MAndarin oriental Singapore
Letters to Neighbours
The Insight
Hotel closures are usually communicated like a press release. But Mandarin Oriental, Singapore was facing six months dark for a top-to-bottom refit — long enough that loyal guests would feel abandoned, short enough that the goodbye had to mean something
The Idea
Instead of saying goodbye to guests, the General Manager wrote letters to his competitors — Raffles, Shangri-La, Fullerton — personally asking them to take care of his guests while he was away.
The Execution
A short film documented GM Philipp Knuepfer penning the letter, and his lead bellboy hand-delivering signed copies across Singapore. Released as a social and PR activation, the letters triggered earned responses from Fullerton, Raffles, and Shangri-La — all replying publicly, on social, in the brand's tone. A closure announcement turned into a multi-hotel public conversation. Singapore's *kampung* spirit — neighbourly, generous, a little cheeky — became the story.
The Impact
– Public earned responses from three competitor luxury hotels, turning a paid activation into a cross-brand industry conversation
– Trade press coverage in Marketing-Interactive, Mumbrella, and others
– Spikes Asia Silver × 2 (PR, Direct), Adfest Bronze (2024)
Creative Team: Gary Lim, Ivan Guerra, Farhan Darma, Lena Paik, Rachel Kennedy, Firrdaus Yusoff & Jason Feng
We even had a response from Shangri-La Singapore