Espresso Martini Bar, this immersive speakeasy-style destination was developed in partnership with Absolut Vodka and Kahlúa. The transformation of The Folly's deli space created a high-energy environment celebrating one of the city's most iconic cocktails, with atmospheric design, expert mixology, and imaginative twists.
- 3,500 guest visits
- +8% YoY private hire bookings
- 850k views on one standout reel
- 5,000+ cocktails sold over 3 months
Hospitality has always been about more than service: it's a living, breathing expression of culture, creativity and connection.
Discover how you can shape moments that matter.