Red Roof Inn teams with country music

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: The latest recordings by a couple of popular country music acts will never hit the Billboard charts but, to paraphrase the title of a song from the movie “Nashville,” it don’t worry them.

That’s because the recordings—by the singer Phil Vassar and the group Little Big Town—were made on behalf of Red Roof Inn, a leading budget lodging chain. As part of a multimedia campaign, the voices of Vassar and the members of Little Big Town can be heard when guests at Red Roof motels ask for wake-up calls or potential guests are placed on hold when calling to book rooms.

The campaign seeks to capitalise on the popularity of country music among customers of Red Roof. That is reflected in the campaign’s theme, “Red Roof loves country road trips,” as well as the address of a website, devoted to the campaign (redrooflovescountry.com). The campaign is another example of a popular trend of marketers’ turning to country music to appeal to consumers. Recent examples include a fragrance from Coty, named after the singer Tim McGraw, and a reality series, “Nashville Star,” on NBC.

The campaign also represents the most extensive use by Red Roof of the non-traditional media. The campaign is the brainchild of Hill & Knowlton/Samcor. The other agency taking part is Rink Entertainment in Nashville, a film and video production company. Rink has a division specialising in branded entertainment that seeks to weave the products and brands of marketers into television shows and movies. Rink matched Red Roof with the performers. The other non-traditional elements of the Red Roof campaign include video clips on the microsite, featuring Vassar, Little Big Town and another band, KingBilly. There are sponsorship deals with a cable TV network and 250 radio stations. The campaign, with a budget estimated at almost $4 million, also includes traditional aspects like print advertisements, posters, postcards, sweepstakes, contests and discount offers on rooms at Red Roof motels.