The Brief
The Shinola Hotel is an extension of the Detroit-based luxury lifestyle brand, Shinola. The hotel needed a digital presence that felt both elevated and exclusive to visitors, while simultaneously feeling very welcoming and unpretentious to locals. We were tasked with capturing life within the hotel, showcasing the employee culture, and highlighting Food & Beverage and retail partners.
Our Insight
In the past, the Shinola brand had faced criticism for allegedly exploiting the city of Detroit, so we wanted to ensure that from the start celebrating the city and its people would be a huge focus. We identified three main content pillars:
Community, which focused on putting a friendly human face to the hotel with hotel staff profiles, highlighting retail partners, community events, and philanthropic efforts.
Culture, which focused on hotel events, the hotel partnership with NoHo Hospitality, authentic hotel moments via curated User Generated Content, and music
Ethos, showcasing editorial deep-dives into the hotel’s art collection, highlighting education talks hosted at the hotel, and more.
Our Results
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.